Hoosiers Now

LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Big Ten Football Game At UCLA

Welcome to our live blog for Indiana's Big Ten opener against UCLA, where we'll keep you updated with all the news and views in real time, with opinion and highlights thrown in as well, live from the Rose Bowl.

Todd Golden

Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Myles Price (4) catches the ball against UCLA Bruins defensive back Ramon Henderson (11) in the first half at Rose Bowl.
Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Myles Price (4) catches the ball against UCLA Bruins defensive back Ramon Henderson (11) in the first half at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In this story:

PASADENA, Calif. - Welcome to sunny California! Indiana and UCLA will kickoff in about 55 minutes from the iconic Rose Bowl stadium.

Let me say that seeing is believing when it comes to the lore of the Rose Bowl. It really is beautiful. The many Indiana fans here are getting a treat. Weather is a little bit warm, into the 80s, but apart from that? It's the Chamber Of Commerce vista that you're used to watching games at the Rose Bowl on TV.

Will the beauty off-the-field be replicated by a masterpiece on it for Indiana? Let's find out.

FINAL - Indiana 42, UCLA 13. Hoosiers emphatically begin their Big Ten season with a dominant victory. Time for the bandwagon to start packing 'em in.

Indiana 42-13, 5:29 4Q. UCLA helped Indiana with a horse collar tackle out of bounds. Hoosiers have done plenty to win this game on their own, but the Bruins have certainly done their share to help Indiana too.

Touchdown Indiana. Elijah Green rolls in for a 14-yard touchdown run.

Indiana 35-13, 6:44 4Q. At present, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke has completed 25 of 33 passes for 307 yards and 4 touchdown passes. This as an "I-U" chant rattles the Rose Bowl from the visiting fans.

Indiana 35-13, 728 4Q. As Indiana's defense takes the field after the touchdown, Indiana's fans in the southeast corner of the Rose Bowl give them a standing ovation. Hoosiers have plenty of cause for happiness. And as I write this, IU fans can get happy again after Amare Ferrell intercepts an Ethan Garbers pass.

Indiana 35-13, 728 4Q. Hoosiers have not been rattled by the penalties or anything else here in Pasadena. A truly impressive performance.

Touchdown Indiana. Omar Cooper Jr. with a 23-yard touchdown catch on a free play for Kurtis Rourke. UCLA had jumped offsides, but Cooper beat his man to the ball and then to the end zone.

Indiana 28-13, 9:10 4Q. Indiana has 11 penalties for 112 yards. Curt Cignetti's postgame comments on the topic could be very interesting, especially as the targeting and personal fouls are concerned.

Indiana 28-13, 13:13 4Q. Hoosiers once again hold the Bruins to a field goal. During that drive, there were 80 penalty yards enforced. Indiana was called for three 15-yarders and UCLA was docked 25 yards in penalties.

Indiana 28-10, 1409 4Q. Another review for an Indiana hit. This time it's on D'Angelo Ponds, who was called for targeting as UCLA receiver J'Michael Sturdivant. Ponds caught Sturdivant with his shoulder into Sturdivant's head.

End third quarter - Indiana 28, UCLA 10. Hoosiers in good shape entering the final period.

Indiana 28-10, :48 3Q. UCLA has a touchdown taken off the board. Holding call on T.J. Harden's 29-yard run. Then, UCLA was called for a personal foul that knocked the Bruins back to the 50. Flags aplenty in the Rose Bowl.

Indiana 28-10, 312 3Q. Aiden Fisher got an interception off of a tipped ball, but D'Angelo Ponds was called for pass interference, so it's taken off the board. There's another review on-going on the interception itself ... even though it won't count. Fisher was hit helmet-to-helmet by UCLA receiver Kwazi Gilmer.

After review? NO call on Gilmer. That beggars belief.

After that, Lanell Carr Jr. is called for roughing the passer on a sack. It can only presume it was on the follow-thru on the hit, because it wasn't helmet-to-helmet. I'm sure the Indiana sideline is apoplectic about all of the above.

Indiana 28-10, 449 3Q. Quinn Warren handled kickoff duties after the Indiana touchdown. UCLA starts at its own 17.

