UCLA vs. Stanford College Football Week 9: Storylines to Watch

Here are the three biggest narratives to keep an eye on before, during and after the Bruins' game against the Cardinal.

No. 12 UCLA football (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) is scheduled to kick off its Week 9 game against Stanford (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Bruins' undefeated season came to an end up in Eugene last weekend, but it was still just their first loss since Oct. 30, 2021. The Cardinal, on the other hand, have won two in a row, but only after opening the season 1-4.

Heading into the Week 9 matchup, here are the most pressing questions we want to have answered by the final whistle.

Will Dorian Thompson-Robinson bounce back?

To be clear, Thompson-Robinson was by no means bad against Oregon in Week 8. Throwing for 262 yards with more touchdowns than interceptions is more than admirable, and the loss should not be blamed fully on him.

At the same time, he went into that game with Heisman hopes, only to post his worst passer rating of the season and come up short on multiple drives.

Thompson-Robinson admitted himself on Monday that he was not particularly accurate against the Ducks, and that his receivers bailed him out of some spotty throws to keep drives alive. Receivers Kazmeir Allen and Jake Bobo were relied on very heavily in that game, probably more so than they had been all year.

The stats looked pretty good, but for the first time all year, Thompson-Robinson wasn't making it look easy.

The fifth-year signal-caller should be able to get back to that against Stanford, which gave up big games to USC's Caleb Williams, Washington's Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon's Bo Nix. Thompson-Robinson has played at an equal or superior level to those quarterbacks for most of this season, but to join them by dismantling a common opponent is a notch he really need to add to his belt.

Thompson-Robinson will more than likely still lead the Pac-12 in passer rating and completion percentage by the end of Saturday night's showdown at the Rose Bowl. What would really ease fans concerns about the offense – and potentially launch him back into the Heisman discussion – is another signature, stat-padding performance to close out his career series versus Stanford.

Did the defense show its true colors last week?

Going into the Oregon game, UCLA was allowing the fewest yards per game and yards per play in the Pac-12.

The Ducks proceeded to carve up the Bruins at all three levels, and the defense now ranks in the middle of the pack in the conference in most major defensive stats. Many analysts could have told you heading into that game that the statistics were fool's gold, but it was still disheartening to see the unit revert to its Jerry Azzinaro-era lack of production.

Stanford's offense is one of the least efficient in the Pac-12, and their 25.1 points per game rank 93rd in the FBS. The Cardinal managed to win games by scoring just 16 and 15 points against defenses that were previously allowing 23.2 and 35.6 points per game, so it's not like it took all-world groups to slow them down.

One of the biggest issues that has shown up in UCLA's defense recently has been how consistently teams are scoring – and scoring touchdowns – in the red zone. Stanford, meanwhile, has scored one touchdown total in its last two games, routinely letting drives stall out and settling for eight consecutive field goals.

The Bruins would continue their steep dissent if they allowed the Cardinal to start finishing drives, considering Arizona State and Notre Dame both managed to prevent that with supposedly inferior defenses.

UCLA has progressively allowed more and more yards in each of its conference games – 309 to Colorado, 410 to Washington, 479 to Utah and 545 to Oregon. That trend needs to reverse itself sooner rather than later, and Stanford should realistically be held to fewer than 400 yards on Saturday, as it has been in its last five games.

Can the Bruins keep their grander hopes alive?

"Will UCLA win the game" is admittedly a lame and generic question to ask heading into any game.

But it would take more than just a win for the Bruins to prove that last week was only a speedbump on the road to a great season.

Two weeks ago, UCLA was a top-10 team, while Stanford was floundering and could have been on the verge of firing their head coach, depending on who you ask. If you truly believe the Bruins are Rose Bowl-bound, the events of the last 14 days shouldn't dissuade you from believing this team should win in a blowout effort.

UCLA still controls its own destiny – at the very least in the Pac-12 race, and very nearly in the College Football Playoff race. It would take a few losses by TCU, Michigan, Clemson or Tennessee to get the Bruins back into that picture, but the path is still there.

If UCLA wins out to wrap up the regular season, it goes to the Pac-12 Championship Game. If they meet Oregon in Las Vegas and come out with a win, the Bruins are 12-1 and will have avenged their only loss, which came against a top-10 team on the road.

That's an incredibly high bar to reach, and many believed the expectations in Westwood before the Oregon loss were borderline outlandish.

All of that still remains in the realm of possibility, though, so long as UCLA asserts its dominance against Stanford on Saturday. The Bruins are playing at home, going against a team with an inept offense and a defense that was giving up 40 points on the regular before this most recent stretch.

UCLA can reaffirm everyone's beliefs that they are on the same level as Oregon, USC and Utah by doing that, setting up a fun final stretch for the regular season as a result.

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