Carson Steele (photo: Shayne Smith)
Photo by: Shayne Smith
UCLA Tops Stanford on the Road, 42-7
October 21, 2023 | Football
STANFORD, Calif. – On his birthday, UCLA running back Carson Steele gave the Bruins the gift of three first-half touchdowns en route to a 42-7 victory over Stanford at Stanford Stadium. Steele finished the game with 76 yards rushing for the 25th-ranked Bruins, while quarterback Ethan Garbers threw for an efficient 240 yards on 20-for-28 passing.
The Bruin defense limited Stanford to just 24 yards rushing and 292 yards overall while totaling 503 yards of offense, 282 yards passing and 221 rushing. Stanford did themselves no favors, racking up 10 penalties for a total of 112 yards.
UCLA (5-2, 2-2 in the Pac-12) began the game with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive led by Garbers, who threw for 33 yards and rushed for 23. Steele finished the drive with his first touchdown, a two-yard run. After the Bruin defense forced a quick punt, Garbers came right back with a 45-yard pass to Hudson Habermehl that gave UCLA the ball at the Stanford 15. Two plays later, Steele was back in the end zone with his second touchdown in three minutes, scoring on an eight-yard rush to increase UCLA's lead to 14-0 at the 7:15 mark.
After a UCLA field goal attempt was blocked, Stanford (2-5, 1-4) drove the ball down to the UCLA 31, but an offensive pass interference call set the Cardinal back, forcing them to punt two plays later. The Bruins started their next drive pinned to the three but finished a 15-play drive with Steele's third touchdown, from three yards out, to move ahead, 21-0, with 5:27 to go in the second quarter.
The second half began with each team making stops on fourth downs, UCLA doing so on Stanford's first two possessions of the half. After the second fourth-down stop, the Bruins added onto their lead with an eight-yard touchdown toss by Garbers to J.Michael Sturdivant. A blocked punt by Alex Johnson gave the Bruins the ball on Stanford's 29 on the Bruins' next possession, and two plays later, tight end Moliki Matavao scored his first touchdown as a Bruin on a 29-yard pass by Garbers.
UCLA's bid for a shutout ended late in the third quarter when Ashton Daniels connected with Tiger Bachmeier on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 35-7, but it was too little too late for the Cardinal. In the fourth quarter T.J. Harden on 3rd and 10 took it to the house for a 22-yard touchdown run.
The Bruins will next host Colorado on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 28 at 4:30 pm.
The Bruin defense limited Stanford to just 24 yards rushing and 292 yards overall while totaling 503 yards of offense, 282 yards passing and 221 rushing. Stanford did themselves no favors, racking up 10 penalties for a total of 112 yards.
UCLA (5-2, 2-2 in the Pac-12) began the game with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive led by Garbers, who threw for 33 yards and rushed for 23. Steele finished the drive with his first touchdown, a two-yard run. After the Bruin defense forced a quick punt, Garbers came right back with a 45-yard pass to Hudson Habermehl that gave UCLA the ball at the Stanford 15. Two plays later, Steele was back in the end zone with his second touchdown in three minutes, scoring on an eight-yard rush to increase UCLA's lead to 14-0 at the 7:15 mark.
After a UCLA field goal attempt was blocked, Stanford (2-5, 1-4) drove the ball down to the UCLA 31, but an offensive pass interference call set the Cardinal back, forcing them to punt two plays later. The Bruins started their next drive pinned to the three but finished a 15-play drive with Steele's third touchdown, from three yards out, to move ahead, 21-0, with 5:27 to go in the second quarter.
The second half began with each team making stops on fourth downs, UCLA doing so on Stanford's first two possessions of the half. After the second fourth-down stop, the Bruins added onto their lead with an eight-yard touchdown toss by Garbers to J.Michael Sturdivant. A blocked punt by Alex Johnson gave the Bruins the ball on Stanford's 29 on the Bruins' next possession, and two plays later, tight end Moliki Matavao scored his first touchdown as a Bruin on a 29-yard pass by Garbers.
UCLA's bid for a shutout ended late in the third quarter when Ashton Daniels connected with Tiger Bachmeier on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 35-7, but it was too little too late for the Cardinal. In the fourth quarter T.J. Harden on 3rd and 10 took it to the house for a 22-yard touchdown run.
The Bruins will next host Colorado on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 28 at 4:30 pm.
Team Stats
UCL
STA
Total Yards
503
292
Pass Yards
282
268
Rushing Yards
221
24
Penalty Yards
40
113
1st Downs
32
15
3rd Downs
10
1
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
36:56
23:04
1st Quarter

UCL 7, STA 0
UCL - Steele,Carson 2 yd run (Lopez,R.J. kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:33

UCL 14, STA 0
UCL - Steele,Carson 8 yd run (Lopez,R.J. kick), 3 plays, 60 yards, TOP 00:55
2nd Quarter

UCL 21, STA 0
UCL - Steele,Carson 3 yd run (Lopez,R.J. kick), 15 plays, 97 yards, TOP 06:43
3rd Quarter

UCL 28, STA 0
UCL - Sturdivant,J.Michael 8 yd pass from Garbers,Ethan (Lopez,R.J. kick) 8 plays, 40 yards, TOP 03:11

UCL 35, STA 0
UCL - Matavao,Moliki 20 yd pass from Garbers,Ethan (Lopez,R.J. kick) 2 plays, 29 yards, TOP 00:57

UCL 35, STA 7
STA - Bachmeier,Tiger 20 yd pass from Daniels,Ashton (Karty,Joshua kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:45
4th Quarter

UCL 42, STA 7
UCL - Harden,T.J. 22 yd run (Lopez,R.J. kick), 5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 00:39
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
Players Mentioned
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