Stanford 27, UCLA 24: Extra Notes

— Kevin Hogan was named the game MVP. As usual, Stanford’s redshirt freshman didn’t throw for big numbers (16 of 22, 155 yards, 1 TD), but came through late. The Cardinal entered the fourth quarter down a touchdown, but Hogan found Drew Terrell for a 26-yard touchdown to tie the game. He also rushed for 47 yards and a score on Friday night.

“He’s very poised,” said UCLA head coach Jim Mora. “He’s careful with the ball. He makes good decisions when he’s on the move, when he’s outside of the pocket, and I think they did a nice job of using him as a runner tonight.”

— Brett Hundley passed Cade McNown’s single-season record for total offense, set in 1998 at 3,652. Hundley, who passed for 177 yards against the Cardinal and ran for 83, now has 3,776.

— Johnathan Franklin’s major milestones were breaking Maurice Jones-Drew’s career all-purpose yards record and Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s single-season rushing mark. He also cracked Terrence Austin’s single-season all-purpose mark of 1,878, set in 2008. Franklin has 2,024 after rushing for 194 and catching for 24.

— Before Friday, Stanford had allowed two rushing plays of over 40 yards (77 at Oregon, 61 at Washington). The Cardinal gave up two more in just the fourth quarter against UCLA, a 51-yarder to Johnathan Franklin and a 48-yarder to Brett Hundley.

– UCLA set a new program record for single-season offensive yards. The 1998 team had 5,847. This year’s squad has 6,169. The first-down record was broken too. These Bruins were already tied with the old mark (292, in 1988) entering the game. They now have 314.

Stanford 27, UCLA 24: First thoughts

STANFORD, Calif. — Wow. What an exciting football game, and what a gut punch for the UCLA players. (Game story here.) Some quick takeaways:

Franklin’s dominance: Johnathan Franklin came through with easily his best performance of the season. The Doak Walker finalist bounced back from his 65-yard showing a week ago, running roughshod over the nation’s top-ranked rushing defense. In front of a national audience — even LeBron James watched at least part of the game — Franklin grinded out 194 yards and two touchdowns on just 19 carries. (Why not more touches?!) No other back had run for more yards against the Cardinal, and only one team had more (Oregon, 198).

“We blocked better,” UCLA head coach Jim Mora said. “We found some seams. We got to the second level. … Johnathan’s a hard runner. He’s a guy that’s tough to bring down.”

That All-Pac-12 first team snub looks worse by the day.

Youth hurts: As splendid as Brett Hundley has been this season, his second-quarter interception to Ed Reynolds sucked away all of UCLA’s momentum. The redshirt freshman quarterback nearly threw another pick to A.J. Tarpley, but the linebacker bobbled a gift of a throw.

Only the beginning? Fans can take some solace in the fact that UCLA absolutely won the offseason hiring battle. Getting Jim Mora wasn’t a widely lauded move, but he’s Better yet, he doesn’t seem like a coach that will move on anytime soon. He spent over two decades in the NFL, and said he had doubted his coaching future after the Seahawks fired him. There may be some allure in trying to prove himself again as a pro, but he seems comfortable at the college level, and likely doesn’t want to uproot his family.

There’s little shame in losing to a Stanford team that has now swept the other three California schools for a third year straight.

“They should be proud of what they accomplished,” Mora said. “You did poll people at the start of the season. If anybody thought that we’d have been sitting here tonight with less than 45 seconds left on the clock to tie it or even win it, I’m not sure anyone would have taken that bet. …

“I think there are a lot of bright things on the horizon for UCLA football.”

Going bowling: Stanford is going to the Rose Bowl and Oregon is a lock for the Fiesta. UCLA will end up in either the Alamo Bowl, which has the next pick out of the Pac-12, or the Holiday Bowl. That means a third- or fourth-place Big 12 opponent, with the choices being Oklahoma State, Texas or TCU. Oregon State, whose fans tend to travel better, will end up in whatever bowl doesn’t take the Bruins. UCLA has the Los Angeles TV market on its side. At this point, I’d still bet on the destination being Alamo Bowl. We’ll find out Saturday evening.

