UCLA’s Big Ten era begins with ominous blowout loss to Indiana

This time, there would be no coming back. There would be no shrugging off a bad first half. There would be no plausible excuses.

UCLA was thoroughly outclassed from start to finish of a 42-13 loss to Indiana on Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl, intensifying concerns about the Bruins’ ability to succeed in coach DeShaun Foster’s debut season.

It was a frustrating follow-up to a lousy opener that the Bruins pulled out thanks to a strong second half. Given a bye week to correct the breakdowns they withstood against Hawaii, they only looked worse in their Big Ten Conference opener.

“You can’t make any excuses,” Foster said. “We lined up and got beat.”

There were no positives. UCLA’s defense failed to put up much resistance against Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who completed one pass after another on the way to piling up 307 yards and four touchdowns. His Bruins counterpart, Ethan Garbers, lost a fumble on his first play and didn’t do much to redeem himself.

“I think we really needed to kind of be shown that we’re not there right now,” Garbers said, “and there’s a lot of work to be done and we’re excited to do that work.”

Relief doesn’t appear on the horizon. Up next for the Bruins (1-1 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) are games against nationally ranked Louisiana State, Oregon and Penn State. They will likely be double-digit underdogs in every one after faltering in what was considered one of the easier games on their schedule.

Indiana (3-0, 1-0) was superior in every facet while outgaining UCLA, 430-238, in total yardage, leaving Hoosiers fans happy in their return to this stadium for the first time since the 1968 Rose Bowl game.

Any remaining hope for the Bruins was extinguished midway through the fourth quarter when Rourke completed his fourth touchdown pass on a 23-yard connection with Omar Cooper Jr. The Hoosiers held a 35-13 lead and most of those wearing blue and gold that remained from the crowd of 47,811 headed for home.

“I don’t want to get emotional up here but that — it hurts,” Foster said when asked what it felt like to absorb that kind of loss in his first home game as head coach at his alma mater. “That’s not something that … it’s not acceptable and we’re gonna fix it.”

Foster received a hug and some words of encouragement from UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond on his way off the field, though Foster declined to divulge what was said other than to confirm it was positive.

In another corner of the stadium, new Indiana coach Curt Cignetti walked into a tunnel with each index finger pointed skyward while jubilant fans chanted, “Cig! Cig! Cig!”

There was no such enthusiasm when it came to Foster. Most UCLA fans stuck with Chip Kelly through an 0-5 start in his debut season six years ago, though that goodwill was largely a function of Kelly’s wild success at Oregon. Foster has no similar record to point to after having been promoted from running backs coach in February.

His most high-profile hire, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, also has some explaining to do after presiding over an offense that has produced just one touchdown in each of its first two games. T.J. Harden provided it Saturday with a one-yard run in the final minute of the first half, one play after Garbers escaped what looked like a sure sack for a 20-yard scramble.

But there were more breakdowns than first downs. UCLA lost two turnovers, converted only two of eight third downs and produced just 96 rushing yards.

“It’s not necessarily the play-calling,” Foster said of the offense’s struggles, “it’s more of an execution thing.”

Even with extra time to prepare, the Bruins did not exactly come out in sync. On the first play from scrimmage, Garbers lost his grip on the ball and fumbled at the UCLA 17. Garbers had no explanation for the bubble screen that blew up, saying the ball fell out of his hand after a possible collision with Harden.

“I’m not sure what happened,” said Garbers, who completed 14 of 23 passes for 137 yards and one interception to go with his fumble, “but yeah, I mean, another self-inflicted wound that just can’t happen, especially on the first play of the game.”

Indiana scored a touchdown three plays later on Ke’Shawn Williams’ 14-yard catch. By late in the second quarter, the Hoosiers were up 21-0. Their success was largely a function of converting nine of 12 third downs for the game.

“We were good on first and second down,” UCLA linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo said. “When third down came, we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.”

One of the top running backs in school history, Foster won over fans anew in the offseason by injecting fun into what had largely been a joyless operation under his predecessor. One spring practice open to the public was part carnival, including food trucks and a fire twirler.

Foster also brought back the pregame Bruin Walk, players making their way past fans into the Rose Bowl on Saturday wearing matching light blue suits. It was the most organized they looked all day.

Foster did not seem in the mood for introspection afterward, deflecting a question about what he had learned about himself the last few weeks.

“About myself?” Foster said, repeating the query. “I mean, I’m calm regardless, it’s not really about me learning, it’s everybody in there can learn, but it’s just — it’s just unfortunate the way that this game went. The first half kind of didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but I didn’t anticipate the second half going this way. So, I just want to get my guys ready to go, I have a lot of players in there that look up to me and I’m gonna continue to be me and get these guys ready to play some ball.”

Week 3 is fast approaching. The fans are still waiting.