Bruins offense rolls over Beavers.

Byline: CHRIS HANSEN The Register-Guard

CORVALLIS - UCLA wanted to accomplish two things Saturday afternoon. First, get a win in its Pac-10 Conference opener. Second, knock Oregon State out of the race for the league title.

Well, goal No. 1 was certainly attained, as the Bruins beat the Beavers 43-35 at Reser Stadium. As for goal No. 2, the loss did drop Oregon State to 0-2 in the Pac-10. Whether a team can win the league with two losses remains to be seen, but the odds are against it.

"Hey, we're 1-0 and we're going home," Bruins coach Bob Toledo said.

And a Saturday game against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, where the Ducks won 21-20 last season, is next on the schedule.

But unlike last season, UCLA won't go into the game against Oregon on the heels of two straight losses and bumbling and stumbling on offense. Because on Saturday, against the No. 2 defense in the Pac-10, the Bruins compiled 625 yards of total offense, the ninth-most in school history.

Quarterback Cory Paus completed 24-of-32 passes for a career-high 378 yards and one touchdown, which went to tight end Mike Seidman, who caught eight balls for 138 yards.

On the ground, redshirt freshman tailback Tyler Ebell, a third-stringer, finished with 203 yards rushing after stepping in for starter Manuel White, who left the game in the second quarter with an injured hamstring.

"Any time you play a pretty good all-around game on offense, it gives you something to be excited about," Paus said. "Hopefully this will give (Oregon) some things to worry about."

Not the least of which should be the fact the Bruins have now come back from double-digit deficits three times this season, including Saturday. They found themselves in a 14-0 hole not even six minutes into the game, as Steven Jackson had an 80-yard touchdown run, and a blocked Bruin field-goal attempt was returned 83 yards for a score by Dennis Weathersby.

"It was very early in the game, so we didn't panic," Seidman said. "We knew we had to complete passes, which Cory did, we had to run the ball, which Tyler did, and we had to score, which everyone did."

And they had to stop the conference's leading rusher in Jackson, and quarterback Derek Anderson, who led the Pac-10 with 15 touchdown passes prior to Saturday. They accomplised both.

Jackson was held to 24 yards on his next 14 carries, and Anderson completed 16-of-41 passes for 260 yards. He was sacked three times and threw two interceptions, including one to cornerback Ricky Manning that Manning returned 33 yards for the touchdown and a 26-14 UCLA lead five minutes into the second half.

The Bruin defense also limited the Beavers to 14 first downs, including none from midway through the second quarter until late in the third quarter, and held Oregon State to its 14 points until the 11:26 mark of the fourth quarter.

"We knew we had a long way to go and there was no room for error," Manning said. "But a 14-0 lead in the Pac-10 is nothing. This sets us up pretty nice for next week. We showed that if we focus, focus, focus, we can't be stopped."

Added Seidman: "I think Oregon is going to see film of this game and realize they have a lot of studying and game-planning to do."

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Associated Press UCLA's Tyler Ebell, who rushed for 203 yards, runs for a fourth-quarter touchdown as Lawrence Turner tries to make the stop.