Opponent: UCLA Bruins
Location: Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
Why They Played:
The Hoosiers and Bruins played for the second year in a row as members of the Big Ten conference
What The Game Meant:
The pressure mounts for the Hoosiers every game as they march towards a Big Ten Championship game berth and the College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers dominated the Bruins as they tried to stake a claim to the number one spot in the country.
Heartwork Brewing Players of the Game
Offense
EJ Williams, WR, Indiana- As UCLA double teamed Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. it was EJ Williams who was the beneficiary. Williams had his first 100-yard game as a Hoosier and two touchdowns. He made seven catches for 109 yards.
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana-
Saturday was not Mendoza’s sharpest game, but he quietly accounted for four touchdowns and 213 total yards. He threw for three scores and added one on the ground on a 20-yard run that left people, including himself, shaking their heads.
Roman Hemby, RB, Indiana-
Indiana wanted to establish the running game on Saturday and they did that. Roman Hemby contributed in the run, pass and return game. He had 81 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, 11 yards receiving and 24 yards on a kick return. Hemby and Black have been really good in the backfield for IU and Hemby has four touchdowns in the last three games.
Defense
Tyrique Tucker, DL, Indiana- Tucker started the party for the Hoosier defense with a sack on the first play of the game. He has been playing at an All-Big Ten level all year as well. He finished Saturday with four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The Fire Hydrant is wrecking offenses.
Isaiah Jones, LB, Indiana- While Aiden Fisher had the play of the day, Isaiah Jones filled Fisher’s shoes when he left with injury. Jones took over the green dot helmet duties (helmet to coach communications) and the defense didn’t skip a beat. He finished with eight tackles, a forced fumble and a pass break up.
Special Teams Performance
Indiana special teams actually got to cover a few kickoffs and covered them well. Unfortunately for IU, kickoff specialist Brendan Franke injured himself on the opening kickoff. It is unclear what the injury is or how long he will be sidelined, but he did not return the game. Quinn Warren filled in well on kickoffs.
Punter Mitch McCarthy boomed one 50 yard punt as he made his first appearance since the win over Oregon. The punt return team had a 24 yard return negated with a block in the back and Jonathan Brady let another punt roll for 20-plus yards, but he did have two returns for 26 yards. Brady has 280 punt return yards this season which is good for 7th in IU history for a single season.
Nico Radicic extended his extra point streak and did not have to attempt a field goal.
Key Stat(s):
14-18
The Hoosiers were 14-18 on ‘Money Downs’ on Saturday. IU was 12-16 on third down and 2-2 on fourth down. Conversely the IU defense held UCLA to 2-14 on those downs.
Turning Point:
The turning point came on the second play from scrimmage as Indiana’s Aiden Fisher picked off a Nico Iamleava pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. That sent the crowd into a frenzy and would set the tone for the day.
I Knew it Was Over When…
IU went up 14-0. It was over early.
What I take away From the Game:
All the talk this week was how different this UCLA team was and what a heater they were on. Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers poured ice water on the Bruins. The Hoosiers were ready to play from the get-go and never looked back.
In a season where IU has won games in every form and fashion found a way to dominate when UCLA took away both Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper and linebacker Aiden Fisher was lost to injury.
While Fernando Mendoza was not at his sharpest on Saturday he still put up some big numbers. Despite an early pick he threw three touchdowns and made more plays with his feet today. EJ Williams had a career day with 109 yards and was the beneficiary of UCLA taking Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper out of the game with double teams.
The Hoosiers found their running game as well. IU ran for 262 yards and Roman Hemby scored twice while Fernando Mendoza ran in one. The offensive line bullied UCLA all day. Even better, the Hoosiers got the second team offensive line in for most of the fourth quarter.
The biggest news coming out of this game was that Aiden Fisher was held out of most of the game for precautionary reasons. Cignetti said post game that Fisher would likely undergo x-rays and MRI testing. IU had a couple other players leave the game and come back. Tight end Riley Nowakowski, defensive end Mikail Kamara and wide receiver EJ Williams all missed a little action.
Isaiah Jones filled in well for Fisher as the leader of the defense. IU needs Fisher to be good to go to accomplish their ultimate goal, but they felt comfortable enough to remove him from the game early on and not push the envelope.
UCLA came in running the ball for nearly 200 yards a game and the Hoosiers held them to under 90. Much of that is thanks to a relentless defensive line and a pack mentality that gets defenders to the ball quickly.
The good news for the Hoosiers, outside of a 50-point win, is that they played a lot of their reserves on Saturday. Freshmen Byron Baldwin and Davion Chandler made their season debuts. Kaiden Turner and Daniel Ndukwe played on defense. Making sure this team has enough depth to make the playoff run they want to is key to the next month of football.
What’s Next
IU is 8-0 and hit the road for two games. With each win the pressure gets ratcheted up as IU hunts a Big Ten and National Title.