BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football didn’t have much film to go on as it prepared for its Big Ten opener this week. 

That leaves plenty of unknowns as the Hoosiers head into the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon to face a UCLA team led by first-year head coach DeShaun Foster and a pair of new coordinators.  

The Bruins had a bye week after beating Hawaii, 16-13, in their season-opener. 

“I’m sure that coming off their opener they were happy they won but probably not pleased with the way they played overall,” IU coach Curt Cignetti said. “They did go in shorthanded, minus two offensive tackles, but good program like that, I’m sure they have something to prove.”

More: The Runout: Previewing Indiana football’s Week 3 game against UCLA

UCLA’s new defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe keeping same scheme

UCLA promoted linebackers coach Ikaika Malloe to defensive coordinator in January. He’s the program’s fourth defensive coordinator in as many years and replaces D’Anton Lynn, who left for USC. Malloe told reporters during spring practice he planned to keep the same scheme as Lynn used.

The Bruins had the 10th ranked defense in the country last year (301.5 yards allowed per game), but lost some key personnel including defensive end Laiatu Latu and linebacker Darius Muasau.

“The package is the same with some tweaks,” Cignetti said. “Little more pressure perhaps.”

He expanded on that scouting report during his weekly coach’s show. 

“There’s some new stuff showing up,” Cignetti said. “I’ve never gone against a team that’s lined up one d-lineman and five linebackers and five defensive backs, or two d-lineman, four linebackers and five defensive backs, couple different 3-3 groupings.” 

The film of UCLA’s opener wasn’t much use to IU’s offensive staff since Hawaii ran a spread offense that relied almost exclusively on four-receiver sets and didn’t play a tight end. The Hoosiers mostly play 11 personnel with tight end Zach Horton on the field for much of the game. 

More: Why Indiana football isn’t spending much time in California on UCLA road trip

UCLA’s new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy brings pro style attack to Pasadena 

UCLA’s new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy isn’t lacking experience, but he’s spent much of his career in the pros. He’s coming off a brief stint as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator. 

“We actually watched stuff of the Commanders in our cut-ups since UCLA only played their one game against Hawaii,” Indiana defensive end Mikail Kamara said.

The Bruins had what IU defensive coordinator Bryant Haines described as a “disjointed” effort in the opener. 

“It’s hard off of one game, I’m looking at what appears to be an NFL-style offense that seems a little bit disjointed at times, but has some real playmakers, some real speed on the perimeter, some talented running backs and a gun-slinger type of quarterback (Ethan Garbers),” Haines said. “…A talented offense that hasn’t quite figured out what they want their identity to be.”

UCLA had 343 total yards of offense in the opener, but most of that production (259 yards) came in the second half. They turned it over twice (a pair of interceptions), ran for only 70 yards and was 4 of 13 on third down.  Cignetti was quick to note that the Bruins played much of the game without both their starting tackles — Garrett DiGiorgio and Reuben Unije — who he expects will be back in the lineup on Saturday. 

“They struggled up front,” Cignetti said. 

Indiana’s focus will be putting pressure on Garbers regardless of who is blocking for him. 

“He can really wing it, and he’s mobile, and he’s a very talented guy,” Cignetti said. 

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

The WNBA has a new single season assist leader. Her name is Caitlin Clark. 

Clark recorded nine assists in the Indiana Fever’s 78-74 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to break Alyssa Thomas’ single season assist record (316).

The Fever rookie now has 321 assists this year with two games remaining in the regular season.

Clark struggled offensively early and was held scoreless in the first half, but she got it going in the second half and registered 18 points, shooting 7-of-18 from the field, including 2-of-8 from 3. She added eight rebounds and one steal.

CAITLIN CLARK ‘likes’ Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris on social media

Clark got off to a slow start in the first half (0-of-5 FG, 0-of-2 3PT, 0-of-2 FT) and getting in foul trouble early didn’t help. Clark picked up three fouls in the first half. In one sequence — with 5:53 remaining in the first quarter — Clark missed two free throws, fouled the Aces’ Tiffany Hayes on the other side of the floor and then was called for a technical foul after she hit the side of the stanchion in frustration. It marked Clark’s sixth technical foul of the season. Clark’s next technical foul in the regular season will earn her a one-game suspension. 

