STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Carson Steele ran for three touchdowns on his 21st birthday and No. 25 UCLA went on to beat Stanford 42-7 on Saturday night.
Steele capped the first two drives of the game for the Bruins (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) with short TD runs and added a third later in the first half to open a 21-0 lead over the Cardinal (2-5, 1-4). He finished with 76 yards on the ground to make life easy on new quarterback Ethan Garbers.
UCLA coach Chip Kelly made a switch at quarterback after freshman Dante Moore struggled in recent weeks and handed it back over to Garbers, who started the season opener. Garbers went 20 for 28 for 240 yards, throwing TD passes to J. Michael Sturdivant and Moliki Matavao in the third quarter.
Stanford was unable to follow up last week's school-record comeback against Colorado with another strong effort. The Cardinal have lost 18 of their last 20 conference games.
Garbers completed all four passes on the opening drive to move the Bruins down the field and Steele finished it off with a 2-yard run.
He then completed a 45-yard to Hudson Habermehl to open UCLA's next possession before Steele ran on the next two plays, scoring on an 8-yard run that made it 14-0.
After having a field goal blocked on their third possession, the Bruins drove 97 yards to score on Steele's 3-yard run midway through the second quarter and the game was never in doubt after that.
Ashton Daniels, who led the big comeback last week at Colorado with 396 yards passing off the bench, struggled to get the ball downfield against UCLA's stingier defense. He threw for 268 yards with one TD and one interception.
THE TAKEAWAY
UCLA: The Bruins made the switch at QB after Moore threw three interceptions last week, including his third pick-6 in as many games. Garbers wasn't spectacular but he was efficient and most importantly protected the ball which should give him another chance.
Stanford: A week after rallying from 29-0 down at the half to beat Colorado, the Cardinal fell into a big hole again. They trailed 21-0 at the break in this game but weren't able to mount another comeback. Stanford has now lost 10 straight games against ranked opponents and six straight at home.
UP NEXT
UCLA: Hosts Colorado on Saturday.
Stanford: Hosts No. 5 Washington on Saturday.
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