Why Indiana Football Views 'Rejuvenated' UCLA as Undefeated

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As he took his spot at the wooden podium standing at the front of Indiana football’s Don Croftcheck Team Room, coach Curt Cignetti wasted no time controlling the narrative about his team’s Week 9 matchup.

“UCLA, we're playing a 3-0 football team that's undefeated, 3-0 in conference,” Cignetti said Monday to begin his opening statement. “Since they have retooled their staff, now have their new defensive coordinator and offensive staff in place, very impressive football team, okay?”

The No. 2 Hoosiers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were less than 48 hours removed from their 38-13 win over Michigan State at Memorial Stadium, but Cignetti didn’t touch on the Spartans until he’d spent 235 words outlining the challenge on the other side of Indiana’s proverbial windshield.

UCLA’s recent surge warrants it.

The Bruins (3-4, 3-1 Big Ten) are one of college football’s hottest teams entering their noon kickoff Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. UCLA fired coach DeShaun Foster and mutually parted ways with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe after an 0-3 start, while offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri — Indiana’s quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2024 — was dismissed after Week 4.

And over its past three games — with interim coach Tim Skipper, offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle — UCLA has entirely flipped the script on its season.

The Bruins upset then-No. 7 Penn State, 42-37, on Oct. 4 at Rose Bowl Stadium before defeating Michigan State 38-13 on Oct. 11 in East Lansing. UCLA capped its streak with a 20-17 victory over Maryland on Oct. 18 in Pasadena.

Cignetti has been impressed by UCLA’s offensive efficiency.

The Bruins are averaging 233 rushing yards per game and 36-and-a-half minutes of possession during their winning streak. They’ve converted 50% of their third down attempts, 70% of fourth down tries and are outscoring opponents 58-17 in the first half while averaging 33 points per game.

Cignetti called UCLA redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava talented with a “quick body and a live arm,” and he’s made key plays with his legs. The Bruins also have “really good” skill position players, said Cignetti, who added Neuheisel brings a new offensive design.

“Nico can really spin the ball,” Cignetti said. “He can make all the throws. He's got a really quick release. He's got a live body, a really quick body. That's why you've seen some of the long gains out of the pocket with him.”

Defensively, UCLA has a unique, creative system, one that held Michigan State and Maryland to fewer than 20 points the past two weeks.

“A lot of different personnel packages,” Cignetti said. “Really try to keep you off balance. Really impressed with what they do. When you get outside of normal down-and-distance situations, you see a lot of stuff. They got about seven personnel packages, a variety of blitzes, pre-snap looks with linebackers mugged to try to confuse the quarterback a little bit.”

Indiana left tackle Carter Smith said the Hoosiers haven’t faced any defenses like UCLA’s, which runs lots of four-down fronts in normal down-and-distances, a five-man front in the red zone and a two-four-five with quicker, fresher pass rushers. The key, Smith said, is to find targets and execute.

“Something that's completely different,” Smith said Tuesday. “But new challenges are always fun to deal with. … It's just something that we've got to find our targets and get fitted up well.”

It’s a challenge Indiana doesn’t have extensive film to help prepare for. Smith said Tuesday he hadn’t watched film from the old coaching staff’s tenure, and he’d worked through Penn State and Michigan State footage.

“I'm not really focusing on the before because it's a different staff and I'm not really sure what their tendencies were,” Smith said. “So, I'm keeping my focus on the staff that's there right now.”

Cignetti has the same mindset.

“Truthfully, everything we're watching right now, their offenses the last three games, I haven't watched any of their offense prior to that, except for maybe what I saw on TV. The defense is really four games old. But at that point the offense had not changed,” Cignetti said. “So we're focusing in on the last three games with the people that are pushing the buttons and calling the shots right now.”

Cignetti told the Hoosiers in their team meeting Monday night to view UCLA as a 3-0 team. They’re “rejuvenated,” he said. The message reached his players.

“It is an undefeated team,” Smith said. “This is a team that is planning to come into here, and they went into Michigan State two weeks ago, and they got their job done. It's just something we need to prepare for.”

UCLA was one of college football’s laughing stocks through the first four weeks. It hadn’t led, let alone won, a game. Now, the new-look Bruins are rolling.

And the Hoosiers aren’t overlooking the challenge coming their way at noon Saturday inside Memorial Stadium.

“They turned everything around with the new staff,” redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr. said Tuesday. “They just look, really, like they're out there having fun. They're enjoying it now instead of just being sad. They could be sad about their record, but they changed the trajectory of their season.”