PASADENA, Calif. - UCLA's defense, which had been one of the nation's most generous, suddenly turned stingy.
Led by linebackers Spencer Havner and Justin London, the Bruins got their first Pac-10 shutout in 17 years with a 21-0 victory over Stanford on Saturday.
"The defense, what a display," UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said.
Stanford coach Buddy Teevens thought so, too.
"Am I stunned to be shut out? Yes," Teevens said. "They played like a great defense. They dared us to run the football and we failed."
Maurice Drew scored touchdowns on a 68-yard punt return and a 3-yard reception, and Manuel White ran 2 yards for UCLA's other touchdown.
Havner had 16 tackles and one of three interceptions off Trent Edwards. London was in on 10 tackles.
Havner said that, after the Bruins stopped the Cardinal on their first couple of series, "It started a little buzz around the sideline."
"It's nice that we sent a statement."
London hoped critics of UCLA's defense saw the game.
"Well, man, hopefully they were watching," he said. "We played a good offense. They put points on the board against everybody they played so far in the Pac-10, and they couldn't get points against us."
Stanford scored 28 points earlier this year in a 31-28 loss to No. 1 Southern California.
Drew gained 107 yards on 12 carries for the Bruins (5-3, 3-2). Drew Olson completed 17 of 28 passes for 177 yards and one touchdown, with one interception.
After giving up an average of 451.9 yards and 28.4 points a game -- including a total of 93 points in the last two games -- UCLA held Stanford to 307 total yards. That included just 83 yards on the ground -- or 144.3 yards less than the average against the Bruins this year.
The shutout was the Bruins' first in a conference game since a 49-0 victory over Stanford in 1987. UCLA's last shutout over any opponent was eight years ago, 44-0 over Northeast Louisiana.
Edwards went 24-of-46 for 224 yards for the Cardinal (4-4, 2-3), with the three interceptions. Tight end Alex Smith had 10 catches for 136 yards.
The closest Stanford came to scoring was in the waning minutes of the game, with a first-and-goal from the 8 after a 71-yard pass from Edwards to Smith.
With the crowd chanting "Defense!" and "Shutout!" the Bruins kept the Cardinal out of the end zone, with Edwards throwing incomplete on fourth down from the 6.
The Bruins rushed for 177 yards, with Manuel White running for 87 yards and scoring on a 2-yard run in the first quarter.
UCLA was up 14-0 at halftime and added the Olson-to-Drew touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
On his touchdown return, Drew staggered forward as he caught the ball, bounced off a defender being blocked toward him, then cut to the right side and was off to the end zone.
That put the Bruins up 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Olson went 4-for-4 on the Bruins' first scoring march, including a 26-yarder to Marcedes Lewis down to the Stanford 32, and a 40-yarder to Tab Perry to the 2. White bulled into the end zone from there.
Stanford drove into UCLA territory three times in the first half, but came away empty-handed. UCLA's Jarrad Page stopped one threat with an interception at the 15; a fake punt at the 44 didn't fool the Bruins and resulted in a 2-yard loss; and Edwards later threw incomplete on fourth-and-4 at the 32.
The victory was the Bruins' first this season against a team that had a winning record.
Before beating Stanford, the Bruins had lost two in a row, both to ranked teams. They were beaten 45-28 by California and 48-42 by Arizona State.
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