All Bruins UCLA Football Players of the Game: Week 4 vs. Stanford

Awarding the Bruins' top offensive, defensive and special teams players in their win over Stanford on Saturday.

The Bruins went into Saturday as a favorite, but they had lost their last game and were preparing to face one of their most bitter rivals on the road.

No. 20 UCLA football (3-1) marched up north to take on Stanford (2-2, 1-1) and left with a 35-24 victory. Taking a look at each unit individually, here are the three student-athletes who have earned the All Bruins UCLA Football Players of the Game awards.

Offensive Player of the Week: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Even putting aside the fact he played most of the game dinged up and his triumphant return from in the final minutes, Thompson-Robinson was the Bruins' most important player on that side of the ball from start to finish.

On UCLA’s first drive, the handoffs the running back Zach Charbonnet were getting predictable, so Thompson-Robinson kept the ball and ran in for the opening score. He would do the same later, and he went from having zero rushing touchdowns on the season to having two.

Thompson-Robinson converted big 3rd downs through the air to tight end Greg Dulcich and even former quarterback Josiah Norwood. He also picked some up woth his legs as well, keeping the clock-killing drive in the fourth quarter alive on multiple occasions.

He wasn’t perfect though, considering  he tossed an ill-advised kill-your-buddy pass to Dulcich over the middle that was not worth it at all, and he took a bad red zone sack that led to a missed field goal. Early on, he missed a few passes, and fans were getting on him about it.

But that’s the thing – quarterbacks, no matter how experienced or talented, don’t have to be perfect and it’s naive to expect them to be.

Thompson-Robinson made the plays when they mattered most, answering Stanford’s game-tying score with a 75-yard bomb he tossed on the money to Philips, and then the second touchdown to Philips to ice the game.

Oh yeah, and he injured his shoulder two plays before that and had to leave the game. It looks like he learned a thing or two from Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener.

So finising with 251 passing yards, four total touchdowns and a season-best 62.1% completion percentage, he really earned offensive player of the week this time around.

Defensive Player of the Week: LB Carl Jones Jr.

Over the offseason, Jones seemingly lost his starting raider job to Bo Calvert, and that was after putting together a really solid first campaign in the 4-2-5.

Jones got a lot more snaps than he had the past few weeks though, and he capitalized by reminding everyone just how athletic and disruptive he could be given the chance.

Entering the game with nine total tackles and four solo, Jones put up a team-high four solo tackles and five total against Stanford on Saturday. He broke into the backfield on several occasions, only getting credited with 1.0 tackle for loss, and played a big part in not letting quarterback Tanner McKee not get in a rhythm early on.

McKee was routinely overthrowing his guys after completing over 70% of his passes coming into Saturday. Jones and other Bruins bull rushing McKee is part of the reason he didn’t hit that mark against UCLA, and why Stanford started off with five 3-and-outs.

Jones, playing a blitz-happy pass rushing role in assisant head coach Brian Norwood’s system, also ran back in coverage deep over the middle several times, harkening back to his safety roots and demonstrating just how dynamic he can be.

Cornerback Obi Eboh is a solid runner up choice here, considering how McKee targeted him several times the first few possessions and came away with nothing. None of McKee’s eventual three touchdowns were thrown on Eboh’s side of the field either, let alone at his man.

Special Teams Player of the Week: WR/PR Kyle Philips

It’s a well-documented fact that Philips is dangerous in the return game, and it took Stanford all of one punt to figure that out.

Philips caught the ball at UCLA’s 27 after the defense forced a 3-and-out on the first possession of the game. The Bruins’ top slot receiver found a hole on the right side and made his way into Cardinal territory, then made a sharp cut left across the field to make a diving defender miss.

It took three Stanford players diving at his ankles to finally trip him up and by that time, he was already at the 12-yard line. UCLA scored an early touchdown thanks to Philips flipping the field, and even though Stanford tried to punt away from him from that point on, he still managed to do pretty well.

Most of the rest of the punts went out of bounds, but one that didn’t, Philips hauled in on the left sideline, did a little hesitation and cut upfield for another gain of 15-plus yards.

Philips probably contributed more on offense than special teams when it was all said and done, grabbing the two game-winning touchdowns in the fourth quarter and racking up over 100 receiving yards, but his special teams skills can’t go unappreciated.

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