UCLA barely gets by California, 36-34

For the first time since 1998, UCLA has defeated California at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

It was an ugly game that was closer than it should have been for the Bruins, who ended up winning the game, 36-34, nonetheless. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak and kept UCLA’s faint hopes of a Pac-12 Conference title alive.

The Bruins looked like they were going to give up a game-winning field goal toward the end of the fourth quarter, but a questionable interception by Marcus Rios on a questionable Golden Bears play call ended the Cal drive early and sealed the outcome.

If not for two first-half fumbles, the margin of victory likely would have been much greater. The Bruins fumbled twice deep in their own zone -- once by quarterback Brett Hundley and the other time by running back Paul Perkins. Cal recovered both and turned those into scores.

The big turning point seemed to be at the end of the first half. The Bears had pinned UCLA deep in its own end of the field but instead of playing it safe, the Bruins chipped their way down the field. The touchdown came when Perkins caught a screen pass in the flat and followed his blockers all the way down the sideline for a 49-yard score. The 95-yard drive took only seven plays and a little over a minute to complete.

But in the second half, Cal kept clawing back. A Hundley interception lead to another Cal score, while UCLA couldn’t create separation and continued to settle for field goals and short screen passes. The Cal secondary is literally the worst unit in the nation, statistically, but the Bruins didn’t take many shots downfield and finished 2-12 on third down.

The two biggest playmakers were the two quarterbacks, partially because of their play and partially because the collective secondaries were just not good.

Hundley picked apart a Bear secondary that is statistically the worst in the nation, completing 31 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns. He was helped out by Paul Perkins, who combined for 161 offensive yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game with an apparent wrist injury.

Cal quarterback Jared Goff passed for 303 yards and two touchdowns, but that final interception was costly.

A win is a win, but the reality for this Bruins team is that it’s played one complete game all season, at Arizona State. Besides that dominating win, it’s either played down to opponents (Texas, Utah, Virginia, Memphis) or been dominated (Oregon). Saturday was much of the same. The Bruins should and could have won easily, but kept it close with mental mistakes and turnovers.

Remember, this is a Cal team that lost to Washington, 31-7. If UCLA was looking for a statement win to get back into the Pac-12 picture, this game wasn’t it.

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Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Cal was inching toward field goal range, and instead went for the home run ball. The pass was intercepted by Jaleel Wadood, but he seemed to bobble the ball as he was heading out of bounds. My opinion? It’s not an interception.

The play went under review, though, and the ruling was confirmed. What an absolute swing. UCLA is going to win this game.

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UCLA’s saving grace has been the defensive line. On third down, the Bruins rushed just three, and still managed to pressure quarterback Jared Goff. On fourth down, Cal picked up a huge first down right at the 40-yard line. With about a minute left, Cal is inching closer to field goal range.

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Scary moment on the kickoff, as return man Trevor Davis seemed to take a knee to the head. He remained on the field for some time, and then was taken off on a stretcher as the crowd chanted his name. It’s unclear what the severity of his injury is, but let’s hope this is more precautionary than anything else and that he’s not seriously injured. He raised his arms for a thumbs-up and is moving his limbs, so that’s a good sign.

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UCLA 36, Cal 34 (3:40 left in the fourth quarter)

The big play of this drive was a 14-yard rush from Hundley that turned into a 29-yard play after Hundley was hit out of bounds. On third down in the red zone, Hundley tried a quarterback draw and was stopped well short of the line. UCLA settles for a field goal -- again.

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Boss-man Mike Hiserman makes a good point. Imagine how good Jared Goff would be with some protection and a running game? He’s tearing UCLA apart almost single-handedly.

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Cal 34, UCLA 33 (6:50 left in the fourth quarter)

Another holding penalty on UCLA’s defense gave Cal another first down. The Bruins now have six penalties for 63 yards on the day. The next play, Cal quarterback Jared Goff lofted a perfect pass down the sideline for a touchdown, giving the Bears the lead again. Anthony Jefferson was absolutely burned on the scoring play.

The Bears’ two-point conversion failed, so it’s a one point game.

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At one point this week, I said that as long as Brett Hundley has time in the pocket, he’ll be fine. I was wrong. Hundley had all the time in the world to throw the ball, but was then intercepted on third down. Cal now has the ball with a great chance to regain the lead. Horrible mistake from Hundley.

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Paul Perkins seems to be injured. ESPN is reporting that its a wrist injury, so Jordon James will probably see the majority of the handouts from here on out.

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Huge stop for the UCLA defense. Eric Kendricks sacked Jared Goff on third down, giving the Bruins the ball back early in this fourth quarter. The Bruin coverage down the field looked a lot better on this drive than it had previously, and the Bruins will get the ball back with a chance to pad their lead.

