PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Drew Bennett lost his job as UCLA's starting quarterback at the beginning of the week.

His stay on the bench was a short one.

	UCLA redshirt-freshman quarterback Cory Paus injured his ribs in the second quarter after throwing for 113 yards.

Following an injury to Cory Paus, Bennett made the big plays to spark the 21st-ranked Bruins to a 35-21 victory over upset-minded Fresno State on Saturday night.

"Coach Borges kept telling me to hang in there," Bennett said, referring to Al Borges, UCLA's offensive coordinator. "It happened in the first game."

Bennett, a junior, threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brad Melsby and a 2-point conversion pass to Freddie Mitchell to give the Bruins a 28-21 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter.

UCLA (2-1) got the scoring opportunity when Tony White recovered a fumble by Billy Volek at the Fresno State 31.

"We had the momentum, and lost it with that turnover," Fresno State linebacker Tim Skipper said.

Volek had thrown scoring passes of 13 yards to Akka-Ar Moses and 23 yards to Vince Branstetter on Fresno State's first two possessions of the third quarter to give the Bulldogs (1-2) a 21-20 lead.

Bennett threw a 57-yard pass to Mitchell early in the fourth quarter, setting up a 15-yard scoring pass to Brian Poli-Dixon that completed the scoring.

Paus, a redshirt freshman, left the game for good with bruised ribs four minutes into the second quarter when he was sacked by Frank Battle.

"He was playing a great game," Bennett said of Paus. "It's just a shame. I thought the way he got back up, he was going back in the game."

That's not how it worked out, and UCLA coach Bob Toledo said after the game he was uncertain as to the severity of Paus' injury.

Bennett was 13-of-24 for 176 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Paus connected on his first eight passes, and finished 9-of-12 for 113 yards and one TD.

After catching just one pass in UCLA's first two games, Mitchell had nine receptions for 149 yards.

"That really shows the character of our football team," Toledo said of the way the Bruins responded after falling behind. "I'm really happy and proud of Drew Bennett, he led us to a victory.

"When certain guys go down, other guys have to pick up the flag and run with it. That was a nice win."

Volek was 19-of-34 for 198 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Freshman Derrick Ward gained 78 yards on 13 carries for the Bulldogs.

The Bruins, who begin defense of their Pacific-10 Conference championship next weekend at Stanford, extended their regular-season winning streak at the Rose Bowl to 12 games.

Stanford beat No. 19 Arizona 50-22 Saturday night in Tucson, Ariz.

UCLA welcomed back 10 players -- including six starters -- who were suspended for the season's first two games for illegally obtaining handicapped parking placards.

"We did not come down here to be close, we came here to win," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "Turnovers killed us.

"I think we got their best shot they've given anybody all year. We have a really good team, our best is yet to come."

The Bruins took a 10-0 lead in the game's first eight minutes on a 26-yard field goal by Chris Griffith and a 24-yard touchdown pass from Paus to Melsby.

Ward scored on a 15-yard run early in the second quarter, but Keith Brown, one of the players returning from suspension, scored on a 2-yard run with 5:02 left in the period to extend the lead to 17-7.

Fresno State seemed on the verge of cutting into UCLA's lead when freshman Ricky Manning, who is from Fresno, returned an interception 83 yards to the Bulldogs' 11 with 12 seconds left in the half.

The play set up a 28-yard field goal by Griffith that gave the Bruins a 20-7 lead.

The Bulldogs just missed two first-quarter touchdowns when long passes from Volek to Charles Smith were barely overthrown with Smith running free behind the secondary.

The Bruins played without standout wide receiver Danny Farmer, sidelined because of a sprained ankle.

Brown led UCLA in rushing with 42 yards on 10 carries.