Win Ties Donahue With James

Cougars next opponent: Cal

The UCLA Bruins finally beat California on Saturday, enabling coach Terry Donahue to catch former Washington coach Don James in the Pacific-10 Conference record book.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar gained 217 yards on 33 carries and Tommy Bennett returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half as the 24th-ranked Bruins snapped a five-game losing streak to Cal by beating the Golden Bears 33-16.

Donahue has coached UCLA to 97 Pac-10 victories, equaling the conference record held by James, who stepped down as the Washington coach before the 1993 season. Donahue can break the record next Saturday at Arizona State.

Donahue has a 150-71-8 record since replacing Dick Vermeil in 1976.

The Bruins beat the Bears 18 straight times before Cal ended the streak with a 38-31 win in 1990. The Bears followed with four more victories in the series and were bidding to become the first team ever to beat the Bruins six consecutive times.

Cade McNown ran for one touchdown and passed for one as UCLA (3-2 Pac-10, 6-2) won its fourth straight game.

Cal’s Pat Barnes completed 24-of-43 for 343 yards and a touchdown in a losing cause.

George Kase hit Reynard Rutherford and forced the fumble that Bennett scooped up on the first bounce and returned untouched into the Cal end zone to give the Bruins a 16-7 lead.

Bennett returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown in UCLA’s 17-10 victory over Arizona on Oct. 14.

Cal (1-4, 2-6) drew within six points on a 37-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell late in third quarter, but the Bruins responded by moving 75 yards in 12 plays to go ahead 24-10.