Cal vs. UCLA: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The UCLA Bruins kept their Pac-12 championship hopes alive with a convincing 40-24 win in Thursday’s Week 8 opener over the No. 20 California Golden Bears, losers of two straight.

The win didn’t come without a bite from the injury bug. Already dealing with a slew of attrition, the Bruins lost leading rusher Paul Perkins (knee), leading tackler Isaako Savaiinaea (leg) and the game’s leading receiver, Devin Fuller (neck). ESPN.com's Ted Miller pointed out the team's unfortunate luck this year:

None of the three who left returned to the game Thursday, and five players left with injuries during the Bruins’ Week 7 loss to the No. 10 Stanford Cardinal. UCLA is still alive in the Pac-12 South and may have to limp its way to the conference title game, as ESPN.com's Travis Haney noted:

The Bruins' fate largely rests on freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, who was marvelous in Thursday’s win, completing a school record 34 passes on 47 attempts for a career-high 399 yards and three touchdowns. Bruins wide receiver Thomas Duarte also had career highs of 10 catches for 141 yards. 

Rosen outdueled highly touted Cal quarterback Jared Goff, who finished 32-of-53 for 295 yards with three touchdowns, extending his school record to 73. Rosen's performance impressed the Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer:

The Bruins accounted for just one turnover—a fumble by running back Soso Jamabo well after the game had been decided—against a Cal defense that led the nation with 21 takeaways entering Week 8.

UCLA jumped out to a 23-3 lead before Cal finally reached the end zone on a one-yard fade from Goff to wide receiver Kenny Lawler with 51 seconds remaining in the first half. ESPN College Football shared the replay:

The Bruins marched downfield and extended their lead to 26-10 as time expired in the half on a school-record 60-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn—one of four that the senior booted in the win. Yahoo Sports' Dr. Saturday provided a replay:

UCLA fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 following a 56-35 loss to Stanford in Week 7 but will likely return to the rankings following Thursday’s win. 

The Bruins will need help to reach the conference title game, and they’re running out of time. With five games remaining, UCLA sits in a three-way tie for second in the Pac-12 South with the Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils at 2-2 in conference play. The Bruins hold the tiebreaker against Arizona but lost in Week 5 to Arizona State.

The No. 3 Utah Utes sit atop the division undefeated but will play UCLA in Week 12. The Bruins need to win out and have Utah and Arizona State each lose at least one other game to reach their fourth conference title game in six years.

Nonetheless, Rosen spoke with conviction following the Bruins’ loss to Stanford and believes the Bruins will face the Cardinal again for the conference crown.

“It’s frustrating,” Rosen told Joey Kaufman of the Orange County Register. “I really wanted to beat this team. I really wanted to make a statement. But we’ll face them again in the Pac-12 Championship Game.”

Cal also needs help in the Pac-12 North at 2-2 in the conference and two games behind Stanford, which it will play in Week 12. The Bears are capable of running the table until then, with games against USC, Oregon and Oregon State ahead, but they will need drastically improved play from their defense, which is allowing 26.7 points per game.

Postgame reaction

Things got chippy after the final whistle when the teams scrummed at midfield in the latest edition of this in-state conference rivalry:

ESPN broadcasters told Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter that no punches were thrown and that the skirmish never escalated to an all-out brawl.

As for the in-game contact, Bruins head coach Jim Mora was not optimistic about the alarming number of injuries that continue to dwindle the depth chart:

Given the sustained slew of injuries, Bleacher Report’s Bryan Fischer doesn’t like the Bruins’ chances of returning to the Pac-12 championship game.

On a positive note, Mora had high praise for Rosen, who has emerged as one of the game’s great young quarterbacks with seemingly limitless upside.

Meanwhile, Cal is also in trouble after losing its second straight. Third-year head coach Sonny Dykes is still seeking an elusive win against the Bears’ major rivals.

If they still hope to compete for the Pac-12 title, they’ll need a major boost on defense. As ESPN Stats & Info indicates, Thursday’s loss was Cal’s 24th in a row when scoring fewer than 30 points. Goff continues to be great, but he can’t do it alone.