Stanford outplays UCLA with strong offensive, defensive performances

PASADENA — UCLA dominated the first four minutes of its game against Stanford Friday. It got dominated the final 56.

In UCLA’s 31-10 loss to Stanford, UCLA’s offense struggled to gain consistent yardage against a vaunted Stanford defense ranked No. 7 in the nation in points allowed coming into the game. That was expected.

What came as a shock to over 70,000 fans in attendance and anyone who has watched both teams play this season was Stanford’s offense. The Cardinal came into the game averaging a Pac-12-worst 25.2 points per game and played without their top offensive weapon in senior wide receiver Ty Montgomery. The Bruins, meanwhile, had just strung three of their best defensive performances of the season together and finally seemed to be developing into a lockdown defense.

So when the Cardinal came out with five scoring drives of 60 or more yards together, 31 points and 436 total yards, the Bruins didn’t have an answer for the suddenly potent Stanford offense.

“We came out, got on them early, energy was up and everything and from then on it was just kinda mellow from there,” said sophomore outside linebacker Myles Jack. “And I think with those types of teams ­– we did that to Oregon too – we just have to continue going, we can’t be up and down like a roller coaster.”

Leading Stanford’s steady and relentless offense was redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Hogan. Hogan – who ranks in the bottom third of Pac-12 quarterbacks in yards, passer rating, touchdowns and interceptions – was near-perfect against UCLA.

Finishing 16-19 for 234 yards and two touchdowns, Hogan displayed accuracy and vision in the passing game, as well as an ability to extend plays with his legs. He picked apart UCLA’s defense, given an abundance of time in the pocket and escaping defenders when UCLA’s pass rush did break through.

Those breakthroughs were rare for the Bruins, though. Facing a Cardinal offensive line which often featured seven linemen, the Bruins’ pass rush rarely bothered Hogan, struggling to find a way through the sheer mass and numbers of Stanford’s protection.

“We tried man, we tried zone, we rushed four, we rushed five, we rushed six,” said coach Jim Mora. ” … We just couldn’t get him to the ground.”

Further complicating the matter, said defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, was Stanford’s success running the ball. The Cardinal averaged 4.5 yards per carry and rhythmically churned out those yards with consistency. Even when the ball carrier seemed to be stopped right away, he emerged from the pile several yards downfield, a product of the Cardinal’s trademark physicality.

“Stanford did what they usually do: just kinda mush you and get three yards,” Jack said.

Forced to respect the run, UCLA couldn’t send extra pass rushers, leaving Hogan plenty of time to wait for his receivers to gain separation. Hogan and the Cardinal had very few negative plays, and the combination of their steady run game and passing success allowed them to put together long drives and keep the ball away from the Bruins.

Stanford finished the game controlling possession for 37:49 of the 60 minutes, with UCLA unable to stop anything Stanford did.

Ultimately, Ulbrich said, the Bruins’ defensive struggles came down to the same problem they had early in the season: lapses in their fundamentals.

“Our execution today wasn’t very good,” Ulbrich said. “And it was technical stuff more than it was schematic stuff. Just tackling and getting off blocks and covering your guy, simple stuff.”

To Jack, it was even simpler than that.

“They played their game better than we played their game,” he said.