NOTEBOOK: IU Will Take ‘Business-Trip’ Mentality to Rose Bowl
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana has built for this, a trip to UCLA, a Big Ten starting opportunity, the season’s first real challenge to see how good the Hoosiers are and what is possible, and head coach Curt Cignetti pushes perspective.
Would you expect anything else?
Cignetti understands the significance of Saturday’s game and of playing in the Rose Bowl -- he once coached in the Rose Bowl while an Alabama assistant -- but doesn’t want to make it bigger than it actually is. It’s just one of 12 Big Ten contests on the schedule, and win or lose, so much more remains to be done.
“It’s more of a business trip, whether we’re playing in the Rose Bowl, or in a parking lot,” he said. “It’s all the same.”
It’s part of the most-important-game-is-the-next-game mindset needed for consistent effort, focus and quality of play.
“Every game is the most important game,” Cignetti said. “They all count as one game. It's the first conference game, so we're excited about that, and we want to get off to a good start.”
If, along the way, some Hoosiers get distracted by the moment or Los Angeles/Hollywood allure, Cignetti will set them straight.
“That's a big part of my job to make sure we eliminate the noise and the clutter so everybody understands why we're there. The guys that make that trip will understand that.”
IU (2-0) seeks to continue the momentum generated by dominating victories over FIU and Western Illinois. UCLA (1-0) is coming off a bye week after a 16-13 comeback victory at Hawaii. This will be its first game as a Big Ten member after its Pac-12 exit.
“Our preparation has to be excellent,” Cignetti said. “We have to string together a good sequence of nows and prepare to the best of our ability to give ourselves the best chance.
“It's going to be a little longer trip out there. We’ll bus to Indianapolis, fly out of there into L.A., about an hour to the hotel, a little bit of a time change, but it's no big deal.
“As far as the venue, it's never really played a big part in it from a coaching standpoint. We're looking forward to playing.”
UCLA, under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster, has never played IU before, although the Hoosiers have played in Pasadena before as the Big Ten co-champs in the 1968 Rose Bowl, when they lost to top-ranked USC 14-3 and finished No. 4 in the national polls with a 9-2 record.
“With UCLA, there’s a lot of tradition there,” Cignetti said. “They’ve had three straight years of bowl games. They had 25 wins the last three years. You look at us, nine wins the last three years and we’re going on the road.
“I'm sure that coming off their opener they were happy they won, but probably not pleased with the way they played overall. A good program like that, I'm sure they have something to prove.”
The Bruins’ offensive coordinator is Eric Bieniemy, who was the offensive coordinator for the NFL’s Washington Commanders last season after having the same job with the Kansas City Chiefs for four seasons and helped them win a pair of Super Bowls.
“They have a new offensive coordinator,” Cignetti said. “He came from the NFL. You've got one game to go on.”
Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe directs a UCLA defense that allowed 18.4 points and 301.5 total yards a game last season.
“The defensive coordinator was on staff last year,” Cignetti said. “The package is the same with some tweaks. A little more pressure, perhaps.
“It's really hard to gauge because Hawaii did not use a tight end in the game. It was all spread out, four wide receiver sets. We don't have a lot to go on there.
“An opponent like this, you have all their games from last year, which we've watched. The faces have changed. Schematically, I expect it to be more similar than different.”
Against Hawaii, quarterback Ethan Garbers was 19-for-38 for 272 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He added 47 rushing yards.
“With this guy, we’ve got to keep him in the pocket,” Cignetti said. “We can’t let him get out of the pocket and extend plays, because he’s extremely capable with his arm and his legs. He can really wing it. He’s mobile and very talented. We’ve got to pressure him and disrupt his rhythm.”
Receiver Rico Flores Jr., a Notre Dame transfer, led with three catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. The defensive line is anchored by 6-3, 325-pound lineman Jay Toia.
“Overall they have a lot of really good athletes, with really good team speed,” Cignetti said. “They've got a couple guys up front on the D-line, (Toia) in particular. He's a big guy with explosion. Their backers are very athletic. Offensively, the receiving group is highly skilled. We’ve got to do a good job of coverage.
“This is a talented team.”
IU got strong quarterback play in its 77-3 win over Western Illinois. Kurtis Rourke was 15-for-17 for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Tayven Jackson was 3-for-3 for 104 yards and a TD. Alberto Mendoza was 1-for-1 for six yards.
“Kurtis had the opportunity to make his drops, make his reads, and deliver the ball,” Cignetti said. “He didn't always have that opportunity in the first game (a 31-7 win over Florida International).
“I thought our protection, we cleaned that up significantly. If you want a good quarterback, you've got to have protection. We separated on the outside, and he delivered the ball, and he played well. He wasn't perfect, but he played well.
“What I really liked was you could see kind of the cohesiveness of the team on both sides, guys cheering each other on, congratulating each other, him taking charge. It was great to get a lot of guys involved.
“Tayven came in, I thought he played nicely, delivered the ball, ran it, too. So he should feel good about his outing coming out of that game.”
Receiver Andison Coby is showing his big-play potential in limited doses. He had a 38-yard touchdown catch against Western Illinois. He and Rourke just missed on connecting on long passes against FIU.
“He's a speed guy,” Cignetti said. “He had a couple of opportunities in the opener. One time, we didn't throw it to him. Another time, the ball was just slightly underthrown.
“He had our first touchdown (against Western Illinois). He definitely has a role. He’s improving every day. It's a deep receiving corps, and we try to use those guys in a way that helps us reach optimum success.”
Twelve Hoosiers have caught at least one pass this season. No one has more than eight. Elijah Surratt has eight catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Omar Cooper Jr. has seven for 176.
IU has displayed a dominant running attack. It leads the Big Ten in rushing touchdowns (10) and is second in rushing yards (557) to Rutgers’ 614. It’s also tied with Ohio State for the conference’s top scoring offense (both average 54.0 points).
A big reason is the improved offensive line play.
“Those guys are working hard, and they're developing,” Cignetti said. “I don't know that we were really tested last week, and against FIU. I wasn't real pleased with some of the protection issues we had. We'll be tested this week like we have not been tested.”