Stanford rallies for late win on end-zone fade at UCLA

Stanford has had UCLA’s number recently but I think it’s time for that to end.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – UCLA coach Jim Mora has a rule that the team moves on from its last game after 24 hours, win or lose. Runs of 8, 6 and 9 by McCaffrey led to a 44-yard field goal by Ukropina.

“Every loss stings”, Mora said. UCLA’s deep collection of running backs includes Nate Starks, Bolu Olorunfunmi and leading rusher Soso Jamabo, who did not suit up for last week’s game for an undisclosed reason but is expected to play Saturday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he’s 100 percent before he steps back on the field and that won’t be this week”. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, just losing’s very bad”. The penalty provided a crucial shift in momentum for the Cardinal, and Burns followed it up by completing 5 of his next 8 passes, culminating in his 8-yard toss to Arcega-Whiteside.

“We took some body blows, but we persevered”, said Stanford coach David Shaw.

That changed in a hurry in the final two minutes, when senior quarterback Ryan Burns led the Cardinal on a 70-yard touchdown drive to give them a lead with 24 seconds remaining.

The result: 92 yards on 28 carries in a 22-13 loss to No. 7 Stanford (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12). It was a big leap in production for someone with only three catches for 44 yards this season entering the game.

“When he starts calling more passing plays, it means he has confidence in us wide receivers and the quarterback to make the play”, Arcega-Whiteside said. On the other side of the ball, the Tennessee offensive line has been a mess all season and things aren’t going to get any better against what is by far the best defense the Vols’ have been up against all year. With Christian McCaffrey’s explosiveness on both offense and special teams, the Bruins may be closer to Stanford than they have been in a while, but they have some ground still to cover in order to reach the Cardinal in the Pac-12 chase. For a while, the Pac-12’s map was charted through OR, which used a versatile, explosive offense to win three straight conference titles from 2009-11.

McCaffrey is now Stanford’s leading rusher and receiver with 53 carries and 10 receptions for 404 total yards, so it is no secret that Ryan Burn’s number one priority is going to be feed the ball to #5 and let him make big plays. “He’s not for us”, Shaw said recently. UCLA has won an impressive seven of its last eight games against ranked opponents, losing only to Stanford last season. Burns finished his day with 137 yards passing, but telegraphed an interception straight into the hands of linebacker Kenny Young. They averaged 33 points per game through the first two and have averaged only 15 per game since.

The second Stanford turnover was a fumble caused by UCLA safety Tahaan Goodman’s second big hit of the game. It then marched to a field goal that made it 10-3 in the second quarter.

The Stanford Cardinal (2-0) are coming from a 27-10 win over the USC Trojans in week 3. The change was inspired in part by Stanford’s traditional approach to the game, with the Bruins hoping to match it. UCLA has produced more than 350 yards of offense in each of its first three games this season, yet labored to finish off victories over UNLV and BYU.