Fresno State Gives UCLA a Battle but Loses, 17-0 : Bruin Offense Is Sluggish After Scoring on First Possession

Troy Aikman passed for 143 yards and a touchdown, and Gaston Green rushed for 115 yards and another score Saturday as 13th-ranked UCLA beat Fresno State, 17-0, at the Rose Bowl.

The game was the first between the schools since 1929. The Bruins entered as prohibitive favorites but struggled throughout, especially when they had the ball.

The game was played before a crowd of 49,264.

UCLA (2-1) looked as if it would make it a blowout early, moving 82 yards in only five plays on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead. Green, who carried 22 times in the game, scored the touchdown on a 33-yard run.

The Bruins drove from their 35-yard line to the Fresno State 33 on their next possession, but Green fumbled and Chris Rinehart recovered for the Bulldogs.

Shortly afterward, Fresno State’s Barry Belli missed a 54-yard field goal. That was the closest the Bulldogs (1-2) would come to scoring.

UCLA made it 10-0 with 43 seconds left in the half on a 41-yard field goal by Alfredo Velasco shortly after a Kirk Maggio punt pinned the Bulldogs back at their own one-yard line.

The Bruins went ahead 17-0 by driving 80 yards in 11 plays after receiving the second-half kickoff. The touchdown came on a 26-yard pass from Aikman to Willie Anderson.

Aikman completed seven of his 14 passes without being intercepted before being relieved by Brendan McCracken early in the fourth quarter.

There were a total of 18 quarterback sacks in the game, 10 by Fresno State.

Eric Buechele, the starting Fresno State quarterback, completed 6 of 11 passes for 53 yards before leaving the game for good after Doug Kline sacked him on the first play of the second quarter.

Dave Telford played the rest of the way at quarterback for the Bulldogs, completing 9 of 23 passes for 79 yards.

Buechele didn’t appear to be seriously injured. A school spokesman said he could have re-entered the game if necessary.

The game was halted briefly with 5:44 remaining in the first quarter when linebacker Marcus Patton of the Bruins was injured and removed from the field on a stretcher. Patton was taken to the UCLA Medical Center and a school spokesman said the 6-foot-1, 216-pound sophomore suffered a concussion and would be hospitalized overnight.

A 34-yard pass from Aikman to fullback Mel Farr highlighted UCLA’s first scoring drive. Aikman threw a 12-yard pass to Green before Green scored his touchdown.

Maggio’s punt from the Fresno State 37 rolled dead at the Bulldogs’ one-yard line with 3:35 left before halftime. FSU gained three yards on two plays before punting on third down.

After Belli punted 36 yards to the Fresno State 40, UCLA moved 15 yards in five plays before Velasco kicked his field goal.

Green and Farr had 15-yard runs on UCLA’s second touchdown drive. Aikman picked up a first down on a fourth-and-one quarterback sneak immediately before throwing his touchdown pass to Anderson.

UCLA opens its Pacific 10 Conference schedule at home next Saturday against Arizona.

Fresno State has a bye and then the Bulldogs return to action the next weekend at Fresno against Cal State Long Beach in their Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opener.