The Cardinal’s two-game winning streak ended with a 38-13 loss to No. 12 UCLA Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
The Cardinal’s streak of 33 possessions without a touchdown ended in the fourth quarter when Tanner McKee completed a 2-yard pass to tight end Benjamin Yurosek on fourth-and-goal. It was the first time Stanford reached the end zone since the opening drive two weeks ago. Kicker Joshua Karty scored the team’s next 31 points over two-plus games of play time.
Field goals were enough in close wins against Notre Dame and Arizona State, but it wasn’t nearly enough against UCLA , which ran for 324 yards and won its eighth straight home game. Using walk-on Caleb Robinson as the starting running back due to injuries, Stanford drove 61 yards for a field goal on its opening possession, but was held to 34 yards on its six other drives in the first half. Meanwhile, the Bruins scored 24 points on its first four possessions to take command and beat the Cardinal for the third time in four meetings.
Zach Charbonnet, the Pac-12’s leading rusher at 127.7 yards a game, had 198 yards and three TDs on 21 carries. He put the game away with a 37-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1 with three seconds left in the third quarter that made the score 31-6.