Olson leads UCLA to big win over Stanford

Sep 2, 2007, 8:20 GMT

Palo Alto, CA - Ben Olson threw five touchdown passes and Kahlil Bell ran for 195 yards as the 14th-ranked UCLA Bruins torched the Stanford Cardinal, 45-17, in the season opener for both programs at Stanford Stadium.

Olson finished 16-of-29 for 286 yards for UCLA (1-0, 1-0 Pac-10), which piled up 624 total yards. Brandon Brazell caught six passes for 111 yards and a touchdown while Joe Cowan had 96 yards and two touchdowns on two receptions.

'It was a good first game. It was a good statement at the beginning of the year,' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. 'Defensively we played pretty well. I liked how we stopped the running game.'

T.C. Ostrander went 27-of-59 for 331 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford (0-1, 0-1 Pac-10), which failed to win in Jim Harbaugh's debut as Head Coach. Richard Sherman caught four balls for 100 yards and a touchdown, Evan Moore recorded 87 yards on six catches and Jim Dray had 72 yards receiving and one touchdown on four receptions.

'Overall I am very disappointed,' Ostrander said. 'We were close there at the end of the first half. We made a lot of mistakes out there and weren't always on the same page, but a lot of things were under our control, and with two weeks before the next game we should be ready to go against San Jose State. Once we figure those things out, we should have a much more efficient offense.'

Stanford fumbled on just its third play from scrimmage. Ostrander coughed up the football after Trey Brown sacked him deep in the backfield. Bruce Davis picked it up at the Cardinal 24-yard line and returned it to the 12.

UCLA, though, failed to capitalize on the turnover, going three and out before Kai Forbath missed a 28-yard field goal wide left.

The Bruins did get on the board with 4:26 to go in the first quarter when Olson connected with Cowan on a fade route for a 19-yard touchdown catch, capping a four-play, 60-yard drive.

UCLA extended its lead to 14-0 with 14:22 left in the second quarter. Olson culminated a 6-play, 92-yard drive with a another touchdown pass on a fade route. This time to Gavin Ketchum in the corner of the end zone. The big play of the drive was a Bell 60-yard dash.

Ostrander led the Cardinal 80 yards on 10 plays for a much needed touchdown with 48 second left in the half. UCLA hurt itself with a pass interference and a roughing the passer penalty on the drive.

The Bruins marched down to the Stanford 25 yard line on their first possession of the second half but were forced to try a 42-yard field goal which Forbath missed wide left.

UCLA, however, once again found the end zone on its next possession despite starting on its own three-yard line. The seven-play, 97-yard drive ended when Olson hit Dominiq Johnson on a slant route for a four-yard touchdown reception with 8:44 left in the third quarter. The Bruins used some trickery on the drive. On a 1st-and-10 at their own 45, UCLA pulled out the flea flicker which resulted in a 49-yard gain when Olson found Breazell.

Stanford responded with a 37-yard Derek Belch field goal on the ensuing possession to cut its deficit to 21-10 with 5:46 to go in the third.

The Bruins quickly had an answer. On the second play of the subsequent possession, Cowan took a screen pass from Olson 77 yards for a touchdown.

With 11:44 left Forbath drilled a 39-yard field goal for a 31-10 lead.

On the first play of Stanford's following possession, Ostrander hit Sherman for a 70-yard touchdown catch with 11:25 showing on the clock.

Breazell had a 15-yard touchdown catch with 9:10 left to play and Christian Ramirez a 27-yard touchdown run with 20 ticks left to cap the scoring.

Game Notes

UCLA won a season opener against a conference opponent for the first since 1997...The Bruins returned 20 starters from last year's team and entered with their highest preseason ranking since 1998...Harbaugh took over for Walt Harris who was fired in the offseason after a 1-11 campaign last year...Ostrander's 331-yard performance is the first 300-yard game for a Stanford quarterback since Trent Edwards threw for 303 yards against Arizona State on Oct. 22, 2005.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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