NORMAN, Oklahoma (Ticker) -- It has been 27 years since UCLA last defeated the top-ranked team in the country. Ending that drought will not come easy. After a shaky win over Illinois, UCLA makes just its second trip to Norman on Saturday to face the top-ranked Sooners. UCLA's previous visit was a 38-3 loss in 1986 in which current Bruins radio analyst Matt Stevens tied a school record with five interceptions. Karl Dorrell, currently in his first season as Bruins' coach, caught two passes for 21 yards against the defending national champions. The last time the Bruins knocked off the top team in the land was a 23-10 win over Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl. While the Bruins managed just a pair of field goals by freshman Justin Madlock in last week's 6-3 win over Illinois, the defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions. Drew Olson of the Bruins completed just 11-of-30 passes for 94 yards and was sacked five times. Manuel White paced the Bruins on the ground with a career-high 102 yards on 18 carries. This week, the Bruins face an Oklahoma team that is in full stride, even if it did suffer a notable injury last week. Oklahoma dominated every facet of the game, opening a 38-point halftime lead and cruising to a 52-28 victory over Fresno State. Jason White put on a clinic in the first half, completing 18-of-25 passes for 256 yards and touchdowns to three different receivers. The Sooners, however, lost linebacker Lance Mitchell to an ACL injury that could sideline him for the season. The Butkus Award candidate had 19 tackles in three games this season. "Lance is a great player but all is not lost," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "We have great players who are capable of stepping up at that position. Nothing has changed. We're not making a big issue out of it (the injury)." Saturday marks the final non-conference game for the Sooners, who are off next week before facing Iowa State on October 4. The only other meeting between the teams was a 34-14 Oklahoma win in 1990 at the Rose Bowl. On-field temperatures at the game reached 118 degrees.

Perkins Powers OU Over Bruins, 59-24 NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Antonio Perkins brought back three punts for touchdowns and finished with 277 yards on seven returns to break two NCAA records as No. 1 Oklahoma beat UCLA 59-24 on Saturday. Perkins, who came into the game with only 80 yards on 13 punt returns, scored on returns of 74, 84 and 65 yards to become the first Division I-A player to score on three returns in a game. Perkins also broke the record of 219 yards on punt returns set by BYU's Golden Richards against North Texas in 1971. Jason White threw two touchdown passes, and Renaldo Works ran for two more scores as Oklahoma (4-0) completed a sweep of its nonconference schedule for the fourth straight season, the first time that's happened in school history. The Sooners have won 18 straight nonconference games. Late in the first quarter, UCLA (1-2) silenced the school-record crowd of 83,317 when linebacker Spencer Havner intercepted White's pass. Havner ran the ball 72 yards to the Oklahoma 6, and Manuel White scored on an 11-yard run on the next play following a penalty. The Bruins led 10-7 -- the first time Oklahoma has trailed all season. But the momentum shifted on Perkins' electrifying 74-yard return for a touchdown early in the second quarter. Perkins caught the ball at the 26, spun away from the first defender, cut up the middle, then outran the punter to the left sideline and sprinted to the end zone. His second touchdown came after punter Chris Kluwe kicked the ball well ahead of the coverage. Perkins slipped a few tackles and had nothing but open field ahead the last 40 yards. Perkins did it again late in the fourth quarter, sprinting 65 yards down the right sideline and into the NCAA record book. Kluwe tried kicking away from Perkins after his second touchdown, eliciting a chorus of boos from the crowd. The Bruins also tried other tactics: Mil'Von James hit Perkins as he fielded a punt late in the third quarter, drawing a 15-yard penalty. The Bruins couldn't make much of a dent in an Oklahoma defense that was missing starters Lance Mitchell and Derrick Strait. Mitchell is out for the season with a knee injury, while Strait had his streak of 43 consecutive starts snapped because of a pulled left thigh muscle. Sophomore quarterback Drew Olson, making only his third career start for UCLA, stuck mostly to dumpoffs and screens to slow down the Sooners' pass rush. Olson finished 18-of-34 for 144 yards with two interceptions. UCLA was still within striking distance after halftime, down only 28-10. But on UCLA's first play of the second half, Olson fumbled the ball on a thunderous hit by Oklahoma cornerback Eric Bassey. The ball popped up into the hands of Sooners defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who rumbled 14 yards with the ball to the 30-yard line. Three plays later, White hit reserve tight end Lance Donley for a 22-yard touchdown pass that all but sealed the win. Later in the third quarter, UCLA freshman Maurice Drew scored on 1-yard touchdown run and a 91-yard kickoff return. Karl Dorrell's return to Norman as a Bruin went about as well as his last trip in 1986. As a senior receiver at UCLA, Dorrell and the Bruins were held to 155 yards of offense in a 38-3 loss to a No. 1 Oklahoma team coached by Barry Switzer and led by Brian Bosworth. UCLA still hasn't beaten a top-ranked team since 1976, when the Bruins beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The Bruins are 4-8 overall against No. 1 teams. Oklahoma ran its home record to 31-0 when ranked No. 1. The Sooners don't play in Norman again until Oct. 18 against Missouri.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
UCLA................ 10  0 14  0  - 24       Record: (1-2)
Oklahoma............  7 21 14 17  - 59       Record: (4-0)

