Indiana football’s first Big Ten game of the 2024 season presents some unusual circumstances for a conference opener.
The Hoosiers (2-0) travel to California to take on UCLA (1-0) at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. It’s the first-ever Big Ten conference game for the Bruins, and IU’s first conference game against one of the new west coast Big Ten teams. It’s also the program’s first time playing at the Rose Bowl since the 1967 Rose Bowl game.
Additionally, this is Indiana’s first road game of the Curt Cignetti era. The Hoosiers took care of business at home in the first two weeks, but they face a much different — and tougher — challenge this week.
But the circumstances and noise around this game don’t mean much to Cignetti. He views this the same way he views every road game.
“For me and the team, it’s more of a business trip, whether we’re playing in the Rose Bowl or in a parking lot. It’s all the same,” Cignetti said. “The venue, it’s never really played a big part in it from a coaching standpoint, and we’re looking forward to playing.”
That sort of businesslike attitude aligns with the persona Cignetti’s displayed since he arrived in Bloomington.
But perhaps his biggest challenge as a coach for this week is to ensure his players carry the same mentality into Los Angeles. It’s one thing for a 63-year-old coach who spent time working with Nick Saban at Alabama to think that way; it’s another for 18 to 23-year-old players to do so.
“That’s a big part of my job to make sure we eliminate the noise and the clutter and everybody understand why we’re there,” Cignetti said. “The guys that make that trip will understand that.”
During his five seasons at James Madison, Cignetti compiled a 21-5 record in road games. The Dukes went a perfect 6-0 on the road last season.
One of those 2023 road games came with a similarly long trip as the one Indiana’s taking this weekend. In week four last year, JMU faced a tough game at Utah State; the distance between IU and UCLA is only 11 miles longer than the distance between JMU and USU.
So Indiana’s group of JMU transfers knows what it’s like to play a game after all that travel.
“It’s a long trip. We kind of have to try to go to sleep at the east coast time versus the west coast time. But besides that, football’s football,” defensive end Mikail Kamara said. “Once the pads are on, once the ball is kicked, it’s football, it doesn’t matter what stadium we’re in.”
Cignetti has emphasized to his players this week about staying focused on beating UCLA on the field and blocking out the other hoopla surrounding the game. The Hoosiers are taking his message to heart.
Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt knows the purpose of this trip is winning a football game, opening Big Ten play on a strong note, and starting the season 3-0.
But the JMU transfer also understands the significance of playing in a historic venue like the Rose Bowl, and is striking a balance between soaking in that atmosphere and locking in on the task at hand.
“We know what we’re there for. We’re there to go handle business,” Sarratt said. “But you always got to appreciate the moments that you’re in. I try to do that every single day, because I don’t know the next time I’m going to be in the Rose Bowl Stadium. So I’m just trying to take in the moments and enjoy it while I can.”
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