Indiana 28-10, 455 3Q. Best series of the game in terms of production - no third down was forced until the touchdown play - and in terms of the passing game. Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke using RPO to nice effect, particularly on a sideline catch by tight end Zach Horton. Rourke completed all six of his passes on the series. Can't do any better than that.

Touchdown Indiana. Ke'Shawn Williams catches his second TD pass. He leans in on an out route at the goal line to get six.

Indiana 21-10, 932 3Q. On the kickoff, Indiana's Solomon Vanhorse is crunched by UCLA's Joseph Vaughn, who was hurt on the play. Indiana starts at its own 18.

Indiana 21-10, 937 3Q. It could have been worse as the Hoosiers bent, but didn't break as far as giving up a touchdown is concerned. UCLA drove to the Indiana 10-yard line with some ease after the West targeting call. As it is, UCLA settles for the short field goal.

Targeting calls should have some room for circumstance as Garbers being bent over is what put West in the spot to hit him helmet-to-helmet, but that's not how the rule is written. Harsh ejection for the Kent State transfer even if it follows the letter of a flawed law.

Indiana 21-7, 11:29 3Q. It goes from good to bad for the Hoosiers. UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers bobbled the snap on the Bruins' first play for the second straight half. As he went to recover the loose ball, defensive tackle CJ West made helmet-to-helmet contact with Garbers as he bent down to get the ball. West is called for targeting and is ejected. UCLA has since driven into Indiana territory.

Here we go with the second half from Pasadena:

Halftime individual statistics:

Indiana-UCLA halftime stats
Indiana-UCLA halftime stats /

Halftime - Indiana 21, UCLA 7. Apart from the Bruins' scoring drive at the end of the half, hard to find much to quibble about regarding the Hoosiers. Indiana has been fantastic on third down, converting 6 of 8 chances.

Indiana 21-7, :42 2Q. UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers kept the UCLA alive ... and well. On an Indiana blitz at the Hoosiers' 21-yard line, Garbers escaped containment twice and broke open into space. He ran 20 yards to the 1-yard line. This after the three completions to push the Bruins into Indiana territory in the first place. UCLA needed that as Indiana once again can't finish the first half with a good defensive series.

Touchdown UCLA. T.J. Harden plunges in from a yard out with 42 seconds left in the first half.

Indiana 21-0, 1:51 2Q. At the two-minute warning, Indiana's defense is showing late first-half vulnerability as it did in the first two games. UCLA has driven to the Indiana 24 on six plays. UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers has completions of 9, 16 and 22 yards to get there.

Indiana 21-0, 421 2Q. Live stats are back. Indiana has converted 6 of 8 on third down. The Hoosiers have a 226-42 advantage in total yards and a 13-3 edge in first downs. Kurtis Rourke has competed 14 of 21 passes for 183 yards and 2 TD passes.

Indiana 21-0, 421 2Q. If you give these Hoosiers a second chance - as UCLA did with the offsides penalty on fourth down - they will make you pay. The Cross one-hander was the cherry on the sundae for the Hoosiers, who are rolling in Pasadena.

Touchdown Indiana. Justice Ellison rolls in on his second effort from the 1-yard line. Touchdown is confirmed on review.

Indiana 14-0, 431 2Q. Miles Cross does it again. A 33-yard one-handed catch that puts the Hoosiers at the UCLA 1. Perfect touch on the lob over the middle by Rourke, but Cross did the hard work to haul it in. Impressive.

Indiana 14-0, 559 2Q. UCLA jumps offsides as Indiana lined up to go for it on 4th-and-3 from the UCLA 46. Killer penalty for the Bruins who have been their own worst enemy in the first half.

Indiana 14-0, 650 2Q. StatBroadcast live statistics have frozen up at the Rose Bowl if you're following remotely.

Indiana 14-0, 950 2Q. Bruins go three-and-out. UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers doesn't look confident out there at all. Threw a pass way too hard on a first down play where he had Bruins open. On 3rd-and-1, he rolled right, waited too long to decide to run or throw, and was forced out of bounds for a sack by James Carpenter. Hoosiers have done a great job to make sure he's not getting into a rhythm. Indiana takes over at its won 11 after a good punt by UCLA's Chase Barry.

