UCLA Keeps Skipping Past the Opposition

PALO ALTO â€”  Skip Hicks had three scoring runs, tying his school record of 20 touchdowns in a season, and No. 12 UCLA forced four turnovers and had six sacks in a 27-7 victory over Stanford on Saturday.

Hicks scored on runs of 4 and 1 yards in the first quarter and added a 24-yard scoring run with 1:59 left in the game. The Pacific 10 Conference record is 23 touchdowns in a season, set by Marcus Allen for USC in 1981 and matched by Washington’s Corey Dillon last year.

Hicks had 26 carries for 121 yards for UCLA (7-2 overall, 5-1 Pac-10), which won its seventh consecutive game. In his last 19 games, Hicks has run for at least 100 yards 10 times.

Chris Sailer added field goals of 27 and 25 yards for UCLA. Cade McNown, who came into the game leading the nation in passing efficiency, was 15 of 28 for 205 yards with one interception.

Todd Husak threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Jimmie Johnson with 42 seconds left in the game for Stanford (4-4, 2-3).

Chad Hutchinson was only 18 of 36 for 197 yards and had two passes intercepted as Stanford lost its third in a row. The Cardinal has turned the ball over 14 times in those three losses.

UCLA, which entered the game with the best turnover margin in the nation, recovered two fumbles and made two interceptions. The Bruins lost the ball twice, on a fumble and an interception. UCLA has 35 takeaways and 17 giveaways this season.

The Bruins forced three turnovers and had three sacks in the first half while building a 20-0 lead.

UCLA went 59 yards on the game’s opening possession, scoring on Hicks’ four-yard run. The Bruins made it 14-0 later in the period on Hicks’ one-yard dive, which came one play after a 73-yard pass-and-run play to Rodney Lee.

Sailer’s two field goals came in the second quarter.

Hicks’ third touchdown gave the Bruins a 27-0 lead, and UCLA came within less than a minute of its first road shutout in a decade--the last one was a 49-0 win at Stanford in 1987--before Johnson made his last-minute scoring catch.