No. 18 UCLA uses late knockout punch to defeat Cal and reach nine wins

BERKELEY, Calif. — The play is called peanut punch, something UCLA practices repeatedly each week while teaching defenders how to smack the ball out of a player’s hands.

For much of Friday afternoon, what happened was simply nuts.

A field-goal try bounced off an upright. Three long touchdown passes gave California an 11-point lead over the heavily favored Bruins. There were times when it seemed that UCLA couldn’t even snap the ball without committing a false start.

“You name it, we had it,”