To make matters worse, the Fever lost forward Aliyah Boston for a while. She headed back to the locker room with 1:22 remaining in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the face. (Boston returned halfway through the second quarter.)

The Fever scored 13 points in the first quarter, matching their season low. Despite the shooting woes, the Fever were only trailing the Aces by eight points due to Kelsey Mitchell’s efforts. Mitchell singlehandedly kept the Fever in the game with 19 first-half points. She was the only Fever player to score more than five points. 

The second half belonged to Clark. She got on the board with a layup with 7:26 remaining in the third quarter. She started to find her rhythm, scoring 14 points in the third, to bring the Fever within three points, 60-57, entering the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 13 points in the third.

The Fever were still within three points, 75-72, with 23.3 seconds remaining in the game. Boston had a good look at a 3, but the ball circled out of the rim.

Free throws were the difference in the game. The Fever only converted 11-of-20 free throw attempts.

Mitchell finished with a team-high 20 points, while Boston added 14.

The Aces’ Chelsea Gray had a game-high 21 points, while Kelsey Plum added 18 points. A’ja Wilson recorded a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Antisemitism is on the rise across America.

We are seeing it with riots at college campuses, protests in our streets, and threats against our Jewish friends and neighbors.

This spike began with the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, and Israel’s subsequent justified efforts to defend herself and her people.

In the three months following the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 3,291 antisemitic incidents—a level unprecedented during any previous three-month period over the last decade and a 361 percent increase compared to the same period the previous year.

Even here in our beloved Indiana, we have seen far too many vile expressions of hatred and prejudice against Jewish individuals.

A significant portion of the vitriol directed against our Jewish brothers and sisters has erupted in the form of campus protests and encampments on the grounds of public universities—including in places such as Dunn Meadow on the main campus of Indiana University in Bloomington.

Although often veiled in the guise of support for Palestinian innocents, the words and actions directed against Jewish people have all too often crossed the line from legitimate expressions of opinion into something far more sinister—harassment, threats, and intimidation that endanger Jewish people’s safety and violate our laws.

As Indiana’s attorney general, I have vowed from the beginning of these protests to stand firm in upholding the law.

Last May, I sent a letter to college officials warning them they are duty-bound to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by combating all forms of antisemitism on their campuses—or risk losing their federal funding. I further reminded them that they must ensure that student groups do not materially support foreign terrorist organizations.

House Enrolled Act 1179, which took effect July 1, requires state educational institutions to adopt policies to prohibit providing funds or other resources to foreign terrorist organizations or state sponsors of terror.

When spring semester concluded earlier this year, some of the most troubling antisemitic activities on college campuses seemed to subside.

With classes back in session, however, some signs point to a resumption of protests. (After winning control of student government earlier this year, for example, pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Michigan now continue to withhold funds for student activities until the university divests from companies doing business with Israel.)

At the same time, we have seen that antisemitism is an evil stain that spreads beyond the confines of college campuses into the fabric of general society—and that we must deal with this ugliness wherever it arises.

Therefore, my team and I this month are taking two important additional actions.

First, in an official advisory opinion issued Sept. 10, we explain how the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Indiana Civil Rights Act provide 1) statutory protections protecting students and employees in educational settings and 2) the authority and obligations of schools and universities to combat antisemitism in educational settings. You may read our advisory opinion here.

Secondly, our office is leading the effort to combat the disturbing rise in antisemitic behavior by providing important legal education and law enforcement training on Sept. 20. Learn more here.

Beyond these immediate actions, we will continue fighting the scourge of antisemitism in other ways because few notions are more antithetical to the values on which America was founded.

Religious tolerance and freedom of worship have been central to America’s laws and values since colonial times. Many of the first European settlers of North America—and numerous immigrants and refugees since—came here to escape religious persecution in their home countries.

After achieving independence, Americans enshrined those values in the U.S. Constitution, which provides strong protections for religious freedom against encroachment by government authorities.

So, we must keep fighting antisemitism—just as we must fight other forms of hate, prejudice and racism.

We must fight the forces of darkness that would undermine the values that make America a beacon of light.

Each of us—wherever we are and whatever our calling in life—must stand on the right side in these kinds of conflicts.

We must defend good against evil—and the rule of law against illegal forms of harassment, threats and intimidation.

We each must do our duty.

As Indiana’s attorney general, I intend to do mine.

Todd Rokita is Indiana’s attorney general.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.