Welcome to The Daily’s live blog of tonight’s Pac-12 Championship Game between the Cardinal and the Bruins. We’ll be updating this page with instant coverage and analysis. Please refresh this page for the most recent updates. All times are Pacific.
Tonight, that dream will be either made or broken as No. 8 Stanford (10-2, 8-1 Pac-12) hosts No. 16 UCLA (9-3, 6-3) in the Pac-12 Championship Game, with the winner automatically advancing to the prestigious Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
I can’t guarantee a winner tonight, but here are the changes each team will look to make if it wants to represent the Pac-12 at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Stanford can’t focus on postseason awards just yet with No. 17 UCLA and a potential Rose Bowl berth looming at Friday’s Pac-12 Championship game, but the No. 8 Cardinal received some more national recognition on Wednesday when senior tight end Zach Ertz and junior offensive tackle David Yankey were both named to the American Football Coaches Association All-American Team.
Despite playing a little over half the game, Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after racking up 142 yards on 20 carries in the No. 8 Cardinal’s 35-17 victory over UCLA on Saturday.
A decade ago, it took three seasons for Stanford to amass ten wins. During those three miserable years, the Cardinal never finished higher than eighth out of the ten teams in the Pac-10. Nineteen losses in conference play. Twenty-three total defeats. Those were the kinds of numbers that defined the program.
Stanford took care of business on Saturday night, smothering Johnathan Franklin and the UCLA run game and scoring plenty of points on the way to a 42-24 win over the No. 17 Bruins. With the win, Stanford guaranteed its spot in the Pac-12 Championship, which the No. 8 Cardinal will host against this same UCLA team next Friday night.
We are live at the Rose Bowl with No. 8 Stanford against No. 17 UCLA.