UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson powers through injury, holds off Stanford

The Bruins had a chance to put things away.

And then their star quarterback left the game.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson got tackled out of bounds with his team inside the Cardinal 10 leading by four, and he hobbled over to the bench clutching his shoulder as Ethan Garbers came in to relieve him.

One timeout and one play later, Thompson-Robinson came back in and tossed the game-winning touchdown.

"The one thing that I don’t think gets mentioned enough with Dorian is how tough he is, and he’s been tough from the get-go," said coach Chip Kelly. "It’s something that we’ve known for four years now, but I think he really showed that tonight and I was really proud of how he played."

No. 24 UCLA football (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) has a history of blowing leads to Stanford (2-2, 1-1 Pac-12) and losing in excruciating fashion. It seemed like that was in the cards against Saturday night, as the Cardinal cut down a 21-7 Bruin lead and tied things up in the fourth quarter.

UCLA teams of old might have crumbled under the pressure – last year's squad certainly did, coughing up a two-score lead in the waning minutes of the in-state rivalry game and eventually losing in double overtime.

Thompson-Robinson left the 2020 matchup against Stanford with an injury in the second quarter, and he did the same with time ticking away here in 2021.

This time, however, the Bruins held onto their lead and Thompson-Robinson emerged victorious, banged up and in pain while it all went down.

"Dorian literally put the team on his back," said striker Qwuantrezz Knight. "He was really down bad throughout this whole game, took a couple hits and it was great to see him go in, and literally (say) 'I’m going to go win this game for us.' I think he went down one play and came right back in and threw a touchdown, so that was amazing. I told him, 'That’s what we need from you.'"

Thompson-Robinson ran for two touchdowns in the first half, handing another score off to running back Zach Charbonnet in between. As a team, UCLA rushed for 213 yards compared to Stanford's 64.

Through the air, Thompson-Robinson added two more touchdowns, both of which went to Kyle Philips. The first one was a 75-yarder that broke the teams' 21-21 tie in the fourth quarter, and the second was the 5-yard touchdown that sealed the game with 2:35 remaining.

"Just catch the ball," Philips said, when asked what was going through his mind on the play. "Dorian threw a good ball and put it where only I could get it. So I kind of went down there, caught the ball, and just glad I was in the end zone."

Even the celebration was impacted by Thompson-Robinson's injury, as he had to rush back to the sideline to get medical attention instead of joining his teammates in the end zone. When Philips did see his quarterback back on the bench, he made sure to show him some appreciation.

"I just told him that I love him, just so proud of him to fight through that injury," Philips said. "Really put the team first even though he was going through a whole lot."

That play capped off a drive that killed nearly seven minutes, and by the time Stanford got the ball back down 11, their chances of coming back had dwindled to none.

Thompson-Robinson passed for 252 yards and rushed for another 29. Charbonnet picked up 186 yards from scrimmage, while Philips tacked on 193 all-purpose yards.

The offense was just effective enough early on, going up 14-0 and then 21-7 heading into halftime. The Bruins were able to build that early lead by forcing five three-and-outs to open the game.

Even though the Cardinal turned things around and scored on four of their next seven drives, Knight said UCLA's past failures – both against Stanford in 2020 and Fresno State back in Week 3 – helped teach them how to regain their footing down the stretch.

"Once we got to that 21-21 mark in the fourth quarter, I said we’ve been here before," Knight said. "We’ve been here with this team last year, and we’ve been here before with the team last week. So we’ve had two examples of what not do to, and what to do. So, I feel like we finished very well today."

The Bruins are now somewhere they haven't been before – they've taken two out of three from the Cardinal for the first time in 15 years. They're going to remain in the top 25 for the third consecutive week after not being in the rankings at all the past three seasons.

They've now won their Pac-12 season opener and are in control of their own destiny, both in conference play and on a national stage.

UCLA will return to the Rose Bowl next Saturday for a date with Arizona State.