A look at IU football’s 2024 opponents: Week 3

With college football season starting to creep up, we’re running down Indiana’s schedule to preview all 12 opponents for 2024.

IU opens Big Ten play in week three this year with an immediate introduction to the conference’s new terrain: a prime-time game at UCLA. This will be the first-ever meeting on the football field between the Hoosiers and Bruins, and it’s IU’s first game in Pasadena since the 1968 Rose Bowl. UCLA hired DeShaun Foster as head coach during this offseason after Chip Kelly left to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.

Opponent: UCLA
Date/Time/TV: Saturday, September 14, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock
Location: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, Calif.
2023 record/postseason result: 8-5, 4-5 Pac-12, 35-22 win over Boise State in the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk

Returning production, offense: 70 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

Offensive outlook: UCLA ranks 21st in the nation in overall returning production, and 39th in offensive returning production. Only two Big Ten teams have more returning production on offense than the Bruins. That could be significant, because their offense was good in 2023. UCLA finished 32nd in the country and fifth in the Pac-12 in total offense, at 427.1 yards per game — more than any Big Ten team recorded last season.

UCLA’s rushing offense was particularly strong last year, with 197.9 yards per game (17th in the nation, first in the Pac-12). The Bruins have one of their two dynamic running backs — junior T.J. Harden (827 yards, 156 carries, eight touchdowns) — back this year, while Carson Steele (847 yards, 167 carries, six touchdowns) left for the NFL.

Sophomore quarterback Dante Moore led UCLA last season with 1,610 passing yards, but he largely fell out of favor midyear and transferred to Oregon after the season. Redshirt senior Ethan Garbers started six of UCLA’s last seven games, led the Bruins to a 4-2 record and an LA Bowl win, and amassed a 67.1 completion percentage, 1,136 yards, 11 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. Garbers returns to UCLA this season.

UCLA also brings back its top three leading receivers from last season in redshirt senior Logan Loya, redshirt junior J.Michael Sturdivant, and senior tight end Moliki Matavao. Titus Mokiao-Atimalala, who transferred in from UCF last year, could provide a spark as well.

The Bruins have three returning starters on the offensive line, including guard Josh Carlin, who finished with a solid 80.1 pass block grade on Pro Football Focus. UCLA, as a team, graded well in run blocking (39th in the country, per PFF), but struggled with pass blocking (114th in the country).

Returning production, defense: 71 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

Defensive outlook: UCLA boasted one of the best defenses in the country last season. The Bruins finished 14th in the nation in scoring defense (18.4 points per game allowed) and 10th in total defense (301.5 yards per game allowed). The run defense was especially stingy — UCLA allowed just 80.8 rushing yards per game last year, the second-fewest in the country.

UCLA also tied Penn State for the best team pass rush grade in PFF last season. But some of the main contributors for that are gone. 2023 consensus All-American defensive end Laiatu Latu (13 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss) moved on to the NFL, as did defensive lineman Gabriel Murphy (16 tackles for loss) and linebacker Darius Muasau (10.5 TFLs).

That level of production isn’t easy to replace. But the Bruins do bring back two of their top three tacklers from last year, redshirt senior linebacker Kain Medrano and senior linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo, as well as interior defenders Jay Toia and Keanu Williams. And two portal additions on the edge — Navy transfer Jacob Busic and Yale transfer Joseph Vaughn — could help make up for the losses.

UCLA underwent a bit more turnover in the secondary, with no returning starters. Three defensive back transfer could play key roles: Georgia Tech cornerback K.J. Wallace, Notre Dame safety Ramon Henderson, and Oregon safety Bryan Addison.

Special teams outlook: Kicker R.J. Lopez is gone, and the Bruins brought in Cal transfer Mateen Bhaghani to fill the placekicking void. UCLA also lost punter Will Powers and will have redshirt sophomore Chase Barry taking over. Redshirt senior kicker Blake Glessner is back on kickoff duty. Loya handled punt returns last year, though he averaged just 7.2 yards per return. Kickoff returner Colson Yankoff is also gone and it’s not clear who will step into that role.

Overall Outlook: UCLA was a good team last year, and though not everyone is back from that group, a good amount of the team is returning. This year’s squad certainly has potential to be good again. There are a lot of unknowns for the Bruins heading into this year, however. It’s hard to know how well they’ll fare in Big Ten play in their first season in the conference, as well as how well Foster will perform as head coach. But there’s plenty to like about this UCLA team. This will be Indiana’s first real test of the 2024 season.

Previous opponent outlooks:

Florida International

Western Illinois

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