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Stanford Football: 3 takeaways from Cardinal win over UCLA

By Shane Lunnen

PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal carries the ball while looking to avoid the tackle of Adarius Pickett #6 of the UCLA Bruins during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal carries the ball while looking to avoid the tackle of Adarius Pickett #6 of the UCLA Bruins during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

1. Stanford still alive in Pac-12; UCLA will have uphill climb

This game was pivotal for both teams. UCLA wanted to bounce back from their upset loss at Memphis last week and start 1-0 in the conference. Stanford could not afford to start 0-2 in the conference and have a three game losing streak.

It ended up being Stanford pulling out the victory. They definitely needed that and you can sense the urgency from the team all game long. Their upcoming schedule will be tough, with road trips to Utah and Washington State and a home date against Washington. However they kept their Pac-12 North hopes alive. Now that they have found a passing game, they look like a better team, at least on offense.

On the other end of things, UCLA is not out of the conference race by any means. However this was a setback. Like the Cardinal, the Bruins upcoming schedule will do them no favors and now they have to try to snap out of their two game losing streak.

Road trips to Washington and USC will be no picnics. They will have a chance to get some momentum back in the coming weeks with games against Colorado and Arizona, with an off-week sandwiched in between. However that Colorado game now appears as a must win and the Buffaloes will not roll over easily.

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The biggest thing for UCLA moving forward will be to find a defense. There is no doubt about the Bruins offense. However they have allowed over 43 points per game and that will not get it done if the Bruins want to keep in the Pac-12 South race.

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