Christopher Brown ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns Saturday night, as California finished its regular season with a 28-18 Pac-12 win over UCLA in Pasadena.
Quarterback Chase Garbers completed 17 of 29 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Golden Bears (7-5, 4-5). Their defense notched six sacks, and linebacker Evan Weaver broke a single-season school record with his 168th tackle.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson hit on 23 of 39 passes for 278 yards with a score and a pick for the Bruins (4-8, 4-5) before leaving with an apparent head injury with 3:57 left in the game. The result marked Cal's first win in the Rose Bowl since 2009.
Brown's 10-yard touchdown run on the fourth quarter's first play was the clinching score for the Bears, who await their bowl assignment next weekend. Cal outrushed UCLA 182-58, thanks in part to negative 47 yards on sacks.
UCLA initiated scoring by cashing in on a 54-yard field resulting from a California three-and-out deep in its territory. Thompson-Robinson hit Jaylen Erwin with a 19-yard touchdown pass at the 8:26 mark of the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
The Golden Bears answered back less than 5 1/2 minutes later with the equalizer, Garbers hooking up with Makai Polk for a 44-yard score to cap an eight-play, 91-yard drive. They took the lead in the second quarter on Garbers' 1-yard run with 9:56 remaining.
JJ Molson poured in a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, sending the Bruins to the locker room down 14-10. UCLA had possession for almost 5 1/2 minutes more than Cal and outgained it 234-180, but the Bears played a cleaner half with no penalties.
Brown's 1-yard touchdown run with 5:38 left in the third quarter upped the Cal advantage to 21-10, but the Bruins responded with Joshua Kelley's 1-yard plunge just over three minutes later. A two-point conversion pass trimmed their deficit to three points.
--Field Level Media
California | UCLA | |
Christopher Brown Jr. | Player | Joshua Kelley |
18 | Attempts | 19 |
111 | Yards | 76 |
6.2 | Avg Yards | 4.0 |
2 | Touchdowns | 1 |
0 | Long | 0 |
California | UCLA | |
Makai Polk | Player | Devin Asiasi |
4 | Receptions | 8 |
78 | Yards | 99 |
19.5 | Avg Yards | 12.4 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
0 | Long | 0 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
California | 412 | 182 | 230 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 | 0 |
UCLA | 401 | 58 | 343 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 |