Dorian Thompson-Robinson accounted for three touchdowns and Zach Charbonnet rushed for 119 yards and the game-winning score to lead UCLA to a 35-28 victory over host California on Friday afternoon in Berkeley, Calif.
Charbonnet carried the ball 24 times as UCLA rushed for 352 yards. T.J. Harden rushed for 89 yards and Thompson-Robinson, who threw for 189 yards and a score on 21-of-30 passing, added 88 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.
The Bruins (9-3 overall, 6-3 Pac-12) clinched the win with less than two minutes remaining when Laiatu Latu recovered his second fumble of the game after the ball was punched out of Cal running back Jaydn Ott’s hands.
Cal quarterback Jack Plummer threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns on 24-for-34 passing. Plummer also became the sixth quarterback for Cal to surpass the 3,000 yards passing in a season.
Less than four minutes after Cal (4-8, 2-7) took a 28-27 lead, Charbonnet scored a 5-yard touchdown run and Thompson-Robinson converted a two-point pass play to Jake Bobo as UCLA went 73 yards on 10 plays to take the lead.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter, with UCLA striking first on a 5-yard toss from Thompson-Robinson to Bobo. Plummer capped an 80-yard drive with a 46-yard bomb to J. Michael Sturdivant to tie the score.
Nicholas Barr-Mira punched in a 23-yard field goal for a 10-7 UCLA lead in the second quarter.
Cal seemed to grab the momentum before halftime with a pair of Plummer touchdown passes to Jeremiah Hunter — from 38 and 22 yards out — as the Bears went up 21-10 with 58 seconds remaining.
But Thompson-Robinson led the Bruins on an impressive 75-yard drive on five plays in 40 seconds, rushing 19 yards for the score to make it a 21-17 game at the half.
Thompson-Robinson then helped the Bruins regain the lead at 24-21 with a 14-yard keeper midway through the third quarter.
Latu recovered a fumble after Jack Landherr IV popped the ball out of punt returner Hunter’s hands late in the third quarter in what was Cal’s only other turnover.
The Bruins had to settle for a field goal and a 27-21 lead.
On Cal’s next possession, Hunter gained 49 yards on a reception, setting up an 8-yard screen pass to Ott as Cal temporarily regained a one-point lead.
–Field Level Media
