BERKELEY — Dorian Thompson-Robinson wasn’t going to let UCLA lose in his final regular-season game, and Zach Charbonnet helped make sure of it.
Thompson-Robinson rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another and Zach Charbonnet had 119 of UCLA’s 352 rushing yards, helping the Bruins shake off a sluggish start and beat Cal, 35-28, on Friday at Memorial Stadium.
Charbonnet – who eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the seventh time in eight games – scored the go-ahead touchdown with 7:53 left.
UCLA recovered a fumble after Cal converted a fourth down on its final drive, but Jaydn Ott lost the ball after making the catch to seal the Bruins’ win.
Thompson-Robinson was 21 of 30 for 189 yards, also eclipsing Brett Hundley for most completions in program history. He rushed for 88 yards and his second touchdown run – a 14-yard scamper after faking a handoff to TJ Harden – gave the Bruins a 24-21 third-quarter lead.
After Cal regained the lead on an 8-yard catch-and-run by Ott, Charbonnet capped a 10-play, 73-yard drive to put UCLA back in front 35-28 after a successful 2-point conversion.
UCLA (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12) entered the game on its first losing streak of the season, after dropping home games to Arizona and USC in consecutive weeks. The losses eliminated the Bruins from contention in both the College Football Playoff and Pac-12 championship hunt.
But if the Bruins can win whatever bowl game they end up in (possibly the Las Vegas or Sun bowls), they would tie a program record for most wins in a season at 10 – a total they have reached nine times, most recently in 2014.
UCLA has won five of its past six games against the Bears, but was playing at Cal for the first time since Coach Chip Kelly notched his first win with the program in 2018.
The Bruins trailed 21-17 at halftime. UCLA’s defense kept Cal (4-8, 2-7) from recording a first down until its third drive, but the Bears scored touchdowns on their next three drives.
Cal quarterback Jack Plummer was 24-of-34 passing for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter had eight catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
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Plummer had three long touchdown passes, beginning with a 46-yard catch-and-run by J. Michael Sturdivant, who sped away from Stephen Blaylock and Jaylin Davies and into the end zone.
Hunter then made two spectacular touchdown catches of 38 and 22 yards. The first, a leaping grab over Azizi Hearn, gave Cal its first lead of the game in the second quarter. It was set up by a fake punt when UCLA’s special teams was caught off guard on a fourth-and-1 play at Cal’s 26-yard line.
On Cal’s next drive, Hunter made an over-the-shoulder grab on John Humphrey to give the Bears a 21-10 lead.
UCLA responded with a quick 40-second touchdown drive, as Thompson-Robinson scrambled for a 19-yard score to cut the Cal lead to 21-17 before halftime.
UCLA scored first on a 5-yard leaping grab by Jake Bobo on its first drive.
More to come on this story.