BRUINS GET DOWN AND DIRTY WIN OVER BEAVERS MARRED BY PENALTIES UCLA 25, OREGON ST. 7.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer

PASADENA -- UCLA coach Karl Dorrell sat atop the postgame news conference podium, relieved about his first win in more than a month, but plenty agitated with an unusual number of penalties.

A few moments later, though, Bruins linebacker Christian Taylor grinned and took the blame for many of them.

It was Taylor, UCLA's defensive leder, who implored his teammates to get down and dirty, nasty and, at times, naughty.

There were personal fouls and pushing and shoving, but it did not distract totally from UCLA's 25-7 throttling of Oregon State in front of 67,532 Saturday at the Rose Bowl, keeping the Bruins' bowl hopes alive while destroying the return of Beavers quarterback Matt Moore for the second straight season.

UCLA (5-5, 3-4 Pac-10) ended a four-game losing streak with its first win since Oct. 7, and is in a three-way tie with bowl-eligible Arizona State (6-4, 3-4) and Arizona (5-5, 3-4) for sixth place in the Pacific-10 Conference, which has six bowl tie-ins.

However, the bane of UCLA's win for Dorrell was the penalties. The Bruins committed 13 of them for 155 yards, both season highs, and the defense's trash-talking ways didn't seem to make up for the three turnovers it forced.

``This last month has really been a tough month for us as a team, and it was good to get back in the win column against a very good team,'' Dorrell said. ``I felt our team played hard. We didn't play smart. That's something that I'm concerned with. There were a lot of penalties out there. Some of them were warranted, some were not.

``Those are the things that kind of blemish this type of victory, but I am pleased with the efforts of this team.''

UCLA's defense limited the Beavers (6-4, 4-3) to a season-low 260 yards, including 20 in the fourth quarter, when the Bruins seized control with Marcus Everett's second touchdown catch and placekicker Justin Medlock's third and fourth field goals.

And the Bruins also had one personal foul, two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and several small skirmishes that had to be broken up.

``We talked about all week that we wanted to get our swagger back, and I felt like we had our swagger,'' Taylor said. ``I told the guys, `Go talk trash. Talk trash all game and don't stop.' We got some personal fouls and whatever, but that's on me. That's my fault. I told them to talk trash. We had fun. We were talking, we were running. That's who we are as a defense.''

Oregon State scored 30.3 points per game during its four-game winning streak, including an upset of then-No. 3 USC two weeks ago at home, but against UCLA the Beavers failed on a pair of field-goal attempts (one was blocked), stumbled to finish long drives, and were crushed after a questionable decision by coach Mike Riley backfired.

The Beavers led 7-6 coming out of the half as UCLA's offense sputtered along, churning out fewer than 45 yards on each of its six drives. But facing a fourth-and-1 on his own 48-yard line on the first possession of the third quarter, Riley went for the first down, despite the Beavers being stonewalled on third-and-1.

Reacting as if he knew the snap count, defensive tackle Brigham Harwell burst through the line of scrimmage and drilled Yvenson Bernard for a 3-yard loss.

``I read the ball well,'' Harwell said. ``The tackle missed the block and I had it clean. It took me by surprise (to be so far in the backfield), but our coaches always stress to make plays when you can. It was up to me to make the play, and I did.''

The decision was compounded when Bruins quarterback Patrick Cowan connected with Everett on the next play for a 45-yard touchdown pass along the left sideline. It gave the Bruins a 13-7 lead, and the Beavers never recovered.

``We were at midfield, so it wouldn't be a catastrophe,'' Riley said. ``It turned out to be.''

Moore, a former Hart High of Newhall product who spent two seasons at UCLA before transferring, went 17 of 29 for 175 yards, was sacked fivetimes and lost a pair of fumbles, which led to a pair of UCLA field goals.

Cowan finished 12 of 23 for 126 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran five times for 24 yards.

``The ball was squirting out,'' Moore said of his fumbles. ``I can't explain it. That never happens. I don't know why. It just doesn't. Obviously, I didn't secure the ball the way I should have.

``Credit UCLA. They played well. They're a good football team, but we didn't play to our ability. It hurts. They beat us, and we beat ourselves as well.''

The Bruins also used a turnover march to their last touchdown, which followed Kevin Brown's recovery of Clinton Polk's fumble on UCLA's 43-yard line.

A couple of Cowan scrambles and runs from Chris Markey took the ball to Oregon State's 10, and Cowan finished the drive when he rolled right and hit Everett in the back of the end zone as the Bruins went ahead 19-7 with 11:24 to play.

``It feels great (to win),'' Everett said. ``It feels like we're in a new season. This is like our opening game. We're 1-0 and we are just trying to go 3-0 in the last three games.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) UCLA's Dennis Keyes, left, hits Oregon State quarterback Matt Moore, causing a fumble.

(2) UCLA's Chris Markey rushed for 84 yards on 23 carries against Oregon State.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer