BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – UCLA presents a unique challenge Saturday for No. 2 Indiana. Although the Bruins began the season 0-4, they’ve won three straight under a retooled coaching Staff.

Three games into the season, UCLA fired coach DeShaun Foster and parted ways with defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe. Tim Skipper took over as the team’s interim coach, and Kevin Coyle was hired as senior defensive analyst and defensive play-caller. After a loss to Northwestern made UCLA 0-4, UCLA offensive coordinatorTino Sunseri — Indiana’s quarterback coach in 2024 — was let go and assistant head coach Jerry Neuheisel became the Bruins’ offensive play-caller.

Since then, UCLA has won three Big Ten games while averaging 33.3 points and 422.3 yards of total offense. UCLA looked like it might be the worst team in the conference (and maybe all of Power 4) in September. Now the Bruins appear to be competent and something of a wild card.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is preparing for Saturday’s game as if UCLA’s first four games didn’t happen. Cignetti claimed the Hoosiers are “playing a 3-0 football team” this week.

“I mean, truthfully everything we're watching right now on their offense is the last three games,” Cignetti said Monday. “I haven't watched any of their offense prior to that, except for maybe what I saw on TV. … So we're focusing in on the last three games with the people that are pushing the buttons and calling the shots right now.”

Evaluating how good or bad UCLA is has been a tough task. The three teams UCLA has defeated — Penn State, Michigan State and Maryland — are 1-11 combined in Big Ten play. While UCLA’s winning streak has been surprising and impressive, it’s reasonable to question just how far this team has come.

Despite that, Cignetti is focusing on what the Bruins have done in October, and that message is filtering down to his team.

“I haven’t really watched a lot of the old coaching staff,” Indiana left tackle Carter Smith said. “… I’m not really focusing on before, because it’s a different staff and I’m not really sure what their tendencies were. So, I’m keeping my focus on the staff that’s there right now.” 

In his two years as Indiana’s coach, Cignetti has done an excellent job at not letting the Hoosiers underestimate opponents. Indiana has not lost to an unranked team since he took over, and it also hasn’t lost at home. 

So despite being a heavy favorite to beat the Bruins, the Hoosiers aren’t taking the Bruins lightly. Unlike UCLA, Indiana (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) is actually undefeated. It has aspirations of winning the conference, making a second straight College Football Playoff and potentially winning the national championship.

“We can’t be complacent because we have a goal that we want as a team,” Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. said. “We all want to play in the Big Ten championship. We all want to win the Big Ten championship, and we want to play in the playoffs again because last year, we felt like we missed out on an opportunity.”

Indiana realizes that UCLA is capable of winning this game, and Cignetti’s team is preparing for the revamped Bruins to test the Hoosiers.