Back in the Rose Bowl, at last
Indiana opens its Big Ten season this Saturday in Pasadena against a 1-0 UCLA team that’s coming off a bye week. Like the Hoosiers, the Bruins have a new coach this season in DeShaun Foster, who had been running backs coach for UCLA since 2017.
Foster’s Bruins haven’t come out of the gate flying like Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers have, though. It took a last minute field goal for UCLA to earn the road win against Hawaii in week one and the Rainbow Warriors kept them off the scoreboard in the first half.
While the two teams are still largely unknown, Vegas has Indiana as 2.5 favorites on the road this weekend. ESPN analytics also favors the Hoosiers, giving Indiana a 58.6% chance of victory.
Here’s what you need to know about the Bruins:
Offense
Through one game, UCLA’s leading passer and rusher is senior quarterback Ethan Garbers. Against Hawaii, the Bruins lived and died with his play.
Garbers threw two first half picks against the Rainbow Warriors, a big reason why UCLA didn’t score in the first two quarters. In the second half, he settled in to complete four of five passes on UCLA’s lone touchdown drive, which ended in a 39 yard completion to Rico Flores Jr.
Garbers also rushed for 47 yards on 7 attempts, including a 16 yard rush to set up the Bruins’ first field goal of the contest. T.J Harden led the team in rushing attempts with nine, but was held to just nine yards total. Keegan Jones, who had three carries, was the only other player to rush for more than 11 yards.
On the other hand, UCLA had five receivers with receptions of 15 yards or more. Garbers hit eight total targets in week one, with five receivers tallying multiple receptions.
This kind of passing attack will test Indiana’s secondary like no team has so far. Bryant Haines’ group handled a dual threat quarterback in week one, but this will be a new level against a Big Ten (lol) opponent.
Defense
UCLA was able to stick around this game while its offense struggled because its defense was forcing turnovers and making timely stops. When Hawaii threatened to score late in the second half, the Bruins came up with an interception deep in their own territory.
On third downs, UCLA kept Hawaii to 4-14 and baited them into three fourth down conversion attempts, only one of which was successful. The Bruins also held Hawaii to under 300 yards total in the game.
Besides the two picks, what stands out about their week one performance was UCLA’s ability to stop the run. Hawaii is no Big Ten team, but it was clearly committed to the ground game with 28 attempts. UCLA held them to 51 yards on those 28 carries, an average of just 1.8 yard per attempt.
Again, this will be a test unlike what Indiana has seen in weeks one and two. The Hoosiers have more talent and size up front than Hawaii, but will be seeing a unit that’s looked stingy against the run so far.
Overall
Given the way Indiana has handled its business so far this season, I’m feeling fairly confident the Hoosiers will win and cover this week against UCLA.
Ethan Garbers clearly has a lot of options at receiver and can make things happen with his feet, but didn’t turn in a full four quarter performance in their lone game this season. Indiana’s defense, meanwhile, has been just about perfect except for two drives.
That said, it would also be surprising if Indiana didn’t have a hiccup or two in its first test against a power conference opponent. Holding UCLA’s passing game to a single score will be a challenge, and the Hoosiers won’t dominate the trenches like they have thus far.
If Cignetti and company can pull this one off, it should go a long way in showing that the hype around this team is real.