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UCLA vs. Cal Week 13: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis

Stay right here for all of the updates on the Bruins' game versus the Golden Bears.

Sam Connon

UCLA vs. Cal Week 13: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
UCLA vs. Cal Week 13: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis /

UCLA football (7-4, 5-3 Pac-12) is playing Cal (4-6, 3-4) in Week 13 of the 2021 college football season, pitting two longtime in-state rivals against each other at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.

FINAL: UCLA 42, Cal 14

10:55 p.m.: The clock has hit zero and the Bruins have wrapped up the regular season 8-4.

For the full wrap on Saturday's game against Cal, go HERE.

Thompson-Robinson to Philips connection as strong as ever

10:33 p.m.: The game is decided at this point, but that doesn't mean Kelly is telling the offense to take its foot off the gas.

Thompson-Robinson scrambled for 11, 16 and 20 yards, then finished things off with another touchdown to Philips in the back of the end zone. It was their second scoring connection of the night and 10th of the year.

UCLA is up 42-14 with 8:53 to play.

Charbonnet scores twice to go up big

10:20 p.m.: It started with a 33-yard run by Allen, and it ended with Charbonnet finding the end zone twice in a row.

The first was on a 1-yard touchdown run, his 13th on the season. Charbonnet now has 105 yards on 21 carries.

Kelly elected to go for two, trying to put UCLA up by a round 21 points, and after taking a timeout to reset, the try was successful. Thompson-Robinson dropped back in the pocket and hit Charbonnet on the goal line to make it a three touchdown game.

UCLA leads Cal 35-14 with 13:10 left on the clo

END Q3: UCLA 27, Cal 14

10:09 p.m.: The Bruins have the ball back after forcing yet another punt.

Official attendance for the game is 36,156, according to UCLA Athletics.

Barr-Mira adds another field goal

10:02 p.m.: Barr-Mira has had some issues with accuracy as of late, missing a kick in five straight games, but that hasn't been a problem for him so far Saturday.

Barr-Mira, who hit from 41 in the first quarter, hit again from 46 in the third. The Bruins did leave four points on the board though, as Allen dropped what would have been a 69-yard bomb on the run from Thompson-Robinson.

The ball fell right through his arms and the drive slowly chugged along before Barr-Mira ended it with three points instead of seven.

UCLA is now up 27-14 with 2:25 remaining in the third.

Thompson-Robinson drops dime to Dulcich

9:40 p.m.: In what could very likely be their final game in the Rose Bowl, the Bruins' quarterback and tight end may have just had their prettiest connection yet.

After Charbonnet picked up a 20-yard run to get UCLA to midfield and Dulcich drew a pass interference, the Bruins had 29 yards left to go until the end zone. Thompson-Robinson took his time in the pocket and once again looked towards Dulcich, eventually lofting one to the far left of the end zone.

Dulcich had his man beat and just barely stayed in bounds on the over-the-shoulder grab, giving him five touchdowns on the season and 11 in his career.

UCLA now leads 24-14 with 11:19 left in the third quarter.

HALFTIME: UCLA 17, Cal 14

9:08 p.m.: Garbers threw his second pick of the night, this one coming courtesy of Lake. That play set the Bruins up for a Hail Mary attempt before the break, and Thompson-Robinson bought some time and nearly found Allen in the end zone with a laser to the right side, but it got broken up.

UCLA will receive the ball to start the second half.

TOTAL YARDS: UCLA 181, USC 151

PASS YARDS: Cal 69, UCLA 63

RUSH YARDS: UCLA 118, Cal 82

FIRST DOWNS: UCLA 12, USC 9

PASSING LEADERS

Chase Garbers (CAL): 6-for-11, 69 yards, 2 INT
Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 11-for-15, 63 yards, 1 TD

RUSHING LEADERS

Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): 13 attempts, 63 yards
Christopher Brooks: (CAL) 10 attempts, 54 yards, 1 TD
Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 7 attempts, 47 yards
Chase Garbers (CAL): 7 attempts, 14 yards, 1 TD
Kazmeir Allen (UCLA): 1 attempt, 8 yards, 1 TD

RECEIVING LEADERS

Kyle Philips (UCLA): 4 receptions, 21 yards, 1 TD
Greg Dulcich (UCLA): 2 receptions, 27 yards
Nikko Remigio (CAL): 2 receptions, 27 yards

Cal converts, Allen makes up for mishap

9:03 p.m.: The Golden Bears ended up converted a third-and-long, then punching it in with Garbers to take a 14-10 lead, but then the Bruins got the ball back and marched down the field while also bleeding almost all of the time off the clock.

