UCLA
Oregon St
Shorthanded Bruins Surprised By Oregon State
October 23, 1999 | Football
Oct. 23, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Jonathan Smith passed for three touchdowns and ran for one Saturday as Oregon State routed UCLA 55-7, its most lopsided victory ever against the Bruins.
The Beavers (4-3 overall, 1-3 Pac-10) gained renewed hope of ending their NCAA-record streak of 28 straight losing seasons. Oregon State had lost three in a row, but now needs two victories in its last four games for its first winning record since going 6-5 in 1970.
UCLA (3-5, 1-4) sank to last place in the Pac-10 with its second straight horrendous performance. The Bruins had just 210 yards, a week after gaining 168 in a 17-0 home loss to Cal.
It was the most points allowed by UCLA since a 61-20 loss to Washington on Nov. 14, 1970.
Smith was 15-of-34 for 261 yards for the Beavers, whose largest previous margin over UCLA was 45-21 in 1968. It also was Oregon State's first home victory over the Bruins since 1989.
The Beavers, with the nation's No. 2 offense at 489 yards a game, ran up 559 yards against the Bruins, who are ranked 107th nationally in defense at 440 yards a game.
Oregon State moved the ball easily and avoided the mistakes that cost them the past three games. The Beavers committed no turnovers after giving the ball up 14 times in losses to Southern California, Washington and Stanford.
UCLA quarterback Cory Paus was 7-of-15 for 95 yards and an interception. He is 16-for-43 for 176 yards in his last two games.
Bruins wide receiver Danny Farmer, who suffered a strained groin last week, had no catches. Tailback DeShaun Foster did not make the trip because of a sprained right ankle.
The Beavers made short work of the Bruins' young, five-man secondary, driving 80 yards on their first possession, capped by Ken Simonton's 4-yard touchdown run. Oregon State took a 14-0 lead on Smith's 23-yard pass to Roddy Tompkins with 1:53 left in the first quarter.
Oregon State outgained UCLA 166-10 in the quarter.
Simonton, the Pac-10's leading rusher at 151 yards a game, left in the second quarter with a rib injury and finished with 37 yards on eight carries, leaving him 58 short of his second straight 1,000-yard season.
Down 21-0 after a 10-yard sneak by Smith, UCLA came back on Paus' 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gabe Crecion with 5:54 left in the first half. Oregon State put the game away with two touchdowns in the next 2:23.
Robert Prescott returned the kickoff 50 yards, and on the next play Antonio Battle ran left, shook a tackle and outran everybody for a 50-yard score.
UCLA punted, and Smith hit the wide-open Tompkins for a 47-yard TD and a 35-7 lead. After another punt by UCLA, Smith drove the Beavers 53 yards, hitting Imani Percoats with a 10-yard score to make it 42-7 at halftime.
Battle, a junior with just 1 yard on four career carries, rushed 16 times for 105 yards.