Indiana 14-0, 11:14 2Q. First bit of adversity for the Hoosiers. Indiana steadily drove into UCLA territory via catches by Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt, but the drive stalled just out of field goal range. The Hoosiers went for it on 4th-and-6 from the UCLA 33, but Kurtis Rourke's intended pass for Sarratt was batted away. Bruins ball.

Indiana 14-0, end 1Q. UCLA drove into field goal range, aided by a questionable personal foul called on Jailin Walker on a hit against UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers. However, a sack by Amare Ferrell knocked the Bruins backwards and Mateen Bhaghani missed a 41-yard field goal wide right.

Indiana defensive starters: DE Lanell Carr Jr., DE Mikail Kamara, DT James Carpenter, DT CJ West (later changed to Marcus Burris Jr.), LB Jailin Walker, LB Aiden Fisher, CB Jamier Johnson, CB D'Angelo Ponds, S Josh Sanguinetti, S Shawn Asbury II, S Amare Ferrell.

The first UCLA play occurred so fast, the usual observers who track participation didn't catch who started at defensive tackle and I only caught Carpenter myself as I checked the line. West is official for now, but if Marcus Burris Jr. started, it will get corrected. Indeed, it was later changed to Marcus Burris Jr. as Indiana's starter at defensive tackle.

Indiana 14-0, 728 1Q. A dream start for the Hoosiers. UCLA gifted Indiana an opportunity and the Hoosiers didn't waste it. Did Williams get to the end zone before his knee was down? It was deemed to be so and Indiana has an early two-touchdown advantage.

Touchdown Indiana. Ke'Shawn Williams takes a dump-off pass by Rourke on a UCLA blitz and ran it about 10 yards on what is officially a 14-yard touchdown catch.


Indiana 7-0, 717 1Q. Fumble UCLA! As Ethan Garbers dropped back, he hit his arm on his running back and the ball came loose. Mikail Kamara recovered it for Indiana at the UCLA 17. One play, one turnover forced by the Hoosiers.


Indiana 7-0, 831 1Q. With Derek McCormick out, Alejandro Quintero is handling kickoffs. His kickoff landed at the goal line and was returned to the 17.

Indiana 7-0, 831 1Q. Impressive first series for Indiana. Hoosiers converted three third down conversions in the 75-yard drive, including a 24-yard catch by Elijah Sarratt on 3rd-and-16. Donaven McCulley made an impact when he entered the game, drawing a pass interference penalty on a goal line fade route. Two plays later, Rourke was patient to pick his options and found Cross open in the middle of the end zone.

Touchdown Indiana. Miles Cross catches a 2-yard TD pass over the middle.

Indiana offensive starters: QB Kurtis Rourke, RB Ty Son Lawton, WR Elijah Sarratt, WR Myles Price, WR Miles Cross, TE Zach Horton, LT Carter Smith, LG Drew Evans, C Mike Katic, RG Bray Lynch, RT Trey Wedig.

Pregame - Indiana injuries today submitted to the Big Ten for the availability report, all players listed as out: K Derek McCormick, TE James Bomba and DB Te'Derius Collins are all out. Losing McCormick hurts as he has been excellent getting kickoffs into the end zone. UCLA did not list its starting tackles on its injury report, so the Bruins might be able to run the ball more effectively today.

• Something to watch for today. Tyler Stephens is listed as a tight end and is wearing No. 84. With James Bomba out, the Hoosiers might need him.

• UCLA has won the toss and deferred to the second half. Indiana hasn't won a toss this season. Hoosiers get the ball first.

• I was speaking to the Indiana student reporters before the game. They were obviously impressed by the Rose Bowl as we all are. To put it in perspective for them, I told them, besides myself, another Indiana media figure was also making his first trip to the venue. Spoke pre-game with Don Fischer, who has never called a game here. He was as impressed with the joint as all of us were.

• The one downside of the Rose Bowl is that it's so vast, it swallows up the crowd. With 18 minutes to go to kickoff, fans are spread around all over the place with plenty of space to fill. The top sections in the end zones are tarped off. This would be a substantial crowd anywhere else, but because this stadium is so wide, it doesn't look like it. It makes you appreciate the Rose Bowl game crowd as it's almost always sold out.

A lot of Indiana fans are in the southeast corner of the Rose Bowl. There is a lot of crimson mixed in with the blue-and-gold everywhere.

