UCLA Football: 3 takeaways after blowout victory over Stanford

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
1 of 4

UCLA football surprised Stanford on the Farm on Thursday. Here are three things we learned about the Bruins after their takedown of the Cardinal.

UCLA went to the Bay Area as a 16.5-point favorite for their showdown against Stanford in Thursday-night Pac-12 After Dark action. The Bruins followed through, taking down the Cardinal 34-16 on the road to improve to 2-5 on the season and preserve slim hopes of bowl eligibility.

Chip Kelly’s team allowed Stanford to score an early field goal, but by the time Stanford scored again the Bruins had already scored two touchdowns. After the first quarter, the Cardinal struggled to score again in front of the faithful at Stanford Stadium. The Stanford Tree was left in tears as they struggled in the interdivisional Pac-12 battle.

UCLA did exactly what they needed to do to right the ship after two straight losses against conference foes Arizona and Oregon State. The game provided a huge confidence boost at the beginning of the second half of the season that should serve the Bruins well moving forward in their 2019 campaign.

What did we learn from this Week 8 mismatch? Here are three lessons we learned from the resounding UCLA victory on the road.