Again, though, Cal is able to pin UCLA deep in its own zone. The Bruins will start this drive on their own one-yard line.

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UCLA 33, Cal 28 (0:12 left in the third quarter)

UCLA is playing this drive conservatively, sort of just taking whatever the Cal defense gives them. Nothing wrong with that, as the Bruins are picking up yardage, but it’s also not like this Bear defense is good. It’s actually last in the nation in pass defense, but the Bruins haven’t taken a lot of shots downfield. It worked on this drive, though, as Brett Hundley scampered around the edge rush for a 15-yard touchdown run.

UCLA went for two and failed, so it’s now a 5 point game with the fourth quarter looming.

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Cal 28, UCLA 27 (2:33 left in the third quarter)

Jared Goff got hammered on this drive on multiple occasions, but still managed to led Cal down the field on some quick-release short passes. He was helped out by Fabian Moreau, who was called for pass interference on third down.

The Bears scored on a wild pass from Goff, who found Trevor Davis in the middle of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass. On the play, UCLA was called for two penalties--pass interference and holding. Cal still scored.

Again, UCLA will lose this game if they don’t take a significant lead. Cal can score in bunches, and this secondary looks awful.

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This third quarter has been light on the points, heavy on the punts. UCLA goes three and out again, and is now one-for-nine on third-down conversions. You don’t need me to tell you that’s not very good.

UCLA got called for fair catch interference on the punt, which will give Cal a great chance to take the lead -- again.

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Myles Jack came very close to an interception, but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Instead, Cal punted for the seventh time today. The Bears are not winning many aspects of this game, but punting is one of them. Again, UCLA will start a drive in its own red zone.

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Quick three and out for UCLA deep its own zone. Cal gives its offense a good shot to take the lead here.

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UCLA’s defensive line has dominated this game. The Bears can’t get any sort of running game going, especially between the tackles, and are averaging 1.9 yards per rush. Cal had another short drive because of this, and punted.

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UCLA 27, Cal 21 (10:51 left in the third quarter)

Maybe that’s why Cal keeps using squib kicks. Mossi Johnson returned this kick 67 yards.

A few plays later, Brett Hundley fumbled for the second time in the game. This one was recovered by his own offensive line, though, giving the Bruins another chance to score. On second down, the Bruins tried a play action fade to defensive lineman Kenny Clark, which looked good on paper until Kenny Clark tried to catch the ball. He’s a lineman. He shouldn’t be running routes. On third down, Hundley couldn’t find any openings and the Bruins settled for a field goal.

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If UCLA keeps Cal in this game, it’s not going to end well for the Bruins. Jared Goff is too good and the secondary is too bad. UCLA needs to create some seperation and not give the Bears a window.

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UCLA 24, Cal 21 (12:48 left in the third quarter)

Another big pass completion from Jared Goff set running back Daniel Lasco up for another short score. Fabian Moreau fell down on that big pass play, and just like that, Cal is back in it.

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Again, Cal with another curious decision to try a short squib kick instead of just kicking away to Ishmael Adams. The Bears are consistenly giving UCLA the ball near midfield instead of just kicking away, which sort of defeats the whole purpose of avoiding the big play.

On third down, Brett Hundley was stuffed, and then tried to run a quick play on fourth. Cal stuffed Hundley again, and are getting the ball back with good field position of its own.

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This game would probably be a blowout with the turnovers. The Bruins have fumbled twice, which led to Cal’s only points of the day. The Bruins are outgaining the Bears 363-144 in total yardage, are are averaging 8.1 yards per play compared to Cal’s 4.1 yards per play.

Not counting his fumble, Brett Hundley is on fire. He’s completed 19 of his 25 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Granted, a lot of those yards were picked up by screen passes, but those are impressive numbers nonetheless.

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UCLA 24, Cal 14 (Halftime)

Despite the poor field position, UCLA had a nice drive down the field. Led by Brett Hundley, the Bruins got down into Cal’s side of the field before Paul Perkins got a screen pass and followed his blockers all the way down the sideline for a 49-yard touchdown. Perkins now has two touchdown passes on the day, and his second gives the Bruins a nice cushion headed into the break.

That was a seven play, 95 yard touchdown drive that took just one minute and four seconds to complete. Wow. The Bruins could have played that conservatively, but the decision to go for it paid off big.

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Both of these teams are in love with the screen right now. The Bears missed on third down, though, and UCLA is going to get a chance to add to its lead with 1:17 left in the half. Another great Cal punt will give the Bruins poor field position, though.

