When Bruin Blitz previewed the UCLA football season back in late August, a 10-win season seemed like an attainable goal.

As the calendar is set to turn to December, with bowl game selections to be announced Dec. 4, the No. 17-ranked Bruins will have a shot at that 10th win and match a school record achieved by nine other UCLA teams but not since 2014.

And yet, the regular season may be best remembered for the missed opportunities to capitalize on a 6-0 start to the season.

The schedule lined up, with eight games at home — including three nonconference games to ease into Pac-12 Conference play. The Bruins handled their business, though not without a 32-31 scare against South Alabama just before heading to Colorado for the first road game of the season.

At that point, the offensive line still had some questions to answer as UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was hurried and chased out of the pocket a bit more than expected.

Then, the Bruins stampeded through the Buffaloes behind running back Zach Charbonnet’s 104 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

That’s when UCLA really hit its stride, and an unexpected top-15 Washington team was on tap to visit the Rose Bowl the following week. The Huskies featured a trio of standout receivers to complement quarterback Michael Penix Jr., providing the first big test for a Bruins defense that loaded up with eight transfers in the offseason after losing several more to the transfer portal.

Washington transfer Laiatu Latu made the most immediate impact of them all through the first five games and he was the first to sack Penix Jr. The defense had a 26-10 halftime cushion to play with, and the signature moment of the 40-32 victory was a second-quarter Stephan Blaylock interception to help create that lead. While the defense had its holes, particularly when it came to getting off the field on third down, it showed there was a pass rush that could help create timely turnovers.

The win put UCLA into the Associated Press Top 25, where it would remain throughout the regular season, and set up a huge showdown in Pasadena against defending Pac-12 champion Utah, which came in ranked 11th in the country.

The contest proved to be the second of back-to-back standout performances from Thompson-Robinson, who threw for 299 yards and four touchdowns. His lone blemish was an interception in the final 30 seconds that Utah ball-hawk defensive back Clark Phillips III returned for a touchdown. But, otherwise, DTR turned in a commanding performance and afterward headed for the tunnel with the fiery demeanor that let everyone know he was on a mission to make his fifth and final season a memorable one.

The defense, again, provided a big play to continue its bend-don’t-break effort. With a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, middle linebacker and Hawaii transfer Darius Muasau forced a fumble that Oregon transfer Jaylin Davies returned to Utah’s 1-yard line to set up the next UCLA scoring drive and send the Utes reeling.

The 42-32 stunner moved UCLA to 6-0 and up to No. 9 in the AP poll, its best ranking since 2015. Suddenly, the result conjured up visions of a Pac-12 championship game berth — and possibly more.