Cal kicked short, and striker Martell Irby returned it to UCLA's 36.

Continuing their streak of third down conversions to five, the Bruins trudged 64 yards in 13 plays. The man who capped it off was none other than Allen, whose fumble resulted in the previous touchdown by Cal.

Allen took the short end around to the left corner, made one defender miss, then lunged for the pylon. 

UCLA now leads again, 17-14, with just 26 seconds until halftime.

Golden Bears answer, get big break on ensuing kick

8:40 p.m.: Without any points or very many yards, the Cal offense looked like it had regressed to where it was in the beginning of Pac-12 play.

Then the Golden Bears marched 75 yards, 59 of which came on the ground, to get a touchdown of their own. It was running back Christopher Brooks who found paydirt, following a convoy of linemen 14 yards into the end zone.

After cutting the deficit down to three, Cal capitalized on a UCLA blunder the following play.

Receiver Kazmeir Allen tried getting a running start on his return, but bobbled the ball, dropped it and tripped trying to recover it. The Golden Bears scooped it up instead, and they'll have the ball at the Bruins' 12-yard line with a chance to take the lead.

UCLA is still clinging onto a 10-7 lead with 8:54 remaining in the second quarter.

Kyle Philips adds another touchdown, Bruins extend early lead

8:24 p.m.: Facing third down after Charbonnet got stuffed and nearly stripped as the whistle blew, Thompson-Robinson rolled out to his right and found a wide open Philips in the back of the end zone.

The Bruins converted on all three third downs they faced on the short drive, and now Philips is up to 16 touchdowns in his career.

UCLA leads 10-0 with 14:10 on the clock in the second quarter.

END Q1: UCLA 3, Cal 0

8:18 p.m.: The Bruins forced an interception out of quarterback Chase Garbers, with linebacker Caleb Johnson creating the pressure and cornerback Jay Shaw getting the pick and returning it back to the Golden Bears' 40.

A holding pushed UCLA back to start the drive, but Thompson-Robinson converted a 3rd-and-14 on the ground. A short pass to Philips led to another first down, now inside Cal's red zone. 

Charbonnet carried the ball 9 yards down to the 3, and the Bruins will be facing a 2nd-and-1 after the break.

Bruins get on the board first

7:56 p.m.: After winning the coin flip and deferring, UCLA forced a three-and-out on Cal's first possession of the game.

Thompson-Robinson opened things up with a short out route to Philips, then running back Zach Charbonnet picked up the first down with a 6-yard carry. Thompson-Robinson took a bootleg 12 yards on the ground, then completed a 24-yard pass to tight end Greg Dulcich.

The drive stalled on the doorstep of the red zone, and kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira came out to drill the 41-yarder.

UCLA leads 3-0 with 9:33 left in the opening quarter.

Surprise Senior Day addition, ceremony for countless vets

7:36 p.m.: The full list of players released by the UCLA football Twitter account ended up walking across midfield after warmups, but a late addition made an appearance as well.

Defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia was not on the graphic tweeted out early, but was honored during the ceremony. Look below for the full list of seniors who took part in the event, in addition to Ogbonnia.

The players heard their names called and walked from the West sideline to the middle of the field, hugging Kelly along the way and then joining their families on the UCLA logo. As they ran off the field, several seniors hugged Senior Associate Athletic Director Josh Rebholz as well, including Thompson-Robinson, Lake, Pitts and Ogbonnia.

Kickoff is coming up momentarily.

Pregame injury updates, Senior Day preparations

7:14 p.m.: The lone starter who appears to be unavailable Saturday is running back Brittain Brown, who also missed last week's game against USC due to an injury he suffered against Colorado on Nov. 13.

Brown was warming up on the sidelines during practice this week, but never participated in team or contact drills during the open periods.

The former Duke transfer is one of the few players on UCLA's roster who has exhausted all of his collegiate eligibility, and will therefore be among the group of players walking for Senior Day at the Rose Bowl. Joining Brown are quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, running back Ethan Fernea, receiver Kyle Philips, receiver Chase Cota, right tackle Alec Anderson, left guard Paul Grattan Jr., offensive lineman Baraka Beckett, offensive lineman Lucas Gramlick, defensive lineman Datona Jackson, defensive lineman Odua Isibor, linebacker Mitchell Agude, linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath, striker Qwuantrezz Knight, striker Shea Pitts, cornerback Obi Eboh, cornerback Cameron Johnson, cornerback Mo Osling III, cornerback Jay Shaw and safety Quentin Lake.

Coach Chip Kelly said Wednesday that just because a player is honored as part of Senior Day does not mean they are locked into leaving the program in the offseason.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.

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