• For many of you, this is a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff. However, you quickly adapt to the time change as this is kicking off at 4:30 p.m. PT. I am a night person and won't be fazed, but I will pay the price when I return to the Eastern Time Zone.

• My press pass gave me pre-game field access and I wasn't going to pass that up. Here are some pictures.

While I was down there, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti popped out of the Indiana tunnel. He checked out the field for a minute and then retreated back to the locker room. It kind of reminded me of Clark Griswold checking out the Grand Canyon in "National Lampoon's Vacation". Cignetti, of course, has coached here before when he was on the Alabama staff when the Crimson Tide played in the BCS championship game here.


• If you've not been to the Rose Bowl, I had not been here in previous visits to the Los Angeles area, it's an interesting place. I had not realized it sits in what could be best described as a large city park. Or land similar to it. It is not imposing from the outside. Memorial Stadium would tower over it if it was placed next to it, but it is incredibly wide on the inside which drive up the capacity.

The neighborhood it's in is largely residential. When I came to check out the lay of land on Friday night, there was a farmer's market taking place, and the Rose Bowl area was inundated with joggers, walkers and families walking around with their kids. It was a very chill vibe.

• You can see evidence of the wildfires that are burning in the mountains north of the Los Angeles basin in the guise of a vague haze over the mountains, but it's not overwhelming. I flew into Ontario Airport in the Inland Empire, between two of the fire zones. If you know there's a fire, you could tell, but if you didn't know there were fires, you probably wouldn't have known. Obviously, our thoughts are with all of those affected by the blazes.

• Fashion report: Indiana is in all-white with their red IU helmets. UCLA is in their traditional baby blue jerseys with the shoulder hoop. They have gold helmets and gold pants. One of the best home uniforms in all of college football in my humble opinion.

• Other Big Ten games this weekend: Wisconsin took it on the chin in Madison against No. 4 Alabama as the Crimson Tide rolled 42-10. I can tell you from family ties (Wisconsin native here) that Badger fans are not happy with Wisconsin's general mediocrity at present.

No. 17 Michigan bounced back from its home loss to Texas, but not convincingly as the Wolverines bested Arkansas State 28-18 at the Big House. The other early Big Ten games were expected outcomes. Minnesota shut out Nevada 27-0 in Minneapolis. Illinois dropped Central Michigan 30-9 in Champaign, Ill. Michigan State defeated Prairie View A&M 40-0 in East Lansing, Mich.

The 3:30 time slot games brought both relief and concern for Big Ten teams. Concern in West Lafayette as Purdue was trounced 66-7 by Notre Dame. Meanwhile, No. 9 Oregon bounced back after two unconvincing wins as they went to Corvallis, Ore. and defeated Oregon State 49-14 in the Civil War game.

The other former Pac-12 rivalry game, the state of Washington's Apple Cup, was won by Washington State 24-19 in Seattle. Iowa defeated Troy 38-21 in Iowa City, Iowa in another late afternoon kickoff.

There are three other Big Ten games tonight. Nebraska hosts Northern Iowa, Northwestern hosts Eastern Illinois and Maryland plays at Virginia.

Related stories on Indiana football

  • HOW TO WATCH: Everything you need to know on how to watch the Indiana-UCLA football game. CLICK HERE.
  • INJURY REPORT: Who is out and who is healthy for both teams in the Indiana-UCLA matchup. CLICK HERE.
  • GAME DAY PREDICTION AND KEYS FOR UCLA: Take a look at our three keys and game prediction for the UCLA game. CLICK HERE.
  • SMELL THE ROSES OR NOT? Indiana players weigh the business trip to UCLA versus the life experience of the trip and the chance for many players to prove they belong in the Big Ten. CLICK HERE.
  • GOING TO CALIFORNIA: Read about Indiana's football adventures in the Golden State. CLICK HERE.
  • ACCLIMATION TO ASSIMILATION: With any team that has a new coach, the hope is that the team has a smooth transition to the new way of doing things. James Madison transfers Mikail Kamara and Elijah Sarratt feel that’s close to being reality for the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
  • ROMANCE OF THE ROSE BOWL? Indiana coach Curt Cignetti isn't really feeling it as the Hoosiers approach their Big Ten opener. CLICK HERE.
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Todd Golden

TODD GOLDEN

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