UCLA routs Cal in hastily added game
Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw three first-half touchdown passes, Demetric Felton rushed for a game-high 107 yards and the UCLA defense rebounded from a poor performance to limit California to 176 total yards on Sunday as the Bruins dominated the Bears 34-10 in a Pacific-12 game.
The meeting was hastily scheduled on Friday, fewer than 48 hours before kickoff, after UCLA had its scheduled game against Utah and Cal its matchup with Arizona State cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Thompson-Robinson connected with Charles Njoku for a 27-yard touchdown, Chase Cota for a 6-yard score and Kyle Phillips for a 5-yard TD, helping the Bruins (1-1, 1-1 Pac-12) build a commanding 27-10 halftime lead.
Felton did most of his damage in the second half, during which UCLA built its rushing total up to 244 yards en route to a 440-176 advantage in total offense. Defensively, the Bruins recorded five sacks.
One week after allowing 525 yards in a 48-42 loss to Colorado, the Bruins held the Bears (0-1, 0-1) to 54 rushing yards on 28 tries and harassed Cal quarterback Chase Garbers into just 122 passing yards and an interception on 18-for-33 passing to avenge a late-season, 28-18 home loss to their in-state rival last November.
In his team’s season debut after also having last week’s opener against Washington canceled, Garbers scored Cal’s only TD on an 8-yard run in the second quarter.
After hurting themselves with four turnovers last week against Colorado, the Bruins overcame an early blocked punt and interception to build their 17-point halftime advantage.
Craig Woodson blocked a Luke Akers punt after UCLA’s first possession, setting up Cal on the Bruins’ 17-yard line and leading to the game’s first score, a 31-yard field goal by Dario Longhetto.
UCLA then held Cal scoreless after a Camryn Bynum interception on its next possession, before dominating most of the rest of the game.
Thompson-Robinson began a personal four-TD, first-half onslaught with a 2-yard rushing score to give UCLA the lead for good in the final minute of the first quarter, before his TD connections with Njoku, Cota and Phillips produced the 27-10 halftime lead.
Thompson-Robinson finished 14-of-26 passing for 196 yards through the air and added 52 rushing yards on 12 carries.
After a scoreless third quarter, UCLA’s Brittain Brown accounted for the only points of the second half with a 31-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media
