Colorado is now 7-2 and 5-1 in conference play after beating UCLA last night 20-10. Was it pretty? No, but you cannot judge Colorado-based off of one night of bad football. Today, we provide 20 key takeaways, the good and bad after the Buffs win over the Bruins.

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1. Ugly win, but Colorado just beat UCLA. Doesn't happen often. In fact, the last time Colorado beat UCLA was back in 2003. The Bruins still lead the series 9-3 all time.

2. Thursday Night games don't have your normal college football feel. The game seemed to lack excitement, there were less than 44,000 fans in attendance, and as you saw nearly everything went wrong for both teams. College football is meant for Saturdays.

3. Penalties were atrocious, Colorado was flagged 12 times for 128 yards. This was the most penalties Colorado had all season long.

4. 5 unsportsmanlike penalties on Colorado. Totally unacceptable for a top-ranked team. For those watching Colorado for the first time on national TV last night, their takeaway is this: Colorado is undisciplined and mouthy. This was the first time we've seen this style of play from Colorado all year.

5. Sefo is running the football too much. Straight up, when you have a senior quarterback that is as talented as Liufau you get him touches and protect him, but he ran the football 23 times last night, that is one less carry than running back Phillip Lindsay who had 24. Liufau is as tough as they come, but one big hit could be costly for the Buffs. Understand the offensive system that Colorado runs is somewhat based on a quarterback reading the defense, but 23 carries against some of the nation's top defensive ends and linebackers is questionable.

6. UCLA's Defensive Backs are A+. UCLA writer Edward Lewis said that the Bruins DB's were solid and they showed up last night and every single play. Great coverage corners and fantastic safeties who forced Liufau to rethink going downfield all game long. When Colorado's receivers struggle to get open, Colorado's offense stalls. We saw the same thing when USC's corners manned up on the Buffs receiving corps.

7. UCLA's defensive line is outstanding. Takkarist McKinley will play on Sunday's. Through 8 games this year, Colorado has not been beaten up front like they did against the Bruins. McKinley recorded two big quarterback sacks and caused a fumble and finished the game with 7 total tackles.

8. Colorado's Chidobe Awuzie will play on Sunday's. With 32 total NFL scouts in Boulder on Thursday evening, you know Awuzie's future agent will be getting calls. Awuzie came up with a well-timed blocked field goal and also a monster quarterback sack off the edge.

9. Jim Leavitt's defense shines again. UCLA had just 210 total yards of offense. With Colorado's defense, the Buffs can play with anyone. Against Stanford, the Buffs held the Cardinal to 135-yards, and the week before that, the Buffs held Arizona State to 199-yards.

10. In the last two games, Colorado has held opponents to just 15 points. Again, the defense is stern, especially in the red zone. Rewind to when Colorado came up with a fumble against Stanford and then last night when Colorado blocked a field goal. Perfect time plays where the defense has decided the ending of games.

11. Colorado has allowed just 3 touchdowns at home all year. Mind blogging stat, but it's true. Idaho State scored a touchdown, Arizona State scored a touchdown, and last night UCLA scored a touchdown. In total Colorado has outscored opponents at home 163-39.

12. Colorado is 4-0 at home this season and 5-0 when playing in the State of Colorado. That is good news when Colorado's next 2 out of 3 games are at home. With that said, Folsom Field needs over 50,000 for games against Washington State and against Utah. Don't judge this team off a night experience, they are much better than their UCLA game performance.

13. Colorado's defense has forced at least one turnover in 22nd consecutive games. That stat leads the nation, yes the entire nation. Last night linebacker Kenneth Olugbode returned an interception 52-yards which would set up Colorado's first score of the game.

14. Colorado's special teams came up with 14 points. The special teams have been shaky for Colorado to put it lightly, but who would have thought that special teams play would be a reason Colorado sealed the game last night. Two second half field goals by Chris Graham and a punt return by Isaiah Oliver helped the Buffs pull away.

15. Isaiah Oliver's punt return was the first punt return since the 2005 season. Oliver had a total of 106 punt return yards, including his game-changing 68-yard punt return for a touchdown with 5:27 left in the game. This is just Oliver's second game returning punts.

16. Colorado did not look like a No. 15 team Thursday night, but hey, our expectations are pretty high now. Good teams win no matter the circumstance and Colorado did just that. No game is perfectly scripted, but when you gut out wins like Colorado did against a very good UCLA defense, it's still worth noting and in the end, Colorado proved they were 10 points better than the Bruins.

17. No. 14 Oklahoma survived 1-8 Iowa State last night to move to 7-2, so it's not always pretty. 721 miles Northeast of Boulder, Colorado in Ames, Iowa the now 1-8 Iowa Cyclones gave No. 14 Oklahoma all they could handle before the Sooners would win 34-24. It was an ugly opening weekend for the College Football Top 15, but the Colorado Football Top 15 is 2-0 so far.

18. Colorado remains hold of 1st Place in the PAC 12 South, now 5-1 in conference. The Buffs have Utah 7-2, 4-2 and USC 5-3, 4-2 breathing down their neck in the conference and while Colorado controls their own destiny, the Buffs still play in three vital conference games: At Arizona next weekend, host No. 25 Washington State, and then host No. 16 Utah.

19. 7-2 with 2-6 Arizona up next. We've been saying all year that the sky is the limit for the Buffs and that is still the case. If Colorado beats Arizona next weekend it would be the first time since 2004 that Colorado was an 8 game winner.

20. It's not always sunshine and rainbows, but you have to believe The Rise is Real. Colorado Football fans have had to endure too many years of bad football. 2011 they were 3-10, 2012 they were 1-11, 2013 they were 4-8, then 2-10 in 2014, last year they were 4-9. To be one win away from winning 8 games is extortionary, to say the least. Mike MacIntyre and company are for real. Start putting a little extra cash aside to follow this group over the next two months as it's clear their regular season will not end on Saturday, November 26th.

Boulder, Colorado - Fresh off being ranked No. 15 in the latest College Football Playoff Rankings, the Buffs were a 12 point favorite before Thursday Night’s kickoff in front of 43,761 at Folsom Field.

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Head Colorado Football Coach Mike MacIntyre talked to the media after the Buffs 20-10 over UCLA. Thoughts on moving to 7-2, penalties, and more.

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