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UCLA 17, Cal 14 (2:50 left in the second quarter)

After a few more wide receiver screens, UCLA got down the field before getting stuffed on third down. On fourth down, Paul Perkins picked up 12 huge yards for the fresh set of downs. A few plays later, Jordon James ran a tough 11 yards and got into the end zone. Cal’s secondary really cannot tackle, as James carried a defender for about seven of those 11 yards.

It’s amazing what this offense can do when its not fumbling, right?

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Cal 14, UCLA 10 (5:46 left in the second quarter)

On UCLA’s first fumble of the game, Cal got a big third-down conversion in the red zone and eventually scored. On the Bruins second fumble of the game, the Bruins did the same. Jared Goff did a nice job of throwing the ball on the run. On second and goal, Cal wide receiver Chris Harper made an incredible one-handed catch in the back corner of the end zone for the score. He was able to haul it in even with Ishmael Adams getting called for pass interference. Two turnovers leads to 14 Cal points, and the lead.

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Another huge fumble from the Bruins. This time it’s Paul Perkins. Cal now gets the ball on UCLA’s 20-yard line. That’s a huge, huge swing.

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Jared Goff wasn’t supposed to be the running quarterback, but he picked up 19 yards on a nice scramble down the middle of the field. Then, Goff dropped a beautiful pass down the side of the field for a 38-yard gain. Fortunately for the Bruins, that play was called back due to a chop block. That’s a solid 53-yard swing for Cal. Oof.

The Bears couldn’t make up the yard difference, and punted.

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UCLA 10, Cal 7 (9:44 left in the second quarter)

Instead of kicking the ball off to Ishmael Adams, the Bears tried a mini-squib and gave UCLA great field position near midfield to start this drive. Fairly weird decision from Cal, but the Bruins couldn’t turn it into a touchdown. Brett Hundley missed Devin Fuller on a bubble screen, which would have been an easy score. Instead, a 37-yard field goal from Ka’imi Fairbairn gives the Bruins the lead.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a game dominated by offense? The Pac-12 is odd.

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Brett Hundley has seven turnovers this season. All seven times, UCLA opponents have turned those turnovers into points. Translation? When Hundley gives the ball up, it’s usually deep in his own side of the field. Doesn’t do the Bruins any favors.

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UCLA 7, Cal 7 (3:33 left in the first quarter)

It didn’t take long for Cal to tie this game up after Brett Hundley fumbled the ball on his own side of the field. The Bears had to convert a long third down in the red zone, but then Daniel Lasco scored on a three-yard dive.

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UCLA’s first penalty of the game was on Jordan Payton, who got called for holding. On second down, Brett Hundley tried to scramble and didn’t protect the football. His fumble gives Cal great field position and a chance to tie the game.

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Cal punts and missed nailing the Bruins on the one-yard line by inches. The Bruins get the ball back with a chance to extend their lead.

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That third-down sack of Goff came from Ellis McCarthy. It was UCLA’ second sack of the game. The Bruins haven’t had more than three sacks in a game this season.

Side note: Ellis McCarthy has a Wikipedia page, and the picture on that wikipedia page is of Lions’ defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Couldn’t tell you why.

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Cal return man Trevor Davis returned the kickoff 45 yards, so Cal began this drive with very good field position. The Bears picked up a first down, and then Priest Willis got called for pass interference.

Bruin players and coaches talked all week about preparing for backup quarterback Luke Rubenzer, who is more of a threat to run than usual starter Jared Goff. He entered the game and ran the ball for five yards, putting Cal right on the brink of field goal range. Goff was sacked on third down and fumbled the ball, and even though the Bears recovered, they were out of field goal range. At the end of the first quarter, it’s Cal ball on fourth down.

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UCLA 7, Cal 0 (3:33 left in the first quarter)

Thomas Duarte had just two catches in his last two games. He’s already got three today against Cal, including two receptions on this drive.

It looked like UCLA was going to have another offensive drive fizzle near midfield, but Coach Jim Mora decided to go for it on fourth and short. Brett Hundley earned the first down on a quarterback sneak, and on the next play, Myles Jack earned 13 tough yards on carry down the sideline, stiff arming like a mad man.

Jack wasn’t the Bruin running back who scored, though. That was Paul Perkins, who caught a short screen pass on third down and did a nice job of finding the end zone. It’s Perkins’ first receiving touchdown of the season, and UCLA takes the early lead.

Side note: Mora said this week that all punishment for Eddie Vanderdoes throwing a punch against Oregon would be handled “in-house.” Apparently that punishment was missing one series. Vanderdoes sat out the first three defensive plays of the game, then went back out onto the field for Cal’s second drive of the game.

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Cal ran the ball its first series, then ran a nice playaction fake on the first play of its second drive. Linebacker Myles Jack bit hard, and the Bears gained 39 yards. On third down, Cal ran a Jet sweep that earned a first down by less than a foot.

