PALO ALTO “”mdash; The UCLA football team knew Stanford would hand the ball off to its budding star, running back Toby Gerhart, and do so often.
That part was clear, given the fact that Gerhart has quickly become one of the nation’s most dynamic offensive weapons.
Acknowledging the senior’s rare combination of speed and power might have helped UCLA compose its game plan. Stopping the conference’s leading rusher, though, was another thing.
Despite having two weeks to prepare for Stanford and its bruising runner, UCLA’s vaunted defense allowed 174 rushing yards, more than 100 over its average through the first three games. Gerhart did much of the damage, running freely and willingly on his way to picking up 134 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 29 carries.
The Bruins found a way to stop Gerhart near the end of Saturday’s 24-16 loss, but by that point, it was too late.
“If you can’t stop the run, it’s going to be a long day,” defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough said.
Facing their toughest obstacle of the young season, the Bruins (3-1, 0-1 Pac-10) were unable to contain the centerpiece of the Cardinal offensive attack.
When Gerhart wasn’t bursting through the line, he was dashing to the outside on designed sweeps and tosses.
“We knew we were going to get a heavy dose of No. 7, and that’s what we got,” sophomore safety Tony Dye said.
With the Bruin defense anticipating the run, the Cardinal (4-1, 3-0) also mixed things up.
“The more you pound and slug away, the more you have to add guys to the box,” coach Rick Neuheisel said.
Perhaps taking advantage of the Bruins’ concentration on Gerhart, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck torched UCLA’s secondary for 198 yards on an efficient 14-of-20 passing.
UCLA also found ways to hurt itself, committing six penalties for 57 yards ““ the biggest miscue coming early in the second quarter, when sophomore safety Rahim Moore was flagged for a personal foul hit on a Stanford receiver. To make things worse, Moore suffered a concussion on the play and did not return to the field.
Moore’s departure forced Dye to shift from strong safety to free safety, making him the last line of defense. Dye finished with a career-high 10 tackles ““ undoubtedly a nightmare statistic for any coaching staff hoping to stop the run.
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh credited Gerhart following the game.
“I’ve always said that Toby’s an NFL back playing college football,” Harbaugh said. “(UCLA) had two weeks to prepare. They seemed very confident they were going to shut (Gerhart) down, and it didn’t happen.”
Gerhart found multiple victims.
UCLA’s leading tackler on the day was senior cornerback Alterraun Verner, a player who generally roams on the edges. He made 11 tackles, a handful on Gerhart.
Fellow cornerback Sheldon Price, a true freshman, also posted a career-high nine tackles.
“Gerhart gets the ball and he’s hitting it downhill,” Verner said. “He gets the tough yardage for them. He’s the true definition of a competitor.”
Despite Gerhart’s dominance and Stanford’s ability to generate a number of methodical drives, the Bruins only trailed by eight points with three minutes left in the game.
After redshirt freshman running back Johnathan Franklin ran for a touchdown to cut Stanford’s lead to 24-13 with more than 11 minutes remaining, sophomore Sean Westgate blocked a punt to set the Bruins up with good field position.
UCLA settled for redshirt junior place kicker Kai Forbath’s third field goal of the game to cut the deficit to 24-16.
“We need more touchdowns rather than just field goals,” Neuheisel said.
“When we get in the red zone, we’re not able to score,” Franklin said. “That really kills us.”
The Bruins made yet another defensive stop and redshirt senior quarterback Kevin Craft, who finished 22-of-34 for 204 yards passing, looked to duplicate his late-game heroics from a season ago.
But after a fourth-down conversion on the first set of plays, Craft threw four consecutive incomplete passes to all but seal the Bruins’ fate.
With the victory, Stanford remained atop the Pac-10 standings and snapped a five-game losing streak to UCLA. The Cardinal have won three straight contests.
Despite dropping the Pac-10 opener, Neuheisel remained optimistic about where the team is heading.
“It’s a reminder that we’re not there yet,” he said. “But I think most people would have taken 3-1. We can’t lose sight of the big picture.”