‘You didn’t see the strain.’ UCLA’s Tim Skipper saw major slippage against Indiana
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The standard wasn’t the standard.
After a month of disciplined, passionate football that included three consecutive wins and a feel-good vibe, UCLA did not exhibit those same characteristics while going splat against second-ranked Indiana.
“That would be like the most disappointing thing,” interim coach Tim Skipper said Monday, two days after his team’s 56-6 defeat, “is just our style of play wasn’t what it’s been — you didn’t see the strain, you didn’t see the fanatical effort, those type of things, and you’re going to need to play that way when you play these top teams like we just did.”
The only consistency the Bruins showed was in struggling across the board. Their offense didn’t score a touchdown for the first time this season. Their defense gave up a season high for points.
Skipper pinned much of his team’s problems on getting beat at the line of scrimmage. UCLA gave up 262 yards rushing while gaining just 88 yards of its own on the ground.
“We didn’t play up to par in the trenches,” Skipper said. “Run-game wise, they ran for a lot. We didn’t run for enough.”
UCLA’s offensive line suffered from the absence of guard Eugene Brooks, who sustained an unspecified injury late last week and was replaced in the starting lineup by Yutaka Mahe. Skipper said the change led to communication issues against a defense known for disguising the way it attacks.
“We knew they were simulating pressure so you’re always trying to find where the fourth rusher is,” Skipper said, “but then they even brought five guys and they didn’t just straight up go, they were moving almost every play. So, they forced us to have to communicate and test that ability and things, and unfortunately there’s times we didn’t do a good job of that and they made some plays off of it.”
UCLA had a return to missed tackles, repeated penalties and a run game that failed to get much going against the No. 2 Hoosiers, who held the Bruins to 201 yards.
As if a 50-point loss weren’t bad enough, flight delays kept Skipper from getting into bed until around 4 a.m. Sunday. The late return home prompted him to give his players the day off instead of holding their usual team meeting.
The Bruins (3-5 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) now head into their second bye week under Skipper but first without needing to get to know him or his coaching style. The hope is that they can strike a balance between getting better and not getting beaten up physically eight games into the season.
“Now your body’s starting to feel the wear and tear of the season and things like that,” Skipper said, “so we’re just going to concentrate on getting the Bruins better and healthy and playing fast and still with the focus of, this is how we want our style of play to be and this is how it’s going to be all the time.”
Having asked his players to uphold the standard they had set while nearly reaching .500 after an 0-4 start, Skipper now is calling on them to reestablish that baseline heading into the hardest part of the schedule. UCLA’s remaining four opponents — Nebraska, Ohio State, Washington and USC — have a combined 24-6 record.
Having been preoccupied with saving UCLA’s season, interim coach Tim Skipper is blissfully unaware of any narratives about who’s responsible for the Bruins’ turnaround.
“We’re just going to have to take every single moment we have,” Skipper said, “whether it’s on the field or off the field, to get better, to get ready for the next four games.”
And to make the standard the standard again.
Injury update
Skipper said running back Anthony Woods did not travel to Indiana after failing to sufficiently recover from an injury suffered against Maryland, sidelining another starter in addition to Brooks. “So a big week for those guys,” Skipper said, “just getting healthy, getting back right and doing all the rehab and everything they need to do to be able to help us once we get ready for a game week next week” against Nebraska at the Rose Bowl.
