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PASADENA, California (Ticker) -- The quarterbacking duo of junior Drew Bennett and freshman Cory Paus did an admirable job of replacing Cade McNown as 15th-ranked UCLA trounced Boise State, 38-7, in the season opener for both schools. Bennett started the game and completed 8-of-16 passes for 120 yards, including a 65-yard scoring strike to Randy Hakes just over six minutes into the second half that gave the Bruins (1-0) a commanding 31-0 lead. "I started off a little tentative," said Bennett. "This is definitely a building experience for me. I did fine for the first time. As soon as we got going, I started to feel comfortable." Paus came off the bench and was 12-of-18 for 128 yards with a pair of interceptions. He found Gave Crecion with a five-yard touchdown pass with 5:30 left in the first half, staking UCLA to a 24-0 advantage by the intermission. "I really didn't know what to expect," Paus said. "I'm not going to predict anything for next week. I just want to fix mistakes. It's hard to get a rhythm when you have two guys going in and out but I'm comfortable doing whatever they tell me to do." "I had a plan all along to play each quarterback for three series," UCLA coach Bob Toledo added. McNown was picked 12th in April's NFL draft by the Chicago Bears, leaving Bennett, who had more yards receiving (53) than passing (24) during the 1998 season, and Paus to lead an offense that features a slew of star wide receivers. The best of the receiving crew, flanker Danny Farmer, missed the game with an injured left ankle. The two-time defending Pac-10 Conference champions amassed 248 of their 401 total yards through the air. DeShaun Foster rushed for 55 yards on 17 carries and gave UCLA a 10-0 lead with a four-yard scoring jaunt with 11:21 left in the first half. Cornerback Julius Williams' 53-yard interception return made it 17-0 less than three minutes later. Jermaine Lewis had 45 yards on 10 carries, including a five-yard TD dash with 1:31 left in the third quarter to make it 38-0. Bart Hendricks completed 17-of-35 passes for 118 yards but threw three interceptions for Boise State (0-1). Backup Bryan Harsin came on to go 3-of-5 for 86 yards, including a 17-yard TD pass to Shaelan McDonough with two minutes remaining to spoil the shuout. UCLA is without suspended defensive backs Ryan Roques, Marques Anderson and Eric Whitfield, linebackers Ali Abdul-Azziz, Tony White, Ryan Nece and Robert Thomas, offensive linemen Oscar Cabrera and Jim Ghezzi, and running backs Durell Price and Keith Brown for two games apiece. The players wrongfully obtained and misused disabled parking placards. "We looked like a young football team," Toledo added. "Both quarterbacks made mistakes. We ran right at them and got nowhere. Boise gave us some problems. We are missing 14 football players and nine are probable starters. But all in all, it was about what I was expecting." The Broncos were playing with heavy hearts after suffering a tragic loss in the final scrimmage of fall practice. Freshman defensive tackle Paul Reyna died from a head injury suffered in that scrimmage. "Being at the funeral all day (Friday) took the edge off our game and took the focus out of our practice," Boise State coach Dick Koetter said. UCLA ran its regular-season home winning streak to 11 games and finished the decade at 7-3 in home openers. The Bruins started the game with a pair of fruitless drives before freshman Chris Griffith connected on a 37-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to make it 3-0. Bennett threw an interception on the Bruins' second series and Paus entered the game 5:18 remaining in the first quarter. The 6-2, 219-pound signal-caller from New Lennox, Illinois led the Bruins on a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive spanning the first and second quarters that culminated in Foster's four-yard run with 11:21 left. The Broncos took the ensuing kickoff and moved out to their own 45 before Hendricks threw an ill-advised pass over the middle, which Williams caught and ran back for a score to make it 17-0 with 8:55 remaining in the first half. Bennett started the second half and led the Bruins on a four-play 84-yard drive. He hit Hakes in the left flat for a 65-yard TD that made it 31-0 with 8:52 left in the third quarter. "The coach said I was going to go back in at halftime. Once I got back in, I became more aggressive," Bennett said. Boise State safety Quintin Mikell had a busy day, recording a game-high 16 tackles, including two for losses. "We proved that we could play, but we can't turn the ball over and be effective," Koetter added. "I think we showed UCLA that we were physical enough to be here. We should have run the football more. I didn't think we could do as well as we did. That was my fault."
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