UCLA just like USC, Utah and Oregon, did what they needed to do to stay in the hunt for the PAC-12 Conference Championship and easily dominated Stanford 38-13 in the Rose Bowl this past Saturday night. Never trailing, Stanford was only able to muster a couple of field goals through the first three quarters to trail 31-6 going into the fourth. Rushing for a career high 198 yards in this one UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet is closing in on 1,000 yards for the season with an average of 7.5 yards per carry. His 3 TD’s Saturday night gives him 10 on the year. His signal caller and 2nd most accurate passer in all of the FBS with an average of over 71% per game on the year, Senior QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, connected for 199 yards in the air along with 50 yards on the ground and a TD as well. Junior WR and speedster Kazmeir Allen rounded out the scoring for the Bruins rushing 4 times while picking up UCLA’s 5th TD of the night on a 72 yard run to the house to go up 38-6 early in the 4th Qtr. Stanford finally scored a TD, their first of the game, on a six plus minute 14 play 75 yard drive and a Tanner McKee TD pass to Benjamin Yurosek with just over four minutes left in the 4th Qtr—final score 38-13.
Tanner McKee, no doubt bothered by a UCLA pass rush that recorded 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss, connected on less than 50% of his passes for 115 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception. The Cardinal ground game consisted primarily of Freshman QB Ashton Daniels along with RB’s Caleb Robinson and Brendon Barrow who combined for 23 of Stanford’s 34 rushing attempts and 120 of their 145 total yards. With Charbonnet leading the way the Bruins had a much more potent ground game, rushing 45 times for 324 yards and 5 TD’s—averaging over seven yards per carry.
UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly had nothing but praise for his uber talented RB and commented after the game; “I thought Zach played outstanding today. He’s a three-down back. He can pick up pass protection, he’s a weapon coming out of the backfield and obviously we saw what he’s like when he runs the football.” Charbonnet leads the PAC-12 in rushing, is in the Top 10 in the nation, and tops in all-purpose yards per game. According to the AP, Stanford Head Coach David Shaw said that it was his team’s worst game in a month and just like last week the Cardinal is sitting at the bottom of the conference with a record of 1-5. They’ll be headed home to host a Washington State team that is desperate for a win while UCLA takes on Arizona State in Tempe—a team that has been a problem in the past for them. Over the last 10 years the teams are tied at five wins a piece with Arizona State beating the Bruins last year in the Rose Bowl 42-to-23.