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Stanford's late-game heroics net win, gambler's nightmare

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 24: JJ Arcega-Whiteside #19 of the Stanford Cardinal makes a catch for a touchdown past Nate Meadors #22 of the UCLA Bruins to take a 15-13 lead during the fourth quarter at Rose Bowl. (Getty Images)
Stanford’s JJ Arcega-Whiteside makes a late TD catch for a touchdown against UCLA. (Getty)

The streak is now nine.

Late-game heroics by Stanford quarterback Ryan Burns helped the Cardinal score a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds and claim a 22-13 win against UCLA.

The nine-game winning streak is the longest by any opponent against UCLA since the Bruins joined the Pac-12 in 1928.

UCLA had stifled star Christian McCaffrey and the Stanford offense for the bulk of the game and took a four-point lead into the final two minutes. However, that’s when Stanford seemingly became a different team. With no timeouts, the Cardinal worked downfield methodically for 70 yards and Burns found receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who managed to get one foot inbounds, with an 8-yard touchdown pass. Burns’ 66 passing yards on the drive accounted for almost half of the 137 he had in the game.

The Cardinal added a late touchdown on the game’s final play when Solomon Thomas picked up a fumble by quarterback Josh Rosen and ran it into the end zone. While the score didn’t have much effect on the game itself, it did make a few gamblers lucky since the original spread at most sportsbooks was -3 for the Cardinal.

The 22 points were the fewest Stanford had scored since the 2015 season opener.

McCaffrey had 26 carries for 138 yards, but was largely kept in check by the UCLA defense, which didn’t allow many big plays.

Rosen threw for 248 yards and a touchdown, but UCLA had trouble getting its running game going. Rosen did lead the Bruins to a field goal midway through the fourth quarter to make the score 13-9, but the UCLA defense that had been so good throughout the game couldn’t keep pace with Stanford two-minute offense.

Stanford, the Pac-12’s highest-ranking team, likely will stay in the AP Top 10, especially after Michigan State’s loss to Wisconsin, but the close win won’t do it any favors in terms of inching closer to the top four.

For more Stanford news, visit CardinalSportsReport.com.

For more UCLA news, visit BruinSportsReport.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!