Pac-12 Championship: Running score

Stanford 27, UCLA 24 – 6:49 fourth quarter: UCLA got the clutch defensive play it needed, with Randall Goforth breaking up the end zone pass. Stanford settles for a 36-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson. Bruins limited that Cardinal drive to just 25 yards on five plays after a big punt return by Drew Terrell.

UCLA 24, Stanford 24 – 11:21 third quarter: Kevin Hogan ties the game with a 26-yard pass to Drew Terrell. UCLA cornerback Sheldon Price had a clear shot at tipping the pass, but jumped too early. One of Hogan’s better throws tonight caps a 10-play, 58-yard drive that was mostly Stepfan Taylor runs.

The Bruins just can’t shake the Cardinal despite more than a 100-yard edge in total offense. UCLA has committed seven penalties for 64 yards. Stanford has three for 25.

UCLA 24, Stanford 17 – 1:04 third quarter: Johnathan Franklin continues to completely wreck Stanford’s vaunted run defense. This time, a 20-yard scamper gives UCLA’s star tailback his second score of the day, capping the Bruins’ 12-play, 80-yard drive. In what has already been a remarkable season by Franklin, this is the gem.

He already has 173 rushing yards on just 15 carries with over a quarter to go. Few teams have been able to rush for triple digits against Stanford, with Oregon rolling up the most with 198 on 40 carries.

UCLA 17, Stanford 17 – 8:20 third quarter: The Bruins tie the game on a 31-yard field goal from freshman Ka’imi Fairbairn, who has incredibly reliable from short range all season. UCLA’s nine-play, 47-yard drive stalled as Brett Hundley couldn’t find open receivers, including Joe Fauria running out of bounds to make himself ineligible to receive.

Johnathan Franklin continues one of his best games of the season. His 32-yard run on the drive helped give him 149 on the day, more than any other back has against Stanford.

Stanford 17, UCLA 14 – 0:02 second quarter: Jordan Williamson’s 37-yard field goal breaks the game’s streak of five straight punts, giving the Cardinal a slight edge heading into halftime. The 10-play, 62-yard drive was mostly Kevin Hogan on both passes and runs, but tailback Stepfan Taylor set up the field goal with a 9-yard scamper — one that made him Stanford’s all-time leading rusher.

The natural grass field at Stanford Stadium is getting slippery, and it’s started to affect a number of plays. Even officials have lost their footing.

UCLA 14, Stanford 14 – 12:57 second quarter: Brett Hundley makes a costly mistake, forcing a throw to Joe Fauria that just wasn’t there. That gets taken back 80 yards on a eye-popping return by safety Ed Reynolds, who misses out on a pick six after the play is reviewed. Stepfan Taylor punches the ball in on a one-play, one-yard drive.

Bruins absolutely had all the momentum until that interception, having just churned out 59 yards in six plays. That included a 31-yard run by Franklin and a 17-yard pass from Hundley to Fauria.

UCLA 14, Stanford 7 – 3:40 in the first quarter: Brett Hundley abuses the Stanford defense with his legs, finding space on the left side and scrambling five yards to the end zone. Hundley had followed up his team’s 15-yard penalty earlier on the drive with a 48-yard streak to the Stanford 24-yard-line.

Really good showing on the ground today for UCLA. The Bruins already have 132 yards rushing. Franklin has 80 on the day, and is the new single-season record holder for rushing yards.

UCLA 7, Stanford 7 — 6:07 first quarter: Kevin Hogan absolutely embarrassed the Bruins defense on a fake handoff, turning around to walk two yards into the end zone. No one was within even 10 yards of the Stanford quarterback on that naked bootleg. Great playcall by David Shaw there.

The Cardinal came up big twice on that 11-play, 69-yard drive. Kevin Hogan rushed 13 yards to convert a third down around midfield, and Stepfan Taylor turned a little toss into a 32-yard gain. That gave Stanford first-and-goal on the 2-yard-line.

UCLA 7, Stanford 0 – 11:35 first quarter: The Bruins get on the board early with 51-yard run up the middle by Johnathan Franklin. The tailback has now broken Maurice Jones-Drew’s record in career all-purpose yards (4,688).

UCLA lucked out a bit earlier on this drive when Trent Murphy nailed Brett Hundley from the weakside to force a fumble, but the play was called back had been blown dead due to referee confusion as to whether it should have been first or second down for the Bruins. That drive went 85 yards for 8 plays for the Bruins, including four first downs.