It’s a custom of the college football season for head coaches across the nation to meet with the media towards the beginning of the week and discuss the prior week’s matchup and preview their upcoming test. Fans are often privy to the quotes coming out of their own team’s HQ, but what about their upcoming opponents’?
Let’s take a look at some of the quotes that UCLA’s head coach Tim Skipper had to say that referenced Indiana specifically in his Monday press conference.
Q: Having pulled off the upset already this year against Penn State, does that help at all with Indiana this weekend?
“I don’t really think anything from the past is going to do anything for this game. I’m one of those people that thinks every single game has its own history, its own identity. So, we’re going to have to go out there and play Bruin football, and we’re going to have to win the situations. There’s always going to be critical situations come up; we’re going to have to win those situations. I think the most important thing leading up to the game is how we’re going to practice this week. We need to have a good week of practice and be ready to go.”
Q: #2 ranked team in the country, what does this game mean for UCLA?
“We’re one of those teams where the next game is the biggest game, so this Indiana game is the next game so it’s a big game for us. We’re going to have a good week of practice, we’re going to figure out what exactly we need to do to give us the best chance to win, and attack that from our mindset and our work ethic. We’re going to go to a hostile environment, we’re going to play in front of a national TV audience, it’s going to be early in the morning, all those things are there… but really, what it comes down to is what we’re going to do between the white lines when it kicks off. That’s where our focus is right now, and we’ll talk about more of the other stuff when the game is over. But right now, we want to take this thing as a one practice, one day, and then one play at a time.”
Q: What have you seen from Indiana that makes them such a special team?
“I started watching film on them yesterday, so I just finished our game with Maryland real quick and then I moved on to Indiana, and I am still trying to identify weaknesses. It is crazy how disciplined they are, Coach Cignetti does a great job with those guys. They are very disciplined in all three phases, they’re not giving up any explosive plays but they have a ton of explosive plays. They tackle very well. And then their ball handlers, I’m not talking just running backs, I’m talking their receivers and their quarterback, they break a lot of tackles. They complement each phase of the game so well, it’s not surprising their record is so good and their rank is what it is.
Offensively for them, they’re going to try to control the clock and things like that. They’re not real tricky, they’re going to do what they do. They’re going to run the ball, and they have the most explosive runs in the Big Ten this year right now, so we’re going to have to tackle, we’re going to have to stop those guys.
Defensively for them, again they’re not tricky – they’re going to play their zones, they’re going to play four downs. The thing they’re going to do more than anyone we’ve played this year is they’re going to give us simulated pressures. So, we’re going to have to be ready for the simulated pressures, have a plan for that. There’s still just four guys rushing, but who is the fourth rusher? We’re going to have to identify it and have a plan for it.
And then special teams, they are very sound. They definitely practice that as a point of difference. I feel the same way about STs, it’s a point of difference. So, it’s going to be a major challenge in that phase of the game.”