UCLA’s sputtering offense put together its best drive of the game, going 75 yards in nine plays to score a touchdown that brought the Bruins within 17-13 against Stanford midway through the second quarter.

Receiver Theo Howard took a short pass while running in motion in front of quarterback Wilton Speight and ran 21 yards to the Stanford 12-yard line. On the next play, tailback Joshua Kelley ran into the end zone for the Bruins’ first touchdown of the game.

Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello, who struggled early, has found his rhythm.

He completed all three passes on the Cardinal’s seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with tailback Bryce Love falling into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown to give Stanford a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter.

Costello has completed 10 of 15 passes for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His best pass on the most recent drive was a 33-yard strike over the middle to tight end Colby Parkinson, which gave the Cardinal the ball at UCLA’s two-yard line.

UCLA finally got its offense going, using a 23-yard run from Joshua Kelley to kick-start a drive that went 57 yards and ended in J.J. Molson’s 35-yard field goal on the final play of the first quarter that pulled the Bruins to within 10-6.

Molson has made both of his field goal attempts in this game.

UCLA quarterback Wilton Speight has been mostly out of rhythm, however, completing only two of seven passes for 28 yards. The Bruins tried to run on third and long but Kelley was stopped well short of the first down.

UCLA’s continued offensive struggles and a good punt return from Trent Irwin put Stanford in good position on its last drive.

The Cardinal took over at the Bruins’ 37-yard line after Irwin’s 22-yard return and picked up one first down before UCLA defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa missed a sack on third down but helped keep a scrambling Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello from picking up the first down.

Jet Toner’s 30-yard field goal gave Stanford a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter.

Stanford finally called a running play, on its third drive, but it was a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback K.J. Costello to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside that gave the Cardinal a 7-3 lead over UCLA midway through the first quarter.

Arcega-Whiteside, a longtime Bruins nemesis after making the game-winning touchdown catch in 2016 at the Rose Bowl, made a leaping grab in the end zone between two defenders.

UCLA defensive back Jay Shaw helped sustain the drive when he was called for defensive holding on a third-down pass, giving the Cardinal a first down.

UCLA safety Adarius Pickett made the first big play in his final college game, reading quarterback K.J. Costello on third down and stepping in front of his pass for an interception.

Pickett returned the ball 22 yards to the Stanford 23-yard line. The Bruins then tried an odd formation on first down, with quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson running behind center for the snap and pitching the ball to quarterback Wilton Speight, who rolled out and threw an incomplete pass intended for Christian Pabico.

UCLA couldn’t move the ball and had to settle for J.J. Molson’s 38-yard field goal that gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter.

It might be a bit much to consider UCLA’s game against Stanford on Saturday a referendum on the Bruins’ season, but it certainly could go a long way toward giving players more tangible validation of the team’s rebuilding efforts under coach Chip Kelly.

The Bruins will return the bulk of their team in 2019, so there should be considerable carryover from the improvement they have made late in the season.

Beating USC and Stanford in back-to-back weeks could provide some inspiration for the Bruins’ offseason workouts. It also could remove the terrible taste that’s been lingering for more than a decade with the Cardinal having won the last 10 games in the series.

UCLA could be on the verge of a catchy new cheer: the 4-8 clap.

A victory over Stanford on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl wouldn’t do much to salvage the Bruins’ final record, but it would provide further evidence of the possibility of eventual salvation under coach Chip Kelly as his first season comes to a close.

The Bruins, 3-8 overall and 3-5 in the Pac-12, already dispatched their archrival, USC. Now they get a chance to beat the team that’s been a giant sequoia blocking their path to supremacy in the Pac-12 over the last decade.

UCLA (3-8, 3-5) vs. Stanford (6-4, 4-3)

Saturday, noon, Rose Bowl. TV: Pac-12 Networks. Radio: 570, 97.3.

Marquee matchup