Cardinal running back Bryce Love breaks into the clear against the Bruins for a 69-yard scoring run to give Stanford a 51-34 lead in the fourth quarter. (Los Angeles Times)
By Jeremy Harness
STANFORD – The Stanford football team had a few things to get through on Saturday, one of them being a slow start for its offense.
If that wasn’t enough, the officiating crew injected itself into the game in the second half, giving UCLA some momentum.
Stanford (2-2, 1-1 Pac-12) shook all of that off to turn in a marvelous bounce-back effort that got things back on track, particularly on offense, to put an end to a two-game losing streak with a 58-34 win over UCLA at Stanford Stadium Saturday night.
It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a guy like Bryce Love running the ball for you. After a bit of a slow start, the junior back proceeded to gash the porous Bruins run defense to the tune of 264 yards on 30 carries, including a gut-wrenching 69-yard dash into the end zone late in the fourth quarter that thwarted any chance that UCLA (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) had of a late-game comeback.
That total is the second highest in program history, trailing only Christian McCaffrey’s 284-yard performance at Cal last year. He has now rushed for at least 160 yards in each game this season.
Love wasn’t the only one toting the rock with authority, however. Fellow junior Cameron Scarlett further gouged UCLA’s defense, piling up 86 yards on eight carries and found the end zone three times. As a team, the Cardinal rushed for an astounding 405 yards, and at least for one week, re-establishing their dominance in the part of the game that they take the most pride in.
This also overcame UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen’s 480-yard passing night, as he threw for three touchdowns while connecting on 40 of his 60 throws. He was also, however, intercepted twice, including one in the fourth quarter that Stanford quickly turned into a touchdown.
Surprisingly, the offense couldn’t get out its own way in the early going, as the first quarter was one that was full of mishaps for both teams.
The Cardinal gave UCLA a very short field when Jay Tyler muffed a punt at his own 15-yard line. Luckily for him, the Cardinal defense stiffened up and held the Bruins to just a field goal to tie the game at 3-3. Later on in the quarter, Stanford’s defense intercepted quarterback Josh Rosen deep in UCLA territory. However, the Cardinal were not able to move the ball at all and also had to settle for three points.
Neither Keller Chryst nor backup Ryan Burns could generate anything in the passing game, so the Bruins concentrated its efforts on bottling up Stanford’s prized running attack. So in the second quarter, K.J. Costello was summoned, and the sophomore responded, completing 13 of his 19 passes for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
That’s when Stanford’s run game came to life, and from that point, the Cardinal seized control of the game and never relinquished the lead.
However, there was one final obstacle for Stanford to get past, as the officiating crew attempted to take over the game in the third quarter, with a pair of very-questionable targeting calls.
A quarter after UCLA’s Adarius Pickett was ejected for targeting, Stanford cornerback Elijah Holder tackled Eldridge Massington below the waist during UCLA’s first drive of the half, but the officials took it upon themselves to call Holder for targeting anyway, although he was nowhere near Massington’s head while making the stop.
After a review, the call was somehow upheld, and Holder was subsequently kicked out of the game. But the refs didn’t stop there, as they also flagged safety Ben Edwards for targeting while making a tackle on the very next play. Thankfully for Stanford, the officiating crew came to its senses and overturned the call.
Holder’s penalty did enough damage, however, and the Bruins used that to score three plays later, as Soso Jamabo punched it in from three yards out to narrow Stanford’s lead to three.
Stanford, however, quickly overcame that by pounding the Bruins on the ground to get into scoring position on its next possession before Costello hit Trenton Irwin for a 15-yard touchdown, giving the Cardinal a 30-20 advantage.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Cardinal, however. Next week, Stanford will play host to Arizona State (2-2, 1-0 Pac-12), who upset No. 24 Oregon Saturday night.
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