UCLA was outclassed by the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, losing 56-6 on the road before taking the long flight back to Los Angeles. The Bruins will face a very similar task later this season when they hit the road to face the No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
UCLA’s interim head coach Tim Skipper spoke Monday on what the team learned from last week’s game and how it could help them against the Buckeyes later this season.
“The thing you take from it is you know how the top teams in this country, this conference play, and you know how you need to play,” Skipper said. “We need to practice hard and we need to play hard and our style of play needs to be consistent all the time.”
Skipper listed the Bruins’ lack of consistency as the most disappointing aspect of the blowout loss against the Hoosiers.
“That would be the most disappointing thing, our style of play just wasn’t what it’s been,” Skipper said. “You didn’t see the strain, you didn’t see the fanatical effort, those types of things and you’re going to need to play that way when you play these top teams.”
UCLA’s second bye week of the season will be much different than their first one, which was when DeShaun Foster was fired and Skipper took over as the Bruins’ interim head coach. Not only did Skipper say it was different due to the lack of coaching changes, but also different due to where we’re at in the season.
“This is totally different from all kinds of different levels,” Skipper said of this week’s bye. “We’re going to concentrate in getting the Bruins better and healthy and playing fast.”
Following the bye, UCLA will face another gauntlet of talented Big Ten teams before what will surely be an action-packed offseason for the Bruins.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Tim Skipper was ‘disappointed’ in UCLA’s lack of consistency against Indiana
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
