UCLA vs. California Week 13: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
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No. 18 UCLA football (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12) is playing California (3-7, 2-6 Pac-12) in Week 13 of the 2022 college football season, with the Bruins looking to snap their two-game losing streak and end the year with a win.
Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.
FINAL: UCLA 35, Cal 28
5:04 p.m.: Linebacker Kain Medrano punched out a successful fourth down conversion by the Golden Bears, and the Bruins held on to win.
All Bruins' full game wrap will be up shortly.
UCLA vaults back ahead with big scoring drive
4:33 p.m.: This one could be coming down to whoever has the ball last, and the Bruins did a nice job to create a little bit of separation heading into the home stretch.
Thompson-Robinson hit receiver Kam Brown for a 17-yard gain to kick things off, but that was UCLA's last gain of over 10 yards for the rest of the drive. Thompson-Robinson fumbled on a 6-yard run, only for the ball to go out of bounds, and then an odd sequence and confusion on down and distance led to a first down for the Bruins.
Harden and Thompson-Robinson traded off picking up solid chunks of yards, then Charbonnet got the ball from the 5-yard line and trotted into the end zone untouched.
Thompson-Robinson fired a fastball to Bobo over the middle for the two-point conversion, and UCLA went up 35-28 with 7:53 left in regulation.
Plummer gets back on track to give Bears the lead
4:19 p.m.: Despite starting at their own 18, it only took the Golden Bears four plays to surge back ahead.
Plummer found Ott for gains or 9 and 12 yards, then Ott ran left for 4 yards. That's when Plummer found a wide open Hunter down the right sideline, hitting him for a 49-yard pickup.
The very next play, Plummer hit Ott for an 8-yard touchdown that put Cal up 28-27 with 11:16 remaining.
Unsung heroes keep eventual scoring drive alive
4:05 p.m.: The Bruins appeared to be out of juice on offense when they fell victim to a three-and-out, but they had a surprise veteran hand them another shot at success.
After punting the ball away, long snapper Jack Landherr IV made it down the field and swarmed Hunter as he was being wrapped up. Landherr punched the ball out and edge rusher Laiatu Latu recovered at Cal's 43-yard line.
Thompson-Robinson tried to hit receiver Logan Loya for a deep touchdown, but that pass fell incomplete and UCLA was suddenly starting down a 3rd-and-12 and another possible punt. Harden got the carry on the next play, though, and he took it 21 yards to the right for the first down.
Harden picked up another first down on a 9 yard catch to end the third quarter.
The drive stalled out again when Thompson-Robinson got tripped up in the backfield on second down and pressure on third down, but Barr-Mira converted on his 26-yard attempt to make it a six-point game.
UCLA now leads 27-21 with 14:01 remaining in regulation.
UCLA gets stops, retakes the lead
3:51 p.m.: Dorian Thompson-Robinson fed off of the momentum he built up heading into the half and got his team their lead back.
It took a stop near midfield for the Bruins to get the ball back, and that's exactly what they got after finally forcing an incompletion from Plummer. The punt pinned UCLA back at its own 10, but that didn't slow down Thompson-Robinson & co.
The Bruins ran no-huddle all the way down the field, never picking up a gain of more than 15 yards. The methodical, efficient drive ended in another rushing touchdown for Thompson-Robinson who carried it in from 14 yards out.
On that drive, Thompson-Robinson became UCLA's all-time leader in career completions.
The Bruins took a 24-21 lead, then forced another punt that pinned their offense inside the 10 with the third quarter winding down.
HALFTIME: Cal 21, UCLA 17
3:07 p.m.: The Bruins got a much-needed score before the break, as Thompson-Robinson completed four passes before running one in from 22 yards out.
Thompson-Robinson now needs just three completions to break UCLA's all-time career completions record.
TOTAL YARDS: UCLA 278, Cal 205
PASS YARDS: Cal 173, UCLA 109
RUSH YARDS: UCLA 169, Cal 32
FIRST DOWNS: UCLA 17, Cal 9
PASSING LEADERS
D. Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 12-of-17, 109 yards, 1 TD
J. Plummer (CAL): 13-of-15, 173 yards, 3 TD
RUSHING LEADERS
Z. Charbonnet (UCLA): 15 carries, 76 yards
J. Ott (CAL): 7 carries, 22 yards
RECEIVING LEADERS
J. Bobo (UCLA): 5 receptions, 36 yards, 1 TD
J. Hunter (CAL): 5 receptions, 86 yards, 2 TD
Plummer keeps cooking the Bruins' defense
3:00 p.m.: It wasn't too long ago the it seemed like UCLA was going to cruise to a crucial road win. Cal has completely taken over, however, and Plummer is looking like an all-conference-level quarterback.
The Bruins went three-and-out, punting it away after Thompson-Robinson got sacked. The Bears started their next drive in plus territory, and then made it to the edge of the red zone with three-straight completions.
Plummer dropped back and had time on 2nd-and-1, delivering a 50/50 ball to Hunter near the front left pylon. The physical receiver beat cornerback John Humphrey and hauled it in for the 22-yard score, making it 11 completions in a row for Plummer, who now has a 236.2 passer rating.
