After dropping a tough game to Oregon State last week the Bruins got back on track with a dominating 42-7 win over Stanford up in Palo Alto. UCLA led from start to finish and held Stanford scoreless the entire first half. Bruin Junior RB Carson Steele turned 21 years old last Saturday and celebrated by spotting UCLA to a 21-0 lead with three rushing TD’s in the first half on their first, second, and fourth possessions of the game, all the while holding the Cardinal to five punts with three of those being after three-and-outs. Head Coach Chip Kelly made the decision to switch back to Junior QB Ethan Garbers as his starter after Freshman QB Dante Moore’s two rough weeks in a row, connecting for just 2 TD’s and 5 interceptions while also throwing three pick-sixes over the last three games. Garbers rewarded Chip with a solid performance connecting on over 70% of his passes for 240 yards, 2 TD’s, and no picks while also rushing eight times for 51 additional yards. Sophomore WR J. Michael Sturdivant and Tight End Moliki Matavao were the recipients of Garbers’ connection with a TD each. On the ground UCLA rushed 54 times for 221 yards and 4 TD’s with Garbers, Steele, Sophomore RB TJ Harden and Junior RB Anthony Atkins combining for 48 of those attempts and 213 of the total yards with Harden picking up the other TD. On the defensive side UCLA did a good job of pressuring Stanford’s QB and stopping the run with four sacks and seven tackles for loss.
For Stanford, Sophomore QB Ashton Daniels connected on 27-of-45 for 268 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception while also rushing six times for negative yards. The Cardinal never got their ground game in gear rushing 17 times for a dismal 24 yards. On the defensive side they recorded as many sacks as UCLA and four more tackles for loss, but it didn’t seem to make a difference as UCLA was up 14-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr, 21-0 at the break, 35-7 after three, and after holding them scoreless again in the 4th Qtr—42-7 at the end. The only time Stanford scored was late in the third period on a six play, 75 yard drive that ended on a 20 yard TD pass from Daniels to Freshman WR Tiger Bachmeier.
On the game UCLA had more than twice as many 1st Downs, 32-to-15; led in Total Yards of Offense, 503-to-292; had a 3rd Down Completion Percentage of 55% compared to 10%; and had possession of the ball for almost 14 more minutes. The only category Stanford led in was penalties where they recorded 10 for 113 yards. Regarding his QB’s play, UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly had this to say afterwards; “I thought Ethan played really well tonight. We’ve always felt like we’ve had depth at the quarterback spot. … I’m really pleased with Ethan today, but I don’t think anything that Ethan did surprised any of us on our staff or any of our players because we see that on a daily basis.” The Bruins head back home to host Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes in the Rose Bowl while Stanford stays at home to take on No. 5 Washington.