Sept. 1, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | UCLA-Stanford Photos
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- UCLA quarterback Ben Olson threw five touchdown passes and Kahlil Bell ran for a career-high 195 yards to lead the 14th-ranked Bruins to a 45-17 victory Saturday in Jim Harbaugh's first game as the Cardinal coach.
Coaching across the street from where he went to high school, Harbaugh's imprint on Stanford's offense was evident as the Cardinal moved the ball much better than they did in a 1-11 season a year ago that led to Walt Harris' firing.
After being outscored 165-33 in losing all five games at its remodeled stadium in 2006, Stanford was competitive for a little more than a half this game. The Cardinal trailed 14-7 at halftime and were within 21-10 late in the third quarter.
Senior T.C. Ostrander, beginning the season as the starter for the first time in his career, was 27-for-59 for 331 yards and two touchdowns, including a 70-yarder to Richard Sherman in the fourth quarter.
The Harbaugh era got off to an inauspicious start when Ostrander was stripped on a sack by a blitzing Trey Brown on the third play of the game, giving UCLA the ball at the Cardinal 12 after Bruce Davis' recovery.
Stanford's defense held the Bruins and Kai Forbath missed a 28-yard field goal to keep the game scoreless. But the Cardinal could not shut down the Bruins for long.
An 11-yard punt by Jay Ottovegio gave UCLA the ball on its own 40 midway through the first quarter. Four plays later, Breazell made a leaping 19-yard touchdown grab over Tim Sims to give UCLA the lead.
While the Cardinal played with more enthusiasm than last year, the offense didn't show much more effectiveness until Ostrander led the team on an 80-yard drive in the final minutes of the opening half. He went 4-for-6 for 45 yards on the drive, capping it with a 9-yard score to Jim Dray.