UCLA took care of business on Saturday in a big win over Colorado.

But the Buffaloes showed some moxie — and some courage — in the Bruins’ 45-17 win.

Turning the offense over to freshman Owen McCown — son of long-time NFL quarterback Josh McCown — Colorado finally admitted that it is in a full rebuild, a big moment for a team that was completely lifeless through three games.

The Bruins’ offense, meanwhile, fired on (almost) all cylinders against the Buffaloes, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson continuing his super-efficient senior season. DTR’s backfield mate Zach Charbonnet had a day, even if his usage was curious, as UCLA scored on six of its first eight drives.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

UCLA offense turns it up a notch

All season long, it’s felt as if Chip Kelly has held back in both the playbook and usage of his players. The Bruins have put up some big points this year but that has been more a product of veteran skill and talent, than creativity or innovative thinking.

Then again, UCLA hasn’t had to be particularly creative against the likes of South Alabama, Bowling Green, and Alabama State. Nor truthfully against Colorado, the worst team in the Pac-12, and one of the worst teams in the country

In some ways, it’s probably a wise decision for Kelly to have been conservative before opening things up next weekend against Washington and beyond but it would’ve been nice to understand what he was thinking.

One major example of Kelly’s curious decision-making was at the end of the second quarter, when UCLA had a chance to go up 28-3. Facing a fourth-and-2 from the Colorado 27-yard line, Kelly stuck with running by Keegan Jones, who’d been the primary ball-handler on the drive rather than handed over to Charbonnet. What happened? Jones was stuffed for a 1-yard gain, and Colorado scored on its ensuing drive.

Bruins rush defense rediscovers it’s mojo

After surrendering an uncharacteristic 162 yards rushing to South Alabama in Week 3, UCLA tightened up once more against the Buffaloes.

The Bruins held Alabama State to 87 yards in Week 2 after limiting Bowling Green to 37 yards in Week 1.

UCLA has put up great rush defense numbers the last few years in the shadow of a terrible pass defense, but as the Bruins have limited the fireworks, they haven’t ceded control up front.

Dorrell promoting McCown a timely but necessary move

When the present has been as bad as Colorado’s has been the last year-plus, a head coach really has just one choice: sell the future.

But with a bottom-feeding recruiting class and little room for optimism, Karl Dorrell’s options were limited. Enter Owen McCown, both figuratively and literally.

The freshman quarterback didn’t exactly look like a star in the big loss, but Colorado’s offense at least showed flickers at times.

McCown scored twice, once through the air, once on the ground, and passed for more than 250 yards. That’s all-world compared to Brendon Lewis and J.T. Shrout.

If McCown gets some seasoning, the Buffs at least have a vision to sell. That’s something, right?