If all else fails, go to the ground game. That's what UCLA did Friday in Berkeley to eventually earn a 35-28 victory over Cal thanks in large part to over 350 yards rushing as a team. Running back Zach Charbonnet paced the ground attack with 119 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 7:53 to play in the fourth quarter.

Friday's win did not come without its challenges. UCLA (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12 Conference) trailed by 11 points during one stretch in the first half but found a way to bounce back and take a 27-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

However, the Bruins simply could not put the Bears (4-8, 2-7) away until late. An 8-yard connection between Cal quarterback Jack Plummer and running back Jaydn Ott helped give the home team a 1-point lead with 11:16 to play.

Eventually, the rushing attack and timely plays on defense and special teams helped secure the victory for the Bruins. A forced fumble by linebacker Kain Medrano on Ott, which was recovered by Carl Jones, Jr., ultimately sealed the victory for UCLA.

The Bruins will head into their bowl game a win shy of tying the program’s single-season record of 10 victories. The nine wins are the most in five years under Chip Kelly, who guided the team to eight wins last season, and the program’s best season since a 10-win campaign in 2014.

Bowl games will be announced Sunday, Dec. 4 after conference championship games have been decided. If USC, ranked sixth by the College Football Playoff committee, can win the Pac-12 championship and get in the four-team playoff, UCLA could find itself in either the Las Vegas Bowl or Sun Bowl.

In the pecking order of bowl games with Pac-12 ties — Rose, Alamo, Holiday, Las Vegas, Sun, L.A./Jimmy Kimmel, ESPN — bowl committees for the Alamo and on down are allowed to pick bowl-eligible teams within one game of the conference standings (i.e. a 6-3 UCLA team in the Pac-12 standings can be leapfrogged by a team with a 5-4 conference record or get picked ahead of a two-loss team).

First quarter

7:04, UCLA: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson to WR Jake Bobo, 5-yard TD (PAT GOOD, Nicholas Barr-Mira), 7-0 UCLA

0:16, Cal: QB Jack Plummer to WR J.Michael Sturdivant, 46-yard TD (PAT GOOD, Dario Longhetto), 7-7 tie

Second quarter

9:33, UCLA: PK Nicholas Barr-Mira 23-yard field goal, 10-7 UCLA

4:37, Cal: QB Jack Plummer to WR Jeremiah Hunter, 38-yard TD (PAT GOOD, Dario Longhetto), 14-10 Cal

0:58, Cal: QB Jack Plummer to WR Jeremiah Hunter, 22-yard TD (PAT GOOD, Dario Longhetto), 21-10 Cal

0:18, UCLA: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson 19-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, Nicholas Barr-Mira), 21-17 Cal

Third quarter

7:06, UCLA: QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson 14-yard TD run (PAT GOOD, Nicholas Barr-Mira), 24-21 UCLA

Fourth quarter

14:01, UCLA: PK Nicholas Barr-Mira 26-yard field goal, 27-21 UCLA

11:16, Cal: QB Jack Plummer to RB Jaydn Ott, 8-yard TD (PAT GOOD, Dario Longhetto), 28-27 Cal

7:53, UCLA: RB Zach Charbonnet 5-yard TD run (2-PT CONVERSION GOOD, Jake Bobo), 35-28 UCLA

UCLA looked like it was going to coast early, gaining 134 of the game’s first 139 yards thanks to a multi-pronged rushing attack. However, penalties and a missed field goal doomed the Bruins, who found themselves trailing 21-10 early.

The Bruins avoided a complete disaster, scoring 58 seconds before the end of the half on Thompson-Robinson’s 19-yard run to cut the deficit to 21-17 and put UCLA back on track.

Another Thompson-Robinson rushing score midway through the third quarter gave the Bruins a 24-21 lead. Then, on the next UCLA drive, long snapper Jack Landherr IV came up with a forced fumble on a Cal punt return that Bruins edge rusher Laiatu Latu recovered to retain possession.

Past the midway point of the third quarter, Thompson-Robinson connected with Jake Bobo for an 18-yard gain and his 15th completion of the contest to become UCLA’s all-time leader in the category. He passed Brett Hundley, who had 837 career completions from 2011-14.

Thompson-Robinson then followed with a 14-yard touchdown run to give the Bruins a 24-21 lead at the 7:06 mark. He opened the final scoring drive with a 17-yard pass to Kam Brown and closed by hitting Jake Bobo for a 2-point conversion to give UCLA the 7-point win.

The game was getting a little dicey in the fourth quarter when Medrano came up with his game-securing forced fumble. The Bruins had just given the ball back to the Bears after a turnover on downs with under 2 minutes to play. Plummer had just completed a pass to Ott for 12 yards when Medrano came in an punched the ball out on the fourth-down play to end the threat as Cal had been approaching midfield.

The redshirt junior had an interception in the game against USC last week to go along with seven tackles, and he backed that up with another strong showing Friday in Berkeley. Medrano finished the game with five tackles and key fourth-quarter play.

Thompson-Robinson's run with 7:06 in the third quarter helped complete the momentum shift in the game in favor of the Bruins. The 14-yard scamper on a play to the right side of the field gave UCLA a 3-point lead and helped the team gain some control after previously being down 11 points late in the second quarter. It was part of a key stretch for the UCLA quarterback as he had already rushed for a 19-yard touchdown at the end of the first half to cut the Bears' lead down to just 4 points.

The biggest reason the Bruins were able to come out on top and reach nine wins after Friday's victory was a simple one. You really don't have to look anywhere but on the ground with the UCLA rushing attack accounting for 352 of the 541 total yards of offense for the team on the day. Charbonnet led the way with 119 yards, but the Bruins had four different players run for at least 59 yards in the matchup.

T.J. Harden averaged a team-high 7.4 yards on 12 carries to end the game with 89 yards while Thompson-Robinson finished his day with 88 yards rushing. Colson Yankoff made some key plays down the stretch and finished with 59 yards on 11 carries.

As a team, UCLA averaged 5.5 yards per rush against Cal.

It helped make up for a lackluster performance on defense as the Bruins struggled to contain a Cal offense that has been inconsistent throughout the season.

Passing

Dorian Thompson-Robinson: 21 of 30 for 189 yards, TD

Rushing

Zach Charbonnet: 24 carries for 119 yards, TD

TJ Harden: 12 carries for 89 yards

Dorian Thompson-Robinson: 14 carries for 88 yards, 2 TDs

Colson Yankoff: 11 carries for 59 yards

Receiving

Jake Bobo: 7 catches for 62 yards, TD

Zach Charbonnet: 4 catches for 22 yards

Titus Mokiao-Atimalala: 2 catches for 39 yards

TJ Harden: 2 catches for 29 yards

Kam Brown: 1 catch for 17 yards

Colson Yankoff: 1 catch for 11 yards

Hudson Habermehl: 1 catches for 9 yards

Josiah Norwood: 1 catches for 6 yards

Logan Loya: 1 catch for 4 yards

Kazmeir Allen: 1 catches for 0 yards