By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sure, Temple was playing its first bowl game
in 30 years, but what about those Bruins from UCLA? They were
playing in the school's first cold-weather, East Coast bowl on a
field so icy it caused the coaches to change the game plan at
halftime.

Wearing those soft blue and gold hues that don't look right in
subfreezing weather, UCLA rallied from a two-touchdown,
first-half deficit Tuesday to spoil the new bowl kids' day,
beating Temple 30-21 in the EagleBank Bowl.

"I know they were saying the West Coast Cali boys were going to
be soft and used to surfing and things like that," linebacker
Reggie Carter said. "I'm not going to lie; it was cold. But
football is football, the field is still 100 yards long and we
still played. They ran the ball; we stuffed it. We got the
victory, so hopefully they can never say we're soft. We were
down 21-7, and you never seen us quit."

Akeem Ayers returned an interception 2 yards for a go-ahead
touchdown in the fourth quarter and UCLA's defense allowed
Temple to complete only one pass in the second half. The Bruins
(7-6), completing their second season under coach Rick
Neuheisel, finished with a winning record for the first time
since 2006.

"It's a start," Neuheisel said. "The pendulum was sitting right
in the middle; we were 6-6. This was going to determine what
kind of season we had in the eyes of a lot of people. Now we're
a winning team in 2009, so the expectation is they're going to
take a notch forward. ... We want to start collecting these
wonderful trophies and memories that college football provides."

UCLA's mini-slump of losing seasons paled next to the decades of
futility endured by the Owls (9-4), whose only previous bowl
appearances in school history were the inaugural Sugar Bowl in
1935 and the Garden State Bowl in 1979. But Temple coach Al
Golden has engineered a four-year turnaround after inheriting a
program that went 0-11 in 2005, exciting a fan base led by No. 1
alum, comedian Bill Cosby.

"It's definitely come a long way," senior safety Dominique
Harris said. "We've been through a lot together. We've been
through a one-win season, four-win, then it just built up. To
end it the way we did, we wish we could have won this game, but
at the end of the day we did have a successful season."

The temperature was 32 at kickoff with the wind chill was 19.
Still, both teams said they were less affected by the cold and
more by a field Neuheisel described as "an ice rink." One of
UCLA's halftime adjustments was to run plays that required
little or no change of direction.

"The icy field affected everything we did," said fullback Chane
Moline, who benefited with a straight-ahead running style that
produced 69 yards on 15 carries.

The biggest difference was a UCLA defense that limited Vaughn
Charlton to 1-for-7 passing for 6 yards with two interceptions
in the second half. Charlton's strong practices gave him the
starting nod over Chester Stewart, who had started Temple's last
four regular-season games, and the choice seemed like the right
one when Charlton went 12 for 16 for 153 yards in the first
half.

Temple also played much of the game without Bernard Pierce, who
left after re-injuring his shoulder. Pierce ran for 1,308 yards
and 15 touchdowns in the regular season, but he had only 12
carries for 53 yards and a touchdown on Tuesday - all in the
first half.

The ice played a factor in the interception that gave UCLA the
lead when the Bruins were trailing 21-20. Ayers slipped at the
beginning of the play, but he recovered and found himself in the
perfect spot to step in front of Charlton's screen pass and
stroll into the end zone with 6:01 remaining.

"I didn't see him," Charlton said. "The kid came out of
nowhere."

It was Ayers who also had one of the most amazing interceptions
of the college football season in October, when he leaped to
snag a pass in the back of the end zone in a loss to Oregon.
Asked which play he liked better, he said "Both of 'em" before
Neuheisel interrupted.

"This one," the coach said, "because we won the game."

The Bruins got a 2-point conversion, then added two more when
Temple snapped the ball over its punter's head and out of the
own end zone for a safety with 4:29 to play.

Kevin Prince completed 16 of 31 passes for 221 yards with two
touchdowns and one interception for the Bruins. He had a 46-yard
TD throw to Nelson Rosario, who made a juggling catch down the
left sideline in the first quarter, a play set up by Terrence
Austin's 47-yard punt return.

In the second half, Austin caught a fourth-and-1 pass in the
flat and took it 32 yards up the right sideline for a score.
Temple tried to answer, but Matt Brown was stopped on
fourth-and-1 at the UCLA 9, and Bruins sophomore Rahim Moore's
10th interception of the season ended another Owls drive. Moore
leads major college football in interceptions.

The game drew 23,072 to RFK Stadium, a decline of more than
5,000 from last year's inaugural game. Organizers had to dig
deep for participants because the original matchup - Army vs. an
Atlantic Coast Conference team - didn't pan out because Army
finished with a losing record and the ACC lacked enough
bowl-eligible schools.

But UCLA and Temple weren't complaining - not even in the cold.

"Some of our best players are young players," Golden said.
"We're excited about the direction we're going. ... To go
toe-to-toe and mix it up with that kind of team, we haven't been
able to do that."