UCLA Football: Bruins' comeback attempt falls short against Stanford

UCLA Football: Bruins’ comeback attempt falls short against Stanford

PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 24: Theo Howard #14 of the UCLA Bruins eludes the defense of Kendall Williamson #29 of the Stanford Cardinal on a pass play during the first half of a game at the Rose Bowl on November 24, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

1. Chip Kelly is going to be alright in Westwood

Things couldn’t have started much worse for Chip Kelly in his return to college football. The former Oregon and NFL coach saw his starting quarterback knocked out of the game in Week 1 prior to a five-game losing streak for his UCLA Bruins. They picked up their first win over Cal, following it up with wins over Arizona and USC before falling short to Stanford.

Kelly wasn’t the only new head coach to start out slowly. He too, like Willie Taggart at Florida State and Scott Frost, won’t be playing in a bowl game this year. But the future remains bright in Westwood.

UCLA could have rolled over and mailed in this season after the inauspicious start. Instead, the team bought in, choosing to stay the course and see what might happen.

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The results were encouraging, and given the wide-open Pac-12 South, there’s no reason to believe this 3-win team could find themselves in the conference championship game at this time next year. That’s not a promise, but it’s well within the range of possibilities.

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