LOS ANGELES — Weeks of hype came crashing down Saturday in Bloomington.
Bullied at the line of scrimmage and unable to record a touchdown for the first time this season, UCLA fell on its sword into the loss column for the first time since Tim Skipper’s first game as interim coach against Northwestern.
The week before the Bruins fell to the Huskies? A bye week. A week after the Bruins lost to the No. 2 Hoosiers? Another week to regroup and reassess where the team stands ahead of hosting Nebraska (6-2, 3-2) next week at the Rose Bowl, an appetizer to a main course of a game against top-ranked Ohio State in two weeks.
“The first one [bye week], we had only played three games, so you’re able to still do a lot of the physicality stuff that you need to do,” Skipper said earlier this week. “We’re creeping into the fourth quarter of the season now, and you’re eight games in, and now your body’s starting to feel the wear and tear of the season and things like that, so we’re just going to concentrate on getting the Bruins better and healthy.”
Did falling so heavily Saturday – in a 56-6 defeat – teach Skipper anything about his team’s resolve in facing such a stout foe in a College Football Playoff contender?
“The thing you take from it is, you know how the top teams in this country and in this conference play and you know how you need to play,” Skipper said. “So, we need to figure out that we need to practice hard, and we need to play hard, and our style of play needs to be consistent all the time.”
Skipper had stressed the “strain” across his first few weeks in charge of the Bruins (3-5, 3-2 Big Ten).
The word has become somewhat of a calling card for the Bruins, a characteristic meaning to push beyond that 100% threshold and make plays you otherwise could not secure. The Bruins’ coach said he didn’t feel his team had “strained” enough against Indiana, in which the Bruins conceded 475 yards of total offense for 6.3 yards per play.
Linebacker Isaiah Chisom agreed.
“I really just say like we had a lot of missed tackles,” he said. “And tackling is definitely, like an intent type of thing, … I wouldn’t say that we quit at all. We kept on fighting.”
Injury updates
Running back Anthony Woods, who did not travel to Bloomington to play against Indiana, did not practice Wednesday during the media-watching period.
Offensive lineman Eugene Brooks, on the other hand, who was questionable against the Hoosiers and not cleared in time to play, was dressed for practice Wednesday but did not participate in agility drills.
Skipper said Brooks got hurt before the team traveled to Bloomington.
“A big week for those guys, just getting healthy, getting back right and doing all the rehab and everything they need to do to be able to help us once we get ready for game week next week,” Skipper said.
