Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Stanford rallies past UCLA in one-sided Pac-12 rivalry
Scoring pass with 24 seconds to play lifts No. 7 Cardinal
PASADENA, Calif. — UCLA contained Christian McCaffrey, kept Stanford’s offense out of the end zone and generated just enough points to lead the Pac-12 champions until the Cardinal’s final drive.
And then everything reverted to usual form in this one-sided California rivalry.
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Burns with 24 seconds to play, and No. 7 Stanford rallied for its ninth consecutive victory over the Bruins, 22-13 on Saturday night.
McCaffrey rushed for 138 yards for the Cardinal (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12), but they struggled on offense for 3½ quarters. Stanford got the ball back with 2:05 left and coolly put together a 70-yard drive capped by Burns’ fade to Arcega-Whiteside, who got one foot inbounds on an acrobatic play.
“We just kept our composure from the time we started to the time we finished,” Arcega-Whiteside said. “We made mistakes, but you could sense in those last two minutes that we were all going to execute. When we do it, it all pays off.”
Solomon Thomas then returned Josh Rosen’s fumble 42 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play, punctuating the heartbreak for a lively Rose Bowl crowd. Even with that TD, Stanford had its lowest-scoring performance since the 2015 season opener.
Another stirring Stanford victory was another soul-crushing loss for the Bruins (2-2, 0-1), who haven’t beaten their upstate rivals since 2008. They had never even led the Cardinal for more than six minutes in any of those eight straight losses, but UCLA nursed an advantage in this one for nearly three quarters — until Stanford snatched it away again.
“That’s about as difficult as it gets,” said UCLA coach Jim Mora, who has never beaten Stanford’s David Shaw. “It stings when you lose like that, and played so courageously on defense, and done such a great job against a really good team, and they make the play. Doesn’t matter who you play. Losing like that is just awful.”
Rosen passed for 248 yards for the Bruins, hitting Nate Iese for his only touchdown in the first half. He got the Bruins to midfield in the final seconds, but couldn’t reach field goal range before fumbling on a sack from behind.
The sophomore passer still thinks UCLA can rally to make the Pac-12 title game.
“It’s one of the top teams in our conference, and we’re going to see them again,” Rosen said. “We’re a million percent going to see them again.”
Burns, a senior who won his first road game as Stanford’s starting quarterback, said he was never discouraged despite struggling early.
“Yeah, I got off to slow start, but it’s how we battled and finished that’s most important,” said Burns, who completed 13 of 25 pass attempts for 137 yards. “That shows what kind of team we have.”
Stanford’s defense held UCLA’s rushing game to only 77 yards.
The Bruins’ defense, led by 10 tackles each by linebacker Jayon Brown’s and cornerback Jaleel Wadood, kept Stanford and Heisman trophy candidate McCaffrey in check most of the game. While he rushed for 138 yards, his longest run was only 13 yards.
“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Mora, who is 0-6 against Shaw. “I think we could run the ball better, but in terms of physicality we weren’t pushed around.”