The Eye Test: UCLA Should Have Clear Eyes After Their Annihilation at the Hands of Indiana

In the process, UCLA's position heading into the coaching search should be more clear.

(Photo credit: @UCLAFootball)

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Have you ever looked at something and known that you’ll be more than OK not watching it? That was me this past weekend, as I had looked at the calendar at the beginning of the season and decided that the Indiana game would be the perfect weekend to head out for a bit of a mini vacation. It didn’t matter that UCLA had found new life under interim coach Tim Skipper; I watch enough college football to know there is a world of difference between Indiana and UCLA at the moment, and I decided I would be better served spending my afternoon walking among the Redwoods than feeling upset at a football game.

Which is not to say I did not watch the game - we had a rainy morning, which provided plenty of time to sit indoors and watch a 9:00 AM PT kickoff - but I went into this game with zero expectations and therefore UCLA’s thrashing at the hands of Indiana didn’t ruin my day. It would have taken an extraordinary effort for UCLA to be competitive in this game, and from the first play from scrimmage, it became clear that UCLA was not going to be providing that effort. It took less than a minute for the Bruins to start losing this game, an impressive task considering they started with the football.

It’s important to note here that I don’t blame Tim Skipper, Jerry Neuheisel, Kevin Croyle, and the others for this loss, nor do I blame the players. I commented at halftime that UCLA lost this game two years ago when it refused to fire Chip Kelly, and I stand by that. Would UCLA have ended up with Curt Cignetti had they done so? Absolutely not, but by delaying in the manner they did and then hiring a completely unqualified coach to take over, they set themselves back multiple years and put themselves in their current situation, where they were facing the #2 team in the nation with an interim head coach and interim coordinators. That’s not a recipe for success, and even if Skipper was the second coming of Saban, it would be hard to see a victory in this situation.

What the loss did do is hopefully clear some things for UCLA fans who became enamored with the coaching staff during the winning streak. With some hindsight, we can view those victories as unimpressive; Penn State already fired its head coach, and Michigan State and Maryland feel like they will fire theirs by the end of the season as well. What Skipper et al. brought to the table was a baseline competency, which looked more impressive than it was because of how poor the previous leadership had been. But Skipper isn’t bringing transformative leadership to the table, just as much as Jerry Neuheisel isn’t bringing a schematic genius to bear. This isn’t their fault, and some, like Neuheisel, have plenty of time to grow, but UCLA cannot afford to be the location where that happens.

Anyway, a rout of this magnitude means the Eye Test will be rather short. The good news is that it gives me more time to focus on putting out a refreshed Hot Board during the bye week, and to get you guys the men’s (and hopefully women’s) basketball previews before the season starts next week.

Let’s get into it.

Offense

Overall: D-

UCLA only gained 201 yards of offense in this game, and the only reason I don’t have this as an F is because I think the scheme was just as culpable for this output. Nico Iamaleava wasn’t very good, but he also got sacked on the first play thanks to the ineptitude of the offensive line, and then threw a pick-six on the second play because he got hit as he threw the ball. The running game was largely ineffective (again, due to the line disparity between the two teams). All that said, you do wonder how UCLA would have looked with more creativity put into the game plan, as this was a fairly basic scheme that did the players no favors.

Defense

Overall: D

The defense gets a better grade than the offense for a few reasons. For one, Indiana is really, really good, and the fact that UCLA struggled here should not have been shocking. If anything, getting a few turnovers is as good as you could ask for in this situation. Two, I thought the defense, particularly the secondary, was victimized by the officiating in a way that Indiana was able to avoid, which was bad enough that Joel Klatt on the FOX broadcast called out. Would things have changed if UCLA’s secondary had been allowed to be as physical as Indiana's? Probably not, but it did impact the game in a small way.

Still, the defense was not very good. From a stats perspective, UCLA allowed 6.3 yards per play, with passing plays in particular going for 11.2 yards per completion. That’s not ideal. From the visual check, this was the return of UCLA defenders missing tackles or using poor form, leading to extra yards after contact for multiple Indiana players. There weren’t a ton of plays where guys were completely out of position (though that 4th and goal run where UCLA didn’t even bother defending half the line is going to live rent-free in my head), so most of the failures on defense were on the players rather than scheme. That’s a small comfort at least that the defense can improve in future games.

