Stanford defeats Cal to maintain Pac-12 title hopes

Bryce Love rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown despite missing most of the fourth quarter after aggravating an ankle injury, and No. 20 Stanford held off California 17-14 on Saturday in Palo Alto, California, to keep its Pac-12 title hopes alive.

K.J. Costello completed 17 of 26 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown, Ben Edwards made a key interception in the fourth quarter and Cameron Scarlett rushed for 49 yards on the final drive in place of Love to help the Cardinal (8-3, 7-2 Pac-12) milk the clock and win its eighth straight Big Game.

Stanford can earn a spot in the Pac-12 championship game against USC but needs some help.

The Cardinal can get there if No. 15 Washington State loses to No. 16 Washington next week. If the Cougars – who beat Stanford 24-21 on Nov. 4 – beat the Huskies, they get the nod because of the tiebreaker.

The nation’s leading rusher going into the game, Love was held in check most of the game by Cal’s defense and sat out the final 11:43 after re-injuring his ankle that has bothered him for the past month. He did stay on the field long enough to score a 57-yard touchdown – his 11th run of 50 yards or longer this season.

Scarlett, Love’s primary backup all season, also came up big for Stanford. Scarlett rushed for 61 yards, the majority coming on the Cardinal’s last drive that took the final 7:25. Scarlett’s 2-yard gain on 4th-and-1 kept the drive going.

(12) USC 28, UCLA 23: Sam Darnold passed for 264 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score, the Trojans defeated the visiting Bruins for the fourth consecutive time.

Ronald Jones II rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns, and Michael Pittman Jr. returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown on a spectacular trick play in the first quarter of the regular-season finale for the Pac-12 South champion Trojans (10-2, 8-1).

Josh Rosen passed for 421 yards and hit Jordan Lasley for three touchdowns in the first – and probably only – collegiate meeting between Los Angeles’ star quarterbacks.

Rosen found Lasley for a 27-yard score with 2:43 to play for UCLA (5-6, 3-5), but his 2-point conversion pass was too high for Lasley.

Oregon 48, Arizona 28: Royce Freeman ran for four touchdowns and the Ducks (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) got a boost from the return of starting quarterback Justin Herbert and defeated the Wildcats (7-4, 5-3) in Eugene.

Arizona State 40, Oregon State 24: Demario Richard ran for 116 yards and three scores and Manny Wilkins threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns as the Sun Devils (6-5, 5-3 Pac-12) defeated the Beavers (1-10, 0-8) in Corvallis, Oregon.