Five Things: UCLA vs. Stanford

The Bruins’ decision to opt out of a bowl this year didn’t turn out to mean much, considering their loss Saturday night dropped them below .500 for the fifth-consecutive season. UCLA football’s (3-4) 48-47 loss to Stanford (4-2) was one of its most back-and-forth affairs of the COVID-19-shortened season, and the Bruins have now dropped 12 of their last 13 to the Cardinal. After what will be the final UCLA football game for at least the next eight months, here are five of the biggest storylines that emerged from the season-ending loss.

Choke artists once again

Bruin fans probably thought things couldn’t get worse after last week’s loss to the Trojans.

A blown 18-point lead to their crosstown rivals wasn’t ideal, but it pales in comparison to the debacle that went down against their rivals to the north.

Holding on to a 34-20 lead with 2:35 to play, it wasn’t all that unexpected for UCLA to allow a long touchdown drive by Stanford. Once redshirt junior safety Quentin Lake recovered the Cardinal’s onside kick attempt and returned it into field goal range, that should have sealed the Bruin victory.

Instead of falling forward to run the clock and secure a field goal attempt to put the Bruins ahead by two scores, redshirt freshman quarterback Chase Griffin botched the exchange on a read option, and the Cardinal fell on the ball and tied the game just over a minute later.

Two overtimes later, the Bruins had gone from a near-lock victory to yet another heartbreaking loss to cap off a bizarre 2020 season.

It was a widely used phrase on Twitter after the game, and for good reason: UCLA keeps inventing new ways to lose to Stanford.

Griffin came to play

His fumble in the final minutes was one of the many mistakes that cost the Bruins the game, but that doesn’t take away from Griffin’s best game of his career.

Griffin’s first full drive started with his team down 20-3, and his ability to run the offense smoothly and efficiently helped UCLA put up 24 points on four-straight scoring drives. Most of the damage came on the ground, but Griffin made the plays he needed to – something he wasn’t able to do in a big spot against Oregon earlier this year.

The redshirt freshman finished 9-of-11 with four touchdowns and an astronomical 298.8 passer rating. His touchdown pass in the front right corner of the end zone to redshirt sophomore receiver Kyle Philips in the second overtime was perfectly placed and easily his best throw of the year.

Griffin certainly isn’t as much of a threat throwing deep or running the ball as junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson – who left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter – but he did his job and made all the plays he needed to.

UCLA had to run a very different, much more limited offense whenever Griffin played earlier this year, but Saturday was an exception. Even in a small sample size, it’s hard not to commend Griffin for stepping up in a big way against a rival in primetime.

Brown has a future in Westwood

As will be the case next season, the Bruins were without redshirt senior running back Demetric Felton on Saturday.

The running game didn’t suffer either, with graduate transfer Brittain Brown picking up 219 yards all on his own.

Brown has another year of eligibility remaining, and he’s well positioned to make the most out of it if he does return to UCLA. With Felton now in the NFL Draft, Brown will be the starter heading into 2021 should he return, even with redshirt freshman Keegan Jones making waves at times this year and four-star recruit Deshun Murrell arriving in Westwood next fall.

As the No. 2 running back, Brown scored five touchdowns from scrimmage and averaged 77.6 rushing yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry. With as smooth and consistent of a running style as Brown, imagine what he can do as a lead back.

Brown won’t bring the same dynamism to the table that Felton did, but Saturday’s big-time performance showed the Bruins would be happy to lean on him full time in 2021.

The roller coaster continues

The Bruins’ 2020 season has been defined by ups and downs.

A 28-point hole in Boulder nearly turned into a miraculous comeback win. An 18-point lead over USC turned into a demoralizing Trojan win on national television.

Saturday’s performance against Stanford may beat them all in terms of wild momentum swings and gut-punching results.

A potential touchdown drive was halted when Thompson-Robinson hurt his knee, and redshirt freshman kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira missed his first field goal of the year two plays later. The Cardinal went up 20-3, and the Bruins were without their starting running back and quarterback.

Then, Griffin and a playmaking UCLA defense stormed out to a 31-0 run to open the second half, capped off by a pick-six to go up by 14 with less than six minutes to play.

But for the second week in a row, the Bruins collapsed – as we’ve already been over – and the game went to overtime. A wild fourth-down touchdown seemed to keep their hopes alive, but coach Chip Kelly’s 2-point try failed.

It’s hard to focus on the negatives when there are so many, but that shouldn’t negate redshirt sophomore tight end Greg Dulcich’s two touchdowns, Brown’s career night or the three interceptions the defense forced out of Stanford quarterback Davis Mills.

It was like basketball, a true game of runs, and the up-and-down nature was more draining than anything else.

Uncertainty lies ahead

Felton has declared for the draft and redshirt senior defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa isn’t far behind, but there are more questions left to be answered in the upcoming months.

Most people seem to agree Thompson-Robinson should come back for his senior year. There is still a chance he leaves, however, considering his very public confidence and tendency to bet on himself.

If Thompson-Robinson does not return, the Bruins go from having one of the Pac-12’s most experienced quarterbacks to one of its least. Griffin played well Saturday, but Kelly and offensive coordinator Justin Frye would likely have to overhaul the playbook for the third time in four years if he were to become the full-time starter – and that’s assuming he beats out redshirt sophomore Colson Yankoff or any potential incoming transfers.

A late push on the first day of the early signing period launched UCLA’s 2021 recruiting class into the top 40, and Kelly has set himself up for another jump into the top 30.

That’s all up in the air, of course, and the Bruins are still likely to end the cycle without a five-star signee for the fourth-straight year under Kelly.

Recruiting, pro decisions, the quarterback room, eligibility issues and an ongoing pandemic will make this a taxing, stressful and all-important offseason for UCLA. The fate of Kelly will be decided in the coming months, whether he likes it or not.