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Tailback Maurice Drew scored two touchdowns Saturday afternoon as the Bruins rolled past Stanford

As Saturday’s game drew to a close, the UCLA sideline was abuzz with the possibility. A shutout? Could it happen? This team?

Apparently so.

The embattled Bruin defense put together its best effort of the season, holding Stanford without a point in a 21-0 UCLA victory at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

The shutout was the first in a conference game for any Bruin team since 1987, and came as a shock to UCLA fans still stewing over last week’s fourth-quarter collapse against Arizona State.

“I’m not at all surprised as much as everyone in this room is surprised,” coach Karl Dorrell told reporters after the game. “We knew this performance was coming.”

Going into the game, the Bruins (5-3, 3-2 Pac-10) allowed 448.7 yards of total offense per contest and their defense was statistically among the worst in the country.

But Saturday the UCLA defense played inspired football, holding the Cardinal (4-4, 2-3) to just 307 yards. The defense also put pressure on Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards, sacking him twice and forcing him into poor throws which resulted in three Bruin interceptions.

“This was a good offense. They’ve put points on everyone in the Pac-10 so far, and they put zero on us,” linebacker Justin London said. “It feels great. This is a big deal for our defense.”

The breakout effort was a nice complement to the team’s usually robust offense. Although the Bruins fell short of the 33 points they have been averaging on the season, they still gained over 400 yards of total offense.

Tailback Maurice Drew scored two of UCLA’s three touchdowns, the first on a 68-yard punt return in the second quarter and the other off a three-yard pass early in the fourth.

UCLA’s first touchdown came on a two-yard run by running back Manuel White near the end of the first quarter. That drive was set up by a 40-yard pass play from quarterback Drew Olson to wide receiver Tab Perry, setting up the Bruins with a first-and-goal.

Olson went 17 of 28 for 177 yards on the day, usually taking the short and safe routes. He threw just one interception, a marked improvement from last week’s game when he threw four.

But despite the convincing win, the offense admitted to having somewhat of an off day.

“We dropped some balls early, we missed some cuts early, we missed a cutoff block, we missed one read on a throw,” Cable said. “It just seemed a little out of synch.

“But we played good enough to win and that’s all that matters.”

And for a change, the offense can thank the defense for that.

The Bruins showed a defensive resolve that many thought did not exist this season. Yet in silencing Stanford’s offense, the Bruins also quieted the skeptics who foresaw another late season drop-off.

“Our defense ... what a display,” Dorrell said. “They displayed the capabilities that we always thought they could do; they showed up at the right time to do it.”

But the Bruins’ shutout was almost compromised in the waning moments of the game. With two minutes left, Edwards completed a 71-yard pass downfield to tight end Alex Smith, putting the Cardinal just eight yards away from the goal line. But it was then that UCLA provided its gutsiest performance of the afternoon.

After a five-yard pass to Smith on first down, the Bruins prevented Stanford from getting any closer, forcing Edwards into throwing two incomplete passes and preserving the shutout.

“(The shutout) is even better because they had the ball right there on our goal line,” safety Jarrad Page said. “We still had it in our hearts that we weren’t going to let them score and we didn’t.”

Part of the defense’s improvement could be attributed to Defensive Coordinator Larry Kerr’s decision to go upstairs to the booth for the first time in six years. Still, Kerr was reluctant to take any credit, instead giving it all to the Bruins’ defensive line. The unit had a spectacular day, holding the Cardinal to just 83 yards on the ground.

“Third downs and tackling and discipline, those were huge,” Page said.

UCLA held Stanford to just nine of 20 on third-down conversion and zero of three on its fourth-down attempts.

“That’s what takes you from giving up 48 points last week to none,” Page said.

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