UCLA's running game led by T.J. Harden will need to improve if they expect to beat Indiana on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
The UCLA Bruins football team will be back in action this weekend when they welcome the Indiana University Hoosiers in their first Big Ten conference ever. The Bruins recently moved from the Pac-12 conference to the Big Ten conference, a move that will be very lucrative for the UCLA athletic department but will also involve a great deal of travel.
The game against Indiana will be played Saturday, September 14, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on NBC.
The Bruins are 1-0 after defeating Hawaii 16-13 in Honolulu in Week 1 of the college football season. They had a bye in Week 2, which was probably needed after their offensive struggles in Week 1. New Bruins head coach DeShaun Foster was able to get a win in his first game as head coach, but they were not very impressive.
The Bruins struggled to run the ball against Hawaii. Starting running back T.J. Hardin gained only 9 yards on 9 carries and looked nothing like the back that gained 827 rushing yards in 2023, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Quarterback Ethan Garbers led the team in rushing yardage with 47 yards and threw for 272 yards but threw two interceptions that cost the Bruins at least three points and gave three points to Hawaii. The Bruins will hopefully bring more focus and energy to the Rose Bowl this Saturday than they had in Honolulu in Week 1.
The Hoosiers are 2-0 on the season and off to a great start. They have won their first two games by a combined score of 108-10. But neither win was over a power conference school. The Hoosiers are 3-24 in the Big Ten conference over the past three years. Hoosier quarterback Kourtis Rourke is off to a good start. He has thrown for 448 yards and completed 73.2% of his pass attempts in the first two games. He has thrown for three touchdowns and has zero interceptions.
The 2023 UCLA Bruins football team is coming off an 8-5 season, their third consecutive season with at least eight wins. They were only able to get two players drafted in the 2024 NFL draft held in April, both on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive end Laiatu Latu was the first defensive player selected in the draft at 15th overall in the first round and linebacker Darius Muasau was selected in the sixth round at No. 183 overall.
Two other former Bruins made NFL rosters this season as undrafted free agents. Running back Carson Steele landed a spot on the roster at running back with the World Champion Kansas City Chiefs and running back Colson Yankoff landed a spot on the Washington Commanders roster at tight end. In Week 1 of the NFL season, Yankoff played 16 snaps on special teams for the Commanders, and Steele played 21 snaps for the Chiefs, 16 on special teams and five snaps on offense. Steele carried twice for 3 yards in the game.
Both players were running backs at UCLA, and both were coached by Foster, who was the running back coach for UCLA for ten seasons and a star UCLA running back for another four seasons.
On Saturday September 21, UCLA will be on the road against the LSU Bayou Bengals, and they will return to the Rose Bowl on Saturday, September 28th to take on the Oregon Ducks. Times for both games have not been announced.
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