As UCLA prepared to try to topple its top-ranked opponent in nearly two decades, one coach spoke of the challenges of beating an unbeaten team, stopping its vaunted rushing attack, and halting its hot starts.
He was the coach Curt Cignetti.
His team happens to be No. 2 Indiana, the pop-up juggernaut that the Bruins will try to take down Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
“We’re playing a football team that’s 3-0 and undefeated, and that’s 3-0 in the conference since they retooled their staff,” Cignetti told reporters. “Very impressive football team.”
So amazing is the turnaround the Bruins have made since their winless start, that they are now a team praised by the coach of one of the best teams in the country.
Surging UCLA (3-4 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) is the third Big Ten team to lose its first four games and win its next three, joining Indiana in 1963 and Penn State in 2001.
Of course, the Bruins are hoping the similarities end there since those Hoosiers went on to lose their last two games and the Nittany Lions finished with a losing record.
Cignetti made the 2025 Bruins look like a team for the ages, noting that they were rushing for an average of 233 yards per game over the last three games while dominating the time of possession battle and outscoring opponents 58-17 in the first half during the same span.
UCLA will head into a nationally televised “Big Noon” showdown against Indiana (7-0, 4-0) having already knocked off a top-10 team this season, despite their 42-37 win over then-No. No. 7 Penn State earlier this month lost much of its luster given the ensuing free fall for the Nittany Lions.
Fortunately for the Bruins, interim coach Tim Skipper played for Pat Hill at Fresno State, which means he’s embracing the “anyone, anytime, anywhere” mentality that made the scrappy Bulldogs a national phenomenon for their grit.
UCLA wide receiver Kwasi Gilmer catches a pass over Maryland defensive back Jamari Glasker during the Bruins’ win on Oct. 18.
(Harry Howe/Getty Images)
“That’s always been a part of me; I’ve been brainwashed that way, to be honest with you,” Skipper said. “But, yeah, I mean, for me, as soon as the whistle blows, it’s just us against you. I mean, it’s time to go. Let’s see who had the best week of training, let’s see who is more prepared, let’s see who wants this thing. So that’s how I see it. We’ll start, we have to be ready to work every inch and let’s see what happens.”
When asked to evaluate Indiana State, Skipper praised a team that ranks among the best in the country in almost every major statistical category.
“I’m still trying to identify weaknesses,” Skipper said. “Like, it’s crazy how disciplined they are.”
UCLA last beat a highly ranked team like Indiana in a game that many Bruins fans will cherish forever — their 13-9 victory over No. 2 USC in 2006 in the Rose Bowl.
Recruitment wins
In a time of great uncertainty, when it is easier for UCLA employees to worry more about their own futures than about the futures of high school students they may never play for, the Bruins have continued to recruit.
They received another verbal commitment Monday from Travis Robertson, an offensive tackle from West Bloomfield, Mich., who previously committed to Bowling Green.
“They have shown me that no matter what situation they are in, they will always get the job done with the coaching staff and the players. I am rooting for those staff 100%,” Robertson told The Times.
UCLA’s staff also continued to pursue recruits who backed out of their verbal commitments, including Cooper Javorski, an offensive lineman from San Juan Hills High School who spent time visiting with offensive line coach Andy Coon before the Bruins’ game against Maryland last weekend.
“We work here, we don’t let anything go to waste or we don’t put in the effort in one area or another,” Skipper said of his staff’s recruiting efforts. “It’s top speed in everything we do.”
UCLA’s 2026 recruiting class is currently ranked No. 78 nationally by 247Sports.comWith 12 players committed.
Injury updates
Skipper said he will wait to conduct further evaluations of midfielder Niko Imalieva and linebackers Anthony Woods and Javian Thomas before providing injury updates.
Iamaleava returned from an apparent right knee injury suffered late in the game against Maryland to lead the Bruins on their run to victory. Woods and Thomas were sidelined after both men were “attacked,” Skipper said.