LA Sports Hub
Fansided

UCLA Football: Bruins get the best of Stanford on the Farm

By Jamaal Artis

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 17: Kyle Philips #2 of the UCLA Bruins scores a touchdown while covered by Malik Antoine #3of the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on October 17, 2019 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 17: Kyle Philips #2 of the UCLA Bruins scores a touchdown while covered by Malik Antoine #3of the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on October 17, 2019 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The UCLA Football team headed into Thursday with only one win on the season and left with a definitive, confidence-boosting, road win.

The UCLA Football Bruins came out of their bye week recharged and took out their frustrations on the Stanford Cardinal. By winning their second game of the season the Bruins also erased an 11-game losing streak to the Cardinal.

After many years of talented players and teams, the one that finally broke the losing streak against the Cardinal ended up being the 1-5 Bruins who are losing players in the transfer portal and have the Bruins’ faithful questioning coach Chip Kelly‘s competency.

Despite being the most unlikely Bruins team to end the losing streak, they played their most complete game of the season. Unlike their upset win of Washington State, this time the Bruins didn’t leave their defense in Westwood and they also helped lead the Bruins to a 34-16 win.

Riding the Run game

A week ago the Cardinal held the Washington Huskies to just 88 yards on the ground, the Bruins had no such trouble and ran the ball down their throats.

The Bruins used a grinding running attack accumulating 263 yards on 43 carries. Joshua Kelley led the Bruins, collecting 176 yards and a touchdown. Dorian Thompson-Robinson used his feet as well as his arm getting 66 on the ground including his longest run of the season, a 39-yard jaunt that set up the Bruins second touchdown.

Bruins Defense Shows Up

The Bruins’ defense finally decided to show up and was integral in beating the Cardinal. The Bruins defense came into the game allowing 37.7 points a game and had the 92nd ranked defense in the nation.

They were gifted a third-string quarterback because the Cardinal had to start Jack West, but that was no guarantee of a win as the Bruins gave up 10 plus yards per pass play going into the game.

A different Bruins defense showed up holding the Cardinal to 198 yards of total offense, they made life hard for Mr. West, sacking him seven times. The Bruins were able to stop the Cardinal run game as well allowing just 1.8 yards per carry. Easily the best performance for the defensive unit on the season.

Next. Joe Maddon won't solve the Angels' problems. dark

Moving Forward

The UCLA Football Bruins now have momentum as they have a tough home game coming up next week against the Arizona State Sun Devils. They should learn from what they did right against Stanford and use that to salvage their season.

Home/UCLA