The next play, though, Owamagbe Odighizuwa used a nice inside move to sack Bear quarterback Jared Goff for a loss of 12 yards. Cal couldn’t make up the difference, and punted for the second time in this game. UCLA gets the ball back with 8 minutes left in the first quarter, trying to score the first points of the game.

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If you’ve got questions or just general statements, tweet at me (@everettcook) or email me (everettcook@latimes.com). I’ll do my best to answer.

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It didn’t take long for Brett Hundley to air it out. Thomas Duarte, who has been quiet the last two games, was wide open down the field for a gain of 29. But the Bruins couldn’t get another first down, and punted the ball near midfield.

This was supposed to be a high scoring game, but so far, both teams have punted fairly quickly. Cal has yet to attempt a pass, while UCLA has yet to run the ball.

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The talk this week has been about Cal quarterback Jared Goff. Cal ran the ball on its first three plays of the game, though, and was stuffed short of the line. Kenny Clark had a nice play on third down, and just like that, UCLA is going to get the ball.

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UCLA wins the coin toss and defers. Also, Conor McDermott is officially starting at left tackle, and Malcolm Bunche is bumped inside to guard. That’s a big left side of the line, and can only help what has been a very inconsistent unit.

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Again, I’m not in Berkeley, but Memorial Stadium doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to full. Like, nowhere close. Chris Foster, who is at the game, says that there may be more UCLA fans than Cal fans at the game.

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Speaking of that offensive line, it looks like we are going to see some changes to the starting lineup. Redshirt sophomore Conor McDermott is warming up with the first team at left tackle, while usual tackle Malcolm Bunche has shifted to guard. That bumps Kenny Lacy, who was starting only because Alex Redmond went down with a leg injury, back to the bench.

Redmond doesn’t appear to be playing, but Simon Goines, who has yet to play in a game this year after undergoing ankle surgery in August, is warming up with the second team. Whether or not he sees the field is unclear, but it’s an encouraging sign that he’s even suited up.

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For a little more on the history of this rivalry, here is Chris Foster, reporting from Memorial Stadium:

There are a lot of ghosts in Memorial Stadium for today’s UCLA-California game, the 84^th meeting between the two universities.

Former California quarterback Mike Pawlawski was two years old when the Isaac Curtis-led Bears beat the Bruins, 31-24. Curtis left after the season due to eligibility issues, surfacing at San Diego State the following season. The Bears were slapped with a three-year probation and didn’t beat the Bruins again until Pawlawski’s 1990 team.

The 18-game losing streak stuck in some gullets. UCLA leads the series, 51-32-1.

Pawlawski said that in 1990, “we were a better football team than in years past. [Coach] Bruce Snyder brought in a lot of talent. Bruce wasn’t a real rah-rah guy, but he had us come into the stadium through the student section for that game. Everyone knew this was going to be with day.”

It was … the Bears won, 38-31.

Just another memorable Bear-Bruin meeting.

The game decided the Rose Bowl in the 1974 season, with John Sciarra’s UCLA team beating Chuck Muncie’s Bears, 28-14.

The two schools first played in 1933, a game that ended in a scoreless tie. Cal won 14 of the next 20 games, and treated UCLA poorly, according to old-time Bruins, Elvin C. “Ducky” Drake in particular. Drake, a former UCLA student, coach and trainer, railed against Cal throughout the 18-game winning streak.

Ed Kezirian, a former UCLA player and coach, said that Drake, “felt all we got was Cal’s hand-me-downs back in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. He thought Cal didn’t want UCLA to grow. Whether that was true or not, he stuck to it.”

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Two months ago, who would have thought that this mid-October Cal game would be one of UCLA’s biggest games of the season? The Bears might not be the flashy name, but if the Bruins lose this game, their season is effectively over. It would be close to impossible to win the Pac-12 with three conference losses, and even then, that’s assuming UCLA could win out after losing three games in a row.

The national championship hopes are out the window, but if UCLA wants to redeem this season, it’s going to be with the Pac-12 title. That only happens by beating Cal.

I’m not in Berkeley today, but beat reporter Chris Foster is on scene, reporting from Memorial Stadium. Chris says that it’s 70 degrees with blue skies -- perfect weather for two teams that lost last week.

UCLA’s biggest flaws and concerns are pretty well known at this point. The key, as always, is the offensive line. Cal’s secondary is quite literally the worst in the nation. If the Bruins give Brett Hundley some time to throw the ball, he should have a field day.

To learn more about Cal, I recommend this Q+A with Mike Vernon, who covers Cal for the San Francisco Chronicle, and this game preview from Chris Foster.

Kickoff is at 12:30, and the game is being shown on ESPN2.