Bruins come back to knock off Bears

BERKELEY, Calif. — Dorian Thompson-Robinson ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as No. 18 UCLA rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat California 35-28 on Friday.

The Bruins (9-3, 6-3) finished with 541 yards of offense, including 352 on the ground, and rebounded from a narrow defeat to USC the previous week that eliminated them from league title contention.

Thompson-Robinson passed for 189 yards and gained another 88 on the ground. Zach Charbonnet rushed for 119 yards and a score, and he converted a fourth-and-2 run in Cal territory late in the game that chewed up valuable time. TJ Harden added 89 yards rushing on 12 carries for the Bruins.

It was Thompson-Robinson’s ability to improvise when plays broke down that keyed UCLA’s surge after it fell behind 21-10 late in the second quarter.

“That’s Dorian,” UCLA Coach Chip Kelly said. “He can beat you with both his arm and his legs. He’s a threat. Everybody knows it.”

The Bears (4-8, 2-7) got a fourth-down stop that gave them the ball back trailing 35-28 with 1:58 remaining. But Bruins linebacker Kain Medrano knocked the ball loose from Jaydn Ott after a fourth-down reception that would have converted a first down, and Carl Jones Jr. recovered to ice the game for UCLA.

Cal’s Jack Plummer threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Jeremiah Hunter had eight catches for 153 yards and two scores.

UCLA trailed by 11 with 58 seconds left before halftime. But Thompson-Robinson led his team on a 75-yard drive that took 40 seconds, capping it with a 19-yard touchdown scramble that brought UCLA within 21-17 at the intermission.

“Obviously we were a little frustrated, a little teed off. We’re a lot better football team than that,” Thompson-Robinson said. “But again, the resiliency and ability to fix those things. We’ve got a bunch of smart football players out on that field. If we need to make adjustments, we make adjustments.”

UCLA scored on its first possession of the second half to take the lead. But Plummer hit Ott for an 8-yard touchdown that put Cal up 28-27 with 11:16 remaining.

Then Thompson-Robinson engineered a 73-yard scoring drive capped by Charbonnet’s 5-yard touchdown. A twopoint conversion pass to Jake Bobo gave UCLA a 35-28 lead.

UCLA had 113 rushing yards in the first quarter alone and moved the ball at will. But Nicholas Barr-Mira missed a 33-yard field goal, and penalties forced the Bruins to settle for a field goal on another drive. They led 10-7 midway through the second quarter.

That gave Plummer time to find his rhythm. The transfer from Purdue threw three first-half touchdown passes, including two to Hunter, who beat one-on-one coverage for 38- and 22-yard scores.

Cal safety Daniel Scott, who played his final college game after six years in the program, said the Bears couldn’t make enough key plays throughout the season to qualify for a bowl game.

“It’s been a challenging year with ups and downs,” Scott said. “At the same time, you’ve got to look at the positives. We played a lot of close games. It’s just the small details that cost us some games.”

NO. 16 FLORIDA STATE 45 FLORIDA 38

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Trey Benson’s 17-yard scoring run with 4:06 left in the game was his third touchdown of the game and gave No. 16 Florida State a win over rival Florida.

Benson rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries and Jordan Travis ran for 83 yards and two scores as the Seminoles piled up 228 yards on the ground — the seventh consecutive time they surpassed the 200-yard rushing mark.

Florida threatened on its last drive in the final minutes, but Anthony Richardson’s fourth-down pass over the middle fell incomplete with 39 seconds to go.

Travis also completed 13 of 30 passes for 270 yards as Florida State (9-3) completed a sweep of its state rivals for the first time since 2016. The Seminoles routed Miami 45-3 on Nov. 5.

Florida State trailed 24-21 at the half, but opened the second half with scores on its next three drives (field goal, touchdown, touchdown) to jump in front 38-24. The Gators (6-6) answered with a pair of touchdowns, one each by Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne, to tie the game with 7:41 left.

Richardson completed just 9 of 27 passes for 198 yards and 3 TDs. Ricky Pearsall had a career-best 148 receiving yards, including touchdowns catches of 52 and 43 yards in the first half.