Things did not look good for UCLA after another drive ended with a Wilton Speight turnover, this time an interception that gave Stanford the ball at its own three-yard line.
But Bruins defensive lineman Martin Andus made the best out of a bad situation, running untouched into the backfield and slamming Cardinal tailback Bryce Love to the ground for a safety.
Darnay Holmes then returned the kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to pull the Bruins within 41-36 late in the third quarter.
A controversial fumble call on UCLA quarterback Wilton Speight gave the ball back to Stanford, and the Cardinal capitalized.
Stanford receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside hauled in his third touchdown catch of the game, this one on a two-yarder, to give the Cardinal a 41-27 lead late in the third quarter.
Speight’s arm appeared to be moving forward on a pass when the ball slipped out of his hand, but officials ruled it a fumble, giving the Cardinal the ball at UCLA’s 21-yard line.
UCLA nemesis J.J. Arcega-Whiteside is up to his old tricks.
The Stanford receiver who caught the game-winning touchdown here in 2016 burned the Bruins again with a leaping 23-yard touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone to give the Cardinal a 34-27 lead midway through the third quarter.
Arcega-Whiteside has five catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
UCLA made a strong opening statement to start the third quarter.
The Bruins drove 75 yards in only nine plays, with Martell Irby running for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the score at 27-27 early in the third quarter.
Wilton Speight completed three of five passes for 56 yards on the drive, including a 25-yard connection to tight end Devin Asiasi on fourth and five.
It was a pretty wild momentum swing near the end of the first half.
UCLA’s Joshua Kelley was credited with a one-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left in the second quarter after a lengthy review, and it seemed like the Bruins would go into halftime with some bounce in their step.
But Stanford’s Cameron Scarlett returned the kickoff 77 yards and UCLA was called for two pass interference penalties, giving the Cardinal the ball at the Bruins’ two-yard line.
Stanford receivers dropped two consecutive passes, setting up a third and 10 for the Cardinal.
Trent Irwin made sure not to sustain the trend, catching a 37-yard touchdown pass from K.J. Costello on a play in which he was running alongside receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who blocked two UCLA defensive backs out of the way.
Stanford has a 24-13 lead late in the second quarter.
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.