It’s a historic venue that’ll mean a lot… for the fans.
“We’re just going to an old stadium to kick somebody’s ass… That’s the objective every week.”
That’s how Curt Cignetti answered when he was asked what it would be like to play in the Rose Bowl all the way back during Big Ten Media Days. Now he’s bringing that bravado, and a 2-0 Indiana football team, to Pasadena for a game against UCLA.
Frankly, the Rose Bowl rocks. It’s a beautiful stadium and multiple Indiana fans circled this one on their calendar as soon as it was announced. If you’ve paid any attention to Twitter, a solid amount of fans have flown out to California to compliment a contingent of Los Angeles-based Hoosier alums and fans who will be in attendance.
I wouldn’t expect some massive showing for Indiana but do not be surprised when those stands turn pretty crimson.
This game means a bit more than the venue and Cignetti knows that. He’s been doing the work to keep the players focused on the task at hand: beating the Bruins.
UCLA is the Indiana’s first power five opponent and, thanks to the latest wave of realignment, its first conference game. While wins against FIU (which looked pretty good against Central Michigan) and Western Illinois looked good on paper, the goals Cignetti has set will require a similar performance against UCLA.
A bowl game in year one at Indiana would make a massive statement. Right now, UCLA stands in Indiana’s way.
The Bruins have experienced a lot of turnover this offseason after their previous head coach, Chip Kelly, bolted to Columbus to become Ryan Day’s offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
In steps DeShaun Foster, previously the program’s running backs coach. The Bruins mean a bit more for foster, who wore their colors on the gridiron as a running back himself from 1998-2001.
Following a brief NFL career, Foster made his way back to Los Angeles as a volunteer assistant coach in 2012. Outside of a brief one-year stint at Texas Tech, he has been at UCLA ever since.
It’s not an ideal situation, taking this substantial of a job in this much of a rush. UCLA probably won’t compete for national titles, but it’s a consistent bowl program at the very least.
Now he’ll face his own first test against a power five as a head coach, and his counterpart on the opposite sideline has been a head coach since around a year before Foster rejoined UCLA as a volunteer. That’s a massive gap in experience that should play in the Hoosiers favor.
There’s more to say about UCLA, but that’s covered in our game preview, which you can find below:
Broadly, here’s what I think this game means:
A win either way, be it narrow or convincing, will be business as usual for Cignetti. It’ll provide more proof of concept toward his rebuild project in Bloomington and significantly improve the path to bowl eligibility.
A loss? Not the end of the world. Indiana’s season is significantly easier if it manages to leave L.A. with a win, but it’s not over if it can’t.
But Indiana has a bit of a national audience here. It’s the Big Ten Saturday Night game, so it’s on NBC. Making a statement there will have some value.
I think Indiana probably takes this one.