Cal leads UCLA 21-10 with 0:58 left in the half, and the Golden Bears will start the second half with the ball.
Cal's aggressive play leads to go-ahead score
2:47 p.m.: After the Bruins' drive stalled out in the red zone yet again – this time at least leading to a made field goal – the Bears came back with another big score.
It didn't seem like Cal was going to string together a scoring drive, considering they were facing a 2nd-and-17 on their own 10-yard line. They got it to 4th-and-1, and rushed it up the middle to convert on a fake punt.
The Bears continued to move the ball thanks to a pass interference call against cornerback Azizi Hearn on the right sideline. Plummer went right back to receiver Jeremiah Hunter two plays later, and even with Hearn creating contact, the wideout pulled it down for the 38-yard score.
Cal now leads 14-10 with 4:33 left in the half, and Plummer has a 222.1 passer rating on 63.6% completion.
Golden Bears tie it up with a long bomb
2:10 p.m.: Cal made sure to capitalize on UCLA's critical error, and it didn't take them long to do it.
After taking over at their own 20, the Bears picked up their first first down of the day on a short pass. A crossing pass to receiver Monroe Young went for 15 yards, and running back Jaydn Ott ran ahead for 4 yards to bring his team into Bruin territory for the first time.
That's when quarterback Jack Plummer faked a pitch to Ott, then delivered a long ball to receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, who came open in the slot over the top. Sturdivant caught it in stride and brought it all the way to the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown.
The Bruins ended the first quarter with a first-down run by Charbonnet, but they head into the second tied 7-7 with the lowly Bears.
Red zone trip ends in missed field goal
2:12 p.m.: The Bruins' ground attack is continuing to beat up the Bears, but it couldn't gift the offense any more points.
Charbonnet rushed for 13 yards, then he caught a short pass from Thompson-Robinson that he took for 12 yards. Freshman TJ Harden then entered the game and got 24 yards on four consecutive touches, bringing UCLA all the way down to the 10.
A false start on left tackle Raiqwon O'Neal pushed them back a bit, though, and a well-timed blitz on 3rd-and-long led to an incomplete pass for Thompson-Robinson.
Kicker/punter Nicholas Barr-Mira came in for the 33 yarder, only to miss it left and hand the ball right back to Cal. The specialist is now 13-for-19 on the year, and that's after going 14-of-21 in 2021.
UCLA will surely get back to the run game when they get the ball back, considering they already have 103 yards on 16 carries in the first quarter alone.
UCLA gets on the board with quick touchdown
1:57 p.m.: The Bruins took advantage of the short field and came through with a couple of big plays that set them up for six.
Charbonnet rushed for 5 yards and 17 yards to get things going, then Thompson-Robinson bounced one out to the right for 8 yards of his own. Running back Colson Yankoff got in on the action with a first down run of 6 yards.
After getting down into the red zone with a few more runs, the Bruins called a pass play for Thompson-Robinson. He took a quick drop and then rifled one to Bobo over the middle right past the goal line to make it 7-0 UCLA with 7:04 left in the first quarter.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson suffers cut, Bruins punt
1:50 p.m.: UCLA was unable to open the game with a score, despite picking up a few first downs.
Thompson-Robinson rushed for 8 yards to kick things off, then Charbonnet ran for a first down. Receiver Jake Bobo then reeled in two grabs for another first down, bringing the ball into Cal territory.
Facing 3rd-and-9, Thompson-Robinson dropped back to pass and stepped up in the pocket. The veteran signal-caller tried a jump pass to tight end Hudson Habermehl over the middle, but it fell incomplete and the Bruins had to punt.
Thompson-Robinson got hit pretty hard on the failed third down conversion, and he was holding his arm after the play. There was a decent amount of blood, and trainers were seen cleaning up a wound on his elbow when he went back to the bench.
The failed opening drive didn't cost UCLA too much, though, since Cal went three-and-out and punted the ball right back. The Bruins will try to get the ball rolling on their own 45.
Setting the stage for the season finale
1:20 p.m.: The Bruins may have locked up bowl eligibility over a month ago, but this could still be the final outing for this current iteration of the team.
For one, the transfer portal will surely explode after the weekend. There are also a handful of draft-eligible players who may opt out of UCLA's postseason contest, depending one when and where that ends up being.
So while last week's loss to USC marked the final showing at the Rose Bowl for quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and others, this will be many veterans' final time in blue and gold. Thompson-Robinson is participating in warmups in Berkeley, as is running back Zach Charbonnet.
Left guard Atonio Mafi, after leaving the game last weekend, is on the field for warmups in full uniform as well. He has not missed a single game in the entire Chip Kelly era, and this would mark his 55th consecutive appearance for the Bruins, if he can play. Safety Stephan Blaylock is in that same boat himself heading into Friday.
Defensive coordinator Bill McGovern's status remains up in the air, however, and he could very well miss his fifth consecutive game. It will be difficult to get a read on his availability until UCLA Athletics discloses it to the media early in the game, since he typically works from up in the booth anyways.
With a victory over the Bears, the Bruins would reach nine wins for the first time since 2014. If they get upset as 11-point favorites, they will finish with the same regular season record they had in 2021.
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