YOUTH RALLY WORKS FRESHMEN LEAD WAY IN UCLA'S COMEBACK VICTORY UCLA 28, STANFORD 18.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

PASADENA - It's the week before Halloween and UCLA once again was ready to turn into a pumpkin. Here the Bruins were playing a freshman quarterback who'd never taken a college snap and, two disastrous series into the game, they already trailed by 15 points.

Panic? It would have been easy. Go in the tank? It's happened before.

The Bruins, who have watched promising seasons unravel in late October the past three years, promised they were different and Saturday they were, snapping a two-game losing streak with a 28-18 come-from-behind victory over Stanford in front of a homecoming crowd of 54,116 at the Rose Bowl.

``We never quit. We never gave up,'' UCLA coach Bob Toledo said after addressing a raucous locker room. ``Most teams, particularly with a freshman quarterback, might have bellied up, and I don't believe that was the case.''

If the Bruins found some resolve that's been missing in years past, they also found some new heroes along the way.

Matt Moore, the freshman quarterback from Hart High in Newhall, played like a veteran. He completed only seven passes, but several of them were big ones - including a 22-yard touchdown Mike Seidman for a touchdown - and he didn't commit a turnover.

Nate Fikse, the senior punter who had attempted one field goal since high school, took over the field-goal duties this week and made all five of his attempts. He also boomed a punt that pinned Stanford deep and set up the go-ahead score.

If Moore and Fikse got the Bruins back in the game, then they relied on their old standbys to win it.

Tailback Tyler Ebell rushed for 160 yards on a career-high 39 carries, the diminutive freshman's fourth consecutive 100-yard game. And the defense, which has played like the Pacific-10 Conference's best this month, held Stanford to a field goal after the first series, sacked Cardinal quarterback Kyle Matter six times and allowed only 241 total yards.

Instead of being in a free fall after losing quarterback Cory Paus to a broken leg and back-to-back heartbreakers to Oregon and Cal, the Bruins (5-3, 2-2) are tied for fourth place in the Pac-10 and one victory away from being bowl eligible.

``That was a must-win,'' said linebacker Marcus Reese, who led the Bruins with 12 tackles. ``We showed heart. The last couple (of) years, we let ourselves lose games like this. We're not going to do that this year. We might not be at the top of the standings, but we're going to keep fighting.''

The Bruins talked all week about how they would each need to step up - players and coaches alike - to take pressure off Moore, who last Saturday was sitting at home in Newhall watching the Bruins on TV during what was supposed to be a redshirt year.

Early, it seemed to be a burden.

While the Bruins forced a punt on the first possession of the game, Ebell collided with teammate Glenn Ohaeri, the ball hit him and Stanford recovered at the UCLA 28.

The Cardinal (2-5, 1-3) parlayed the gift into an 8-0 lead on Kerry Carter's 1-yard touchdown run and kicker Michael Sgroi's pass off a bad snap to Will Svitek on the conversion.

UCLA's first possession ended just as disastrously. After tackle Mike Saffer was flagged for tripping, center Mike McCloskey's snap got stuck in the turf and went sailing toward the goal line. Stanford defensive end Julian Jenkins recovered it at the 3-yard line and carried it into the end zone.

Just like that, 4:24 into the game, the Bruins were down 15-0.

``It reminded me of Oregon State,'' Ebell said of the game the Bruins rallied from a 14-0 deficit to win. ``It's a long football game, and nobody panicked.''

Least of all Moore.

Under pressure, he hit Ebell for 14-yard screen pass on third-and-6, setting up a 36-yard field goal by Fikse. Then came his biggest play, when he pump-faked toward Tab Perry on a slip screen, drawing the safety up. Then he hit Seidman running to the corner for a 22-yard score as UCLA closed within 15-10 early in the second quarter.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

UCLA tight end Mike Seidman (18) backs away from Stanford defender Stanley Wilson and into the end zone for a second-quarter touchdown. Seidman played for Westlake High School.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer