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Sunday, September 20, 1998
No.4 UCLA 42, Houston 24
By MICHAEL A. LUTZ
AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON (AP) -- Cade McNown's post-game appearance told the
story. He had ice on his left knee and left ankle.
Jermaine Lewis ran for four touchdowns and McNown, who had
to fight for survival, threw a 61-yard scoring pass to Brian Poli-Dixon
as No. 4 UCLA extended its school-record winning streak to 12
games with a 42-24 victory over Houston.
McNown started slowly and finished fast in keeping the Cougars
(0-3) from pulling off a major upset. He was 17-of-32 for 315
yards with one interception.
"They (officials) did let them keep hitting me late, but
I don't to cry about that," McNown said. "It happened
on both sides of the ball. It stymied me for a little but then
the adrenalin got going."
Lewis, who didn't have a run longer than nine yards in the
game, scored on runs of 1, 8, 1 and 3 yards. He finished with
63 yards on 16 carries.
The Bruins (2-0) took a 21-14 halftime lead and used interceptions
by Santi Hall to set up a 1-yard TD by Lewis with 9:55 left in
the third quarter and a 17-yard interception touchdown return
by Ryan Roques with 9:04 to go in the third quarter to take control
at 35-14.
"I was concerned about the hits, too. I didn't think they
had control of the game," UCLA coach Bob Toledo said. "Quarterbacks
are only as good as the people around them. We didn't protect
very well. I thought it was an average game for him,"
The Cougars closed to 35-24 on Jason McKinley's 3-yard touchdown
pass to Orlando Iglesias and Mike Waddell's third field goal of
the game, a 35-yarder.
"It wasn't pretty but it was a win and that's the reason
you play," Toledo said. "There wasn't a lot of flow
to the game. The penalties and stuff kept setting us and Houston
back. We made big plays when we had to.
I thought the kids battled real well."
McNown completed two third-down passes, one a 41-yarder to
flanker Danny Farmer, to set up Lewis' 3-yard TD run with 5:01
to play.
The Cougars got their biggest test of the season and appeared
up to it in the first half when they jumped to a 6-0 lead on field
goals of 34 and 39 yards by Waddell, taking advantage of a slow
start by UCLA.
McNown didn't complete a pass in the first quarter and threw
his second interception of the season early in the second quarter
before finally igniting a 21-point charge in the second quarter.
McNown had only six interceptions last season.
"In the first half, everything was wearing down on us,"
Lewis said. "But the Bruins never give up. We kept our poise
and we kept playing. They just got off on us and we weren't executing."
The Bruins didn't get going until after Cougars safety Mike
James intercepted McNown's pass early in the second quarter. The
Cougars couldn't capitalize on the turnover and McNown went to
work.
McNown hit Poli-Dixon with a 61-yard touchdown pass with 11:32
to go in the second quarter and Lewis had touchdown runs of 1
yard with 8:46 left in the quarter and 8 yards with 3:13 to go.
The Cougars still wouldn't succumb.
McKinley tossed a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jerrian James,
who got behind Roques in the end zone with 1:34 left in the half.
James caught nine passes for 164 yards and McKinley was 21-of-46
for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He had three intercepted.
Redshirt freshman Freddie Mitchell had a 47-yard kickoff return
after Houston's first score but broke his left leg and was taken
to a hospital for treatment.
"I thought our defensive line was better than their defensive
line," Houston coach Kim Helton said. "We stepped it
up on offense but we hurt ourselves with the interceptions."
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