The sixth-ranked Stanford Cardinal (2-0) travel right down the road to the Rose Bowl to take on the UCLA Bruins (2-1) in what could be a PAC-12 championship preview.
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During the first three games of the season UCLA head coach Jim Mora has held players out for various reasons.
If the Bruins are going to stop their eight game losing streak against Stanford then stopping the potent McCaffrey will be the key. You have to be conscious of your zone and who is in your zone.
If Stanford hopes to make the College Football Playoff, a win down at the Rose Bowl-where they are 5-1-would be a good start. “Losing like that is just bad”.
Against Alabama and Stanford, USC only scored one touchdown making Browne the scapegoat for USC’s offensive troubles. Ryan Burns completed 8 of 14 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Linebacker Joey Alfieri “had a ideal rush”, Thomas said. “If it wasn’t for that, then I’d be satisfied”.
A perfectly placed ball from quarterback Ryan Burns to wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside with 24 seconds left gave the Cardinals the win.
Rosen finished 18 of 27 passing for 248 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
Rosen is third in the Pac-12 in passing yards per game (305.7), but is ninth among conference starters in passing efficiency. “We’re a million percent going to see them again”.
Elsewhere, running back Christian McCaffrey toted the rock 26 times for 138 yards on a night when UCLA made a concerted effort to slow down the Heisman Trophy candidate. He had a 70-yard run for a score, and he returned a kick 96 yards while racking up 369 all-purpose yards. Rosen hit Iese for receptions of 20 and 11 yards, and coupled with tough inside runs, marched inside Stanford’s 20 before Molson booted a 35-yard field goal with 6:32 left in the game. “All I know is that we have to do a better job or we will lose Friday night against Washington”.
Central to the UCLA defense’s success were two turnovers in the first half that netted UCLA 10 points.
During one particular stretch from the first quarter into the second, BYU went three-and-out three times in a row, followed by a drive that ended in a UCLA interception. McCaffrey had 369 total yards and four touchdowns past year and McCaffrey proved that performance against the Bruins to not have been a fluke by earning the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a season with 3,864. UCLA is 34-1 under Mora when leading at halftime. Last week against USC, Stanford’s defense got stronger throughout the game – something that has been a staple of Stanford’s success.
Stanford needed just 31 yards of offense for another field goal to cut UCLA’s lead to one point with 10:55 left to play in the game.
UCLA answered with its most successful possession since the second quarter.
Beyond that, there is the factor of playing away from home, the first time Stanford will do so this year.
At this point, Christian McCaffrey is the rare college athlete who needs no introduction to a general audience.
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“I think our approach needs to remain consistent, and that means that we just have to focus on the process each week of preparing for our opponent, taking care of what we can take care of, and managing our emotions, and work hard, and stay focused”, he said.
