Bruins show they can rebound

This had a turn-back-the-clock feel for UCLA’s football team.

Quarterback Patrick Cowan was erratic Saturday, but he improvised a bit and made key plays to nudge along UCLA scoring drives before leaving the game with an injured right knee in the fourth quarter.

Tailback Chris Markey was slashing and gliding, churning out 193 yards, including a career-best 72-yard touchdown run.

The Bruins’ defense held down a dangerous quarterback just enough in the second half.

This was enough déjà vu at the Rose Bowl in a 44-31 victory over Washington that had some of the feel of last season’s victory over USC. That game defined the Bruins season in 2006. This one may have salvaged their season in 2007, once Rodney Van intercepted a Jake Locker pass with less than two minutes left to send a giant Bruins sigh of relief through the Arroyo Seco.

“We finished the game the way you want to finish a game,” Coach Karl Dorrell said.

Ahead in points.

UCLA players had said all the right things through the week following a 44-6 loss to winless Utah. After a shaky first half, the Bruins (3-1, 2-0 in Pacific 10 Conference) found their voice, coming up with the big plays to please almost all the 71,124 in attendance.

“When we played Utah, that wasn’t us,” Markey said “We know we have a good team and we came out and showed it tonight.”

Cowan, subbing for the injured Ben Olson (concussion), put enough life into the offense to break a 10-10 halftime score. He took the Bruins on a 71-yard drive to start the second half, completing three third-down passes. Kahlil Bell (109 yards rushing) finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run.

Cowan’s play was overshadowed by his knee injury after he had a pass intercepted early in the fourth quarter. Walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson handled the offense the final 13 minutes after Cowan left with what was called a sprained right knee.

“We don’t know how long that injury will be, unfortunately we are having these injuries that are hitting us week after week,” Dorrell said. “The quarterback situation is no situation until we talk about the situation. We’ll leave that for another time.”

Markey’s touchdown run with 11:14 left gave UCLA a 31-17 lead, which seemed to allow the Bruins a chance to enjoy the moment.

Locker spoiled that, as he had with most things throughout the game. He finished with 92 yards rushing and threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns. Locker tortured the Bruins in the final quarter, bringing the Huskies (2-2, 0-1) to within a touchdown twice.

The Bruins spent the past week atoning for their sins in the loss to Utah. They were sent packing from the Associated Press poll and serious doubts were raised whether this was to be their dream season or a long-lasting nightmare.

“We just came off a horrific performance and we want to get back on the field and redeem ourselves,” linebacker Christian Taylor said this week. “Our goal is still to win the Pac-10. So for a number of reasons, this is a very big game for us.”

Washington Coach Tyrone Willingham got the message, saying, “Naturally, they are going to be very upset. They will be wanting to prove that they are the team they think they are and, the truth is, they are a good football team.”

The Bruins were good enough Saturday, even if there were storm warnings beyond the serious-looking clouds that hovered around the Rose Bowl all day.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said UCLA safety Dennis Keyes, who returned an interception 60 yards to give UCLA a 24-10 lead in the third quarter. “There are a lot of things that need fixing. We came out tonight and gave a full effort. We showed our heart.”

The Bruins translated that into big plays. The offense’s playbook was cranked up, with receiver Brandon Breazell taking a handoff on a reverse, then completing a 57-yard pass to Terrence Austin to the Washington six-yard line in the second quarter.

Cowan then completed a two-yard fade pass to Dominique Johnson for the touchdown and a 10-3 lead, the Bruins’ first score through the air since the fourth quarter of their opener against Stanford.

Matthew Slater’s 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown gave them a 38-24 lead with 9:44 left in the game.

Behind Markey and Bell, the Bruins had 333 yards rushing.

“I liked the way our team stepped up tonight,” Dorrell said. “It was a good response from the previous week.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com