UCLA Football: Bruins Lose Heartbreaker Versus Stanford

The UCLA Football team had a dominating performance against the Stanford Cardinal… until the last two minutes of the game.

We all figured this game would be close from the opening kickoff, and we were treated to a fantastic yet heartbreaking game. That is UCLA Football.

This game had a Sunday Night Football game sort of feel to it, with most teams stacking up the line and trying to pound to football. It was a slug fest with not much margin separating these two teams.

UCLA gave up an opening drive field goal to Stanford but responded with a touchdown as the first quarter came to a close to give them a 7-3 lead.

UCLA eventually added another field goal from freshman kicker JJ Molson to lead 10-3 at the half.

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The third quarter saw Stanford’s star running back Christian McCaffery find gaps in between the tackles for big runs. He would finish the game with 26 carries for 138 yards but he did not find the end zone. The Bruins defense did a fantastic job “containing” the star tailback all game.

Quarterback Josh Rosen got great protection all night from his offensive line which let his receivers get open downfield. However, Rosen missed Jordan Lasley and Nate Iese on two downfield passes that most likely would have resulted into touchdowns.

Rosen has struggled with the deep ball this season, overthrowing most of his receivers. I expect that pattern to change. UCLA had a hard time running the ball, which isn’t much of a surprise considering how hard nosed Stanford’s defensive front is.

Again, more drops from the wide receivers. I harped on this earlier, the receiving corps needs to step up for Josh Rosen, but Darren Andrews and Ishmael Adams had two huge drops that would have resulted in big plays for the Bruins. Adams also muffed a punt in the fourth quarter that would have been very costly.

After UCLA failed to convert on 3rd and 2 midway through the 4th quarter, they elected to punt and give the ball back to Stanford. After the punt, the Bruins were flagged for a 15-yard penalty for kick-catch interference.

This was a huge blow, as the Cardinal were now given great field position to start their final drive. They also had no timeouts remaining.

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The Bruins could not get a stop, and the drive ended when QB Ryan Burns threw a beautiful fade to the tight end in the back corner of the end zone to seal the win for the Cardinal. Another heartbreaking loss versus Stanford, which has happened all too much recently.