UCLA’s Bowl Hopes Stumble at Stanford : College football: The Cardinal ends the Bruins’ four-game winning streak, 27-10. Maddox suffers concussion.

The atmosphere was somber outside the UCLA dressing room early Saturday night at Stanford Stadium.

Quarterback Tommy Maddox was carried into an ambulance on a stretcher after suffering a concussion late in the game against Stanford.

The game, which UCLA lost, 27-10, before 55,178, seemed inconsequential at the moment.

Gerald Finerman, UCLA’s team physician, said that Maddox would remain overnight at the Stanford Medical Center as a precautionary measure.

As it turned out, Maddox was released from the hospital at 9:30 p.m. and reportedly was staying overnight in the Bay Area with his parents.

“Since he was aware, since he knew where he was, what date it was, his neurological signs are normal,” Finerman said. “We feel we don’t have a very terrible injury.

“He didn’t lose consciousness and he could possibly play next week (against Oregon).”

Maddox was injured with 2:56 to play when he was hit by linebacker Ron George while throwing a pass, which was intercepted.

Maddox then left the game without any assistance, but the UCLA dressing room was closed for about 30 minutes while the quarterback was stretched out on a training table.

“He was feeling nauseated and was fading in and out,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “He took a pretty good blow to the head.”

The injury to Maddox had little effect on the game’s outcome, however. The Cardinal, behind the passing of quarterback Steve Stenstrom to flanker Jon Pinckney and the rushing of fullback Tommy Vardell, was in control throughout most of the game.

The loss ended UCLA’s four-game winning streak and extended Stanford’s to five, its longest since 1975.

It is the first time since 1971 that the Cardinal has beaten USC and UCLA in the same season. Moreover, it is the first time since 1941 that Cal and Stanford have beaten UCLA and USC in one season.

UCLA dropped to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference. Stanford is 6-3 and 4-2.

There were several bowl scouts in attendance, but UCLA’s chances of appearing in a Jan. 1 bowl game all but vanished.

Stanford led, 14-3, at halftime, but UCLA opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive to close to 14-10.

But on the Cardinal’s next possession, with second down from the Stanford 34-yard line, Stenstrom threw a long sideline pass to Pinckney, who was being closely covered by cornerback Carlton Gray with free safety Othello Henderson closing in.

Somehow, Pinckney managed to reach over Gray to get the ball, while Henderson bumped into his teammate, eliminating both from the play.

It was a 66-yard scoring play, improving Stanford’s lead to 21-10. A 25-yard field goal gave the Cardinal a 24-10 lead before the quarter ended.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Stenstrom teamed with Pinckney again. This time it was a 42-yard pass to Pinckney, which he caught while Gray appeared turned the wrong way. Gray came into the game tied for third nationally in interceptions with six and he got another one late in the fourth quarter.

It led to Aaron Mills’ second field goal, a 22-yarder with 5 1/2 minutes to play.

UCLA was confronted by a nine-man Stanford defensive front that pressured Maddox but also gave him the opportunity to complete some long passes against single coverage.

However, Maddox simply couldn’t make connections on long passes, mainly to wide receiver Michael Moore.

Donahue said that split end Sean LaChapelle, UCLA’s leading receiver and Maddox’s primary target this season, was double covered at times.

So LaChapelle, who has caught 11 touchdown passes this season, a school record, couldn’t get another one Saturday night. He had five catches for 59 yards.

“We had several passes that were just off the mark (but catchable),” Donahue said.

“If you hit those long passes, you knock them out of their defensive scheme (nine-man front), but we didn’t.”

George, who knocked Maddox out of the game late in the fourth quarter, said that pressure on Maddox was the key to their defensive plan.

Maddox completed 21 of 38 passes for 214 yards while throwing three interceptions. Stenstrom, a sophomore from El Toro High whose promotion to a starting job coincides with Stanford’s winning streak, was 13 of 24 for 261 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

The 235-pound Vardell provided the ground power. He gained 109 yards in 24 carries, a 4.5 average, while scoring on a two-yard run on Stanford’s opening touchdown drive.

“He’s just hard to bring down,” Henderson said of Vardell. “He’s a big, straight-ahead runner, and we missed a lot of tackles.”

Donahue said Stanford clearly deserved to win, but seemed puzzled by his own team’s performance.

“It was a big game and we didn’t play like it,” he said. “Whatever reason, we were not on our rhythm.”

UCLA had several scoring opportunities, but didn’t take advantage of them. For example:

The Bruins reached the Stanford 23 in the first quarter but settled for Louis Perez’s 41-yard field goal.

Then, in the second quarter, UCLA had a fourth and one at the Stanford four-yard line, where tailback Shawn Wills was stopped for no gain.

Late in the third quarter, the Bruins had a second and 10 at the Stanford 14, where Maddox was sacked and fumbled, Stanford recovering.

UCLA had 95 net yards rushing, its lowest total since getting 89 in losing to Tennessee, 30-16.

Also, its was the fewest points the Bruins have scored since a 10-10 tie with USC at the end of the 1989 season.

“We’re really excited,” Stanford Coach Dennis Green said. “When you hold a team like UCLA to 10 points, you know you’re playing some dynamite football.”

* TOMMY MADDOX: The sight of the quarterback being taken to a hospital leaves a chill in the Bruin locker room. C7