Special Teams

Overall: B

Mateen Bhaghani was the only Bruin to score on Saturday (good), Will Karoll averaged 48.8 yards on his punts and hit one of them for 63 yards (good), and UCLA needs to stop returning kickoffs, please, I am begging you. The failed fake punt was the result of Indiana's coaching than anything else, and I can’t even complain about the execution; Indiana was clearly prepared for a fake in that spot.

Coaching

Offensive Gameplan: F

Just not good, but this should have been expected for a first-time playcaller going against a coaching staff that prides itself on outworking its opponents at every opportunity.

That said, I don’t think UCLA went into this game with a creative game plan, and that’s now two weeks in a row where UCLA has seemingly dialed things back on offense. The N-Zone system is pretty thin by design, but there are some parts of it, like designed quarterback draws and screen passes, that have not appeared in any notable amount this season. A charitable read here is that UCLA recognized this was not a game they could win, and subsequently kept things close to their chest on offense so that future opponents could be caught off guard. Another read is that UCLA is about to enter its first bye week since the offensive coordinator change, so there might not have been enough time to implement as much of the offense as possible while also doing specific opponent prep. Both of those are fine, and I am leaving open the possibility of improvement going forward because of that (and also because Indiana is one of the best defenses UCLA will play all season), but at least for this game, it left me wanting.

Which gets me to the last point. I made this comment during the game, but listening to some national recaps reinforced this point for me. Jerry Neuheisel can’t be the offensive coordinator only when UCLA is winning. By which I mean, if UCLA is winning and the offense has a great game, then by all means give Jerry his flowers, but if the team loses or the offense looks subpar, that is also on Jerry. You can’t suddenly shift the blame to Noel Mazzone (who, it should be mentioned, joined the staff prior to the Penn State game); Neuheisel is the one calling the offense, so all positives and negatives have to go his way.

Defensive Gameplan: C

On rewatch, I felt the game plan was fine on defense. Not spectacular, mind you, but UCLA didn’t lose this game because Kevin Coyle called a bad game. The defensive miscues had more to do with individual players missing tackles than anyone being in the wrong position; if anything, UCLA players were often in the right position and just failed to make the play thanks to the talent gap between the two teams. Fernando Mendoza will be a first-round NFL Draft pick and a potential Heisman candidate, and UCLA more or less held him in check.

Overall: D+

Now, to be absolutely fair here, I don’t think it is helpful to compare Tim Skipper, interim or not, to Curt Cignetti. Cigs is one of the best coaches in the sport right now, and Skipper has only been in charge of this team for six weeks now. This outcome is exactly what should have happened.

But at the same time, this should hopefully put to bed any idea that Skipper should be under consideration for the permanent head coaching gig (no matter what Joel Klatt was saying on the broadcast at the end of this game). At no point did UCLA resemble a team that belonged on the same field as Indiana, and the conservativeness on display suggests that Skipper decided a tactical retreat was the best course of action rather than trying to fight. Ironically, if UCLA had shown that fight and competitiveness, Skipper would probably still be a viable candidate, but this was as deflating a loss as an interim coach can take.

Trend

Trending: Down

UCLA lost by 50 points. Pretty simple one here. My former colleague Holly Anderson pointed out on Bluesky during the game that the beatdown was so thorough that it was erasing all memory of the feel-good story UCLA had been for weeks, which feels pretty accurate.

Final Composite

Offense grade: D- (0.7)

Defense grade: D (1.0)

Special Teams grade: B (3.0)

Coaching grade: D+ (1.3)

Trending: Down

Final grade for Indiana Hoosiers: D+ (1.2)

And here is how the grades have looked this season:

Utah Utes: D- (0.6)

UNLV Rebels: D- (0.6)

New Mexico Lobos: F (0.0)

Northwestern Wildcats: F (0.0)

Penn State Nittany Lions: A- (3.54)

Michigan State Spartans: A (3.84)

Maryland Terrapins: A- (3.46)

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On its face, having a score that isn’t an F for a 50-point beating doesn’t feel right, but I do think it reflects a change in both expectations and outlook on the season. Indiana is an exceptional football team that just does this sort of thing, and frankly, this UCLA season is a wash anyway. Back when Utah was running up the score, there was an expectation that UCLA should be able to make a bowl game, and now, if UCLA makes a bowl game, it would be considered a major achievement.

Anyway, UCLA has its second bye week now, which gives the team more time to fine-tune things for the home stretch of the season, and gives me time to put together an updated Hot Board for you guys. Everyone wins!

Except for UCLA, which definitely lost this game.

Go Bruins!

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