We’ll start with a bit of news, collected at David Shaw’s press conference:

Francis Owusu has a concussion and won’t play this week.

Cornerbacks Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder and fullback Daniel Marx are questionable, with updates expected in 24-48 hours.

And as Stanford fans could probably guess, Shaw was not happy about the lack of a targeting penalty on the Owusu hit.

He declined to reveal the specifics of his conversations with the game or conference officials and instead focused his remarks on the need to change the rules.

When the first contact a defensive player makes with the offensive player is with the helmet, Shaw said, “it should be a penalty.”

Result: Won at UCLA 22-13

Grade: B+

Comment: Road win over a contender warrants a high grade, but something in the A-range seemed a tad much given the lack of offense for the first 58 minutes.

(Yes, the Bruins played stout defense. Otherwise, Stanford would have been downgraded a few more notches.)

*** Did the Bruins provide future Stanford opponents with a blueprint for keep Christian McCaffrey from making big plays and for forcing someone else to win the game.

Perhaps, but not everyone has UCLA’s personnel, both up front and on the back line.

One team that does: Stanford’s next opponent.

(Whether the Huskies can execute as well as the Bruins is another matter.)

*** The final drive began with a big assist from UCLA: the kick-catch interference penalty that allowed Stanford to start the drive at the 30 instead of the 15.

Shaw said the field position didn’t change Stanford’s approach, but the 15 yards likely saved the Cardinal at least one play.

The dynamics of the final sequence might have been very different had the Cardinal been forced to use 10-15 seconds to collect those yards. (Maybe the time prevents Shaw from calling the third-down handoff to McCaffrey.)

That said, the drive was masterfully called and executed by Ryan Burns in the first pressure moment of his career (on the road, no less).

I am no fan of the fade, but Stanford made it work. Burns and JJ Arcega-Whiteside made it almost look easy.

*** In general: It was just as entertaining as Cal-Arizona State or Colorado-Oregon, just in an old-school manner – the kind of game Stanford is built to play, and the same seemingly goes for UCLA, which is transforming itself from finesse to power football.

It could well be a preview of the conference title game.

Next up: at Washington (Friday)

The matchup: The game of the year in the Pac-12, based on what we know now and what the Hotline believes will happen the rest of the way, which is this:

The winner Friday night wins the North with no more than two losses, beats the South champ in the title game and is smack in the middle of the semifinal race.

Remember, Friday’s winner will essentially have a two-game lead because of the head-to-head component in the tiebreaker.

*** From here, the most important element in the matchup is Washington’s state of mind.

Stanford plays a bevy of big games every year. It knows how to handle the emotions and the momentum swings and rarely beats itself.

But Washington hasn’t played a game of this significance in ages. How will the Huskies respond?

So often we see short-circuiting from teams not used to the spotlight — the players get too cute, or try to do too much, and the fabric breaks down.

If UW executes at a reasonable level, it should be close deep into the fourth quarter. If the Huskies malfunction repeatedly, Stanford should win handily.

Washington is favored by 3 points — the home field advantage.

My call: Stanford 23, Washington 21 on a late field goal by Conrad Ukropina.

*** Here’s episode 2 of the College Hotline podcast, with guest Chris ‘Rankman’ Dufresne, former national columnist for the L.A. Times and co-founder of TMGcollegesports.com. We addressed the SEC as a destination for homeless quarterbacks, Big 12 expansion chaos and several Pac-12 topics, including a deep dive into USC’s football woes and the university’s misguided approach to hiring.

*** And please note: The Hotline podcast is available on iTunes.