Scoring Summary:
1st 08:24 OU - Works, Renaldo 15 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 11-57 4:30, UCLA 0 - OU 7
    02:35 UCLA - Medlock,Justin 48 yd field goal, 14-50 5:49, UCLA 3 - OU 7
    00:55 UCLA - White,Manuel 11 yd run (Medlock,Justin kick), 1-6 0:06, UCLA 10 - OU 7
2nd 12:11 OU - Wilson, Travis 12 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 8-80 3:44, UCLA 10 - OU 14
    10:14 OU - Perkins, Antoni 74 yd punt return (DiCarlo, Trey kick), , UCLA 10 - OU 21
    04:17 OU - Perkins, Antoni 84 yd punt return (DiCarlo, Trey kick), , UCLA 10 - OU 28
3rd 11:10 OU - Donley, Lance 22 yd pass from White, Jason (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 3-30 1:27, UCLA 10 - OU 35
    05:39 UCLA - Drew, Maurice 3 yd run (Medlock,Justin kick), 13-76 5:20, UCLA 17 - OU 35
    00:19 OU - Bassey, Eric 34 yd interception return (DiCarlo, Trey kick), , UCLA 17 - OU 42
    00:07 UCLA - Drew, Maurice 91 yd kickoff return (Medlock,Justin kick), , UCLA 24 - OU 42
4th 10:09 OU - Works, Renaldo 1 yd run (DiCarlo, Trey kick), 11-80 4:58, UCLA 24 - OU 49
    07:53 OU - DiCarlo, Trey 41 yd field goal, 4-2 1:30, UCLA 24 - OU 52
    02:39 OU - Perkins, Antoni 65 yd punt return (DiCarlo, Trey kick), , UCLA 24 - OU 59


                                   UCLA       OU
FIRST DOWNS...................       16       17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   39-127   35-111
PASSING YDS (NET).............      144      243
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  34-18-2  25-17-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   73-271   60-354
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0     1-14
Punt Returns-Yards............      2-0    7-277
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    4-129     1-14
Interception Returns-Yards....     2-72     2-34
Punts (Number-Avg)............   9-48.9   5-41.6
Fumbles-Lost..................      3-1      2-0
Penalties-Yards...............     7-46     8-56
Possession Time...............    30:42    29:18
Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 17  6 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 1   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-3     2-21

RUSHING: UCLA-White,Manuel 19-66; Drew, Maurice 5-41; Ebell,Tyler
9-22; Olson,Drew 6-minus 2. Oklahoma-Jones, Kejuan 15-58; Works, Renaldo
11-36; Hickson, Donta 3-17; Thompson, Paul 1-7; White, Jason 5-minus 7.

PASSING: UCLA-Olson,Drew 18-34-2-144. Oklahoma-White, Jason
17-25-2-243.

RECEIVING: UCLA-Bragg,Craig 10-87; White,Manuel 2-19; Smith,Ryan
2-19; Taylor,Junior 2-13; Lewis,Marcedes 1-5; Norton,Pat 1-1.
Oklahoma-Clayton, Mark 5-118; Rankins, Jejuan 3-28; Jones, Brandon 2-16;
Jones, Kejuan 2-11; Moses, James 1-28; Donley, Lance 1-22; Wilson, Travis
1-12; Works, Renaldo 1-4; Runnels, J.D. 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS: UCLA-Clark,Matthew 1-0; Havner,Spencer 1-72.
Oklahoma-Lehman, Teddy 1-0; Bassey, Eric 1-34.

FUMBLES: UCLA-White,Manuel 1-1; Lewis,Marcedes 1-0; Olson,Drew 1-0.
Oklahoma-White, Jason 1-0; Perkins, Antoni 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): UCLA-Ball,Dave 2-0. Oklahoma-Dvoracek, Dusty 1-0;
Nicholson, Dont 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): UCLA-Chillar,Brando 5-9; Emanuel II,Ben 4-4;
Clark,Matthew 5-1; Havner,Spencer 4-3; London,Justin 2-6; Ball,Dave 2-6;
Boschetti,Ryan 3-1; Leisle,Rodney 3-0; Page,Jarrad 2-2; Lewis,Marcedes 1-0;
Lemau'u,Junior 1-1; James, Mil'Von 1-1; Groves, J.D. 1-0; Niusulu, C.J. 1-0;
Ware,Matt 0-2; Brant,Kevin 0-1; Brown, Kevin 0-1. Oklahoma-Lehman, Teddy
4-10; Everage, Brando 7-2; Chambers, Wayne 4-6; Bassey, Eric 5-0; Nicholson,
Dont 3-3; Cody, Dan 2-0; Baker, Lewis 2-0; Jackson, Jonath 2-1; Dvoracek,
Dusty 1-3; Ingram, Clint 1-0; Bradley, Mark 1-0; Brown, Jammal 1-0;
McGruder, Lynn 1-1; McCoy, Matt 1-1; Perkins, Antoni 1-1; Birdine, Larry
1-1; Pool, Brodney 0-3; Clayton, Mark 0-1; Shelby, Brandon 0-1; Poteat,
Jowahn 0-1; Jackson, Pasha 0-1; Klein, Kory 0-1.

Attendance: 83,317

OU's Antonio Perkins sets an NCAA record for punt return
yards in a game with 277 yards on seven returns.
He also sets an NCAA record with three punt returns for
touchdowns in a game.

Updated: 09/21/03