Football Readies to Host Stanford Saturday
GAME 7: Stanford at UCLA
Venue: Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl
Kickoff Time: 4 p.m., PT
Television: ESPN (Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, Taylor McGregor)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570 - Josh Lewin (play-by-play),Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (reporter)
Sirius: 106 / XM: Ch. 207 / Internet: 967
UCLA (3-3, 3-3) will host Stanford (3-2, 3-2) on Saturday, December 19 in a Pac-12 Conference matchup to be played on Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl at 5:00 p.m. PT. The game will be televised by ESPN2. The Bruin IMG Radio Network will broadcast the contest, which will also be aired over SiriusXM, uclabruins.com and tunein.com and the TuneIn App.
The Bruins own a 46-42-3 overall advantage in the series against Stanford, which started in 1925, and has seen the teams battle each season since 1946. UCLA ended a stretch of 11 straight Cardinal wins in the series last season on the Farm. The Bruins had captured the previous five meetings prior to that Cardinal streak. Last season, UCLA built a 21-10 lead at halftime and never looked back, in taking a 34-16 verdict over Stanford on a Thursday night. It was the first win at Stanford since a 45-17 victory on Sept. 1, 2007 and the first win overall since 2008 when the Bruins won a 23-20 battle in the Rose Bowl. In that 2008 victory, Bruin quarterback Kevin Craft completed six straight passing attempts during an 11-play scoring drive which culminated on a 7-yard toss to tight end Cory Harkey with 10 seconds to play in the contest. It marked the last UCLA win over the Cardinal in the Rose Bowl. In 2018 in the Rose Bowl, Stanford prevailed 49-42 in a shootout. The Bruins outgained the Cardinal, 528 (466 passing) to 470 (344 passing) yards.
THE WATCH LIST
• In its three 2020 losses, UCLA has committed 11 of its 12 turnovers on the season. It turned the ball over four times at Colorado, four times at Oregon and three times vs. USC. Under Coach Kelly, UCLA is +15 turnovers in wins and -26 in losses ... UCLA committed just one miscue in its win against Cal and went without a turnover in decisions over both Arizona and Arizona State.
• QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (5,067 yds) needs 231 passing yards to move past Troy Aikman (5,298) and into 7th on the all-time school list ... With three TD passes, DTR (40) will move past Troy Aikman (41) and Cory Paus (42) into sixth on the all-time school list.
• RB Demetric Felton, Jr. (99) and WR Kyle Philips (97) have a chance to become UCLA's 27th and 28th players to reach the 100-career catch milestone.
• The Bruins have been outscored by 14 points in the three losses this season (6 - Colorado, 3 - Oregon, 5 - USC).
• Defensive Growth: UCLA's sacks progression -- (NCAA rank/avg) 2020: 8th/3.50 per game; 2019: 62nd/2.2; 2018: 118th/1.25; UCLA's tackles for loss progression -- (NCAA rank/avg) 2020: 24th/7.5 per game; 2019: 61st/6.0; 2018: 115th/4.6
• Thompson-Robinson's progression -- Pass Efficiency Rating: 2020-160.49; 2019-134.86; 2018-122.28 ... The last Bruin QB to post a rating above 160.0 for a season was Drew Olson in 2005 (161.6) ... Brett Hundley (2012-147.7, 2013-153.7, 2014-152.7) is the only Bruin QB since 2005 to finish with a rating above 147.0 for a season.
• The last time UCLA finished over the .500 mark in conference play was 2015 (5-4); the Bruins were 8-5 overall that season which is its last over .500 finish.
• 10 different players have caught UCLA's season total of 14 touchdown passes. Felton (3) and Greg Dulcich (3) are the the only receivers with more than one scoring reception in 2020.
• JC transfer LB Caleb Johnson is 10th in the NCAA in sacks/g (0.92) ... Johnson paces the Bruins in sacks with 5.5 (most by a Bruin LB since Aaron Wallace had 7.0 in 2015) and is second in TFLs at 7.0 ... He led UCLA with a career-high 10 tackles at ASU, 2.5 for loss.
• UCLA's average rushing offense per game currently sits at 220.5 yards per game, which rates 16th in NCAA and second in Pac-12 ... The Bruins have surpassed the 200-yard average milestone three times since the 1990 season: 2014-209.5, 1995-212.5 and 1991-200.1.
• Junior college transfer LB Mitchell Agude leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss this season and he is the only Bruin to have at least one TFL in each of the first six games ... His 1.4 TFL/g mark is 29th-best nationally ... He registered a season-high 3.5 TFLs vs. the Ducks ... Agude was also credited with the forced fumble which was returned for a TD at Oregon and two forced fumbles vs. Arizona.
• Felton ranks 13th nationally (third in Pac-12) in rushing yards per game this week (115.6) ... Chip Kelly has had a top-10 rusher in all but two of his seasons in the Pac-12 -- 2007-Jonathan Stewart (7th), not 2008, 2009-LaMichael James (9th), 2010-LaMichael James (1st), 2011-LaMichael James (1st), 2012-Kenjon Barner (4th), 2018-Joshua Kelley (9th), not 2019, 2020-Felton (12th).
• The UCLA defense has 45 tackles for loss in the first six games this season ... The 7.5 average per game ranks 24th in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 ... The 10.0 tackles for loss earlier this season at Oregon are the most since last year against Stanford (11 TFLs and 7 sacks).
• Thompson-Robinson's .833 completion percentage (30-36 for 364 yards and four TDs against USC) is the highest by a Bruin QB who attempted at least 30 passes in a game since at least 1980 (only records available).