UCLA hoping to avoid deja vu all over again in preparation for Ohio State

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On the road, against a conference opponent ranked in the top two. UCLA has been here before, and they hope the game will go a lot better this time.

Three weeks after a crushing 56-6 loss to No. 2 Indiana in Bloomington, the Bruins will head to Columbus to take on No. 1 Ohio State in a matchup that, on paper, might be even tougher than their game against the Hoosiers. After they were 27.5 point underdogs in Indiana, they currently sit as 32.5 point underdogs to the Buckeyes.

“They have a lot of big time players, and the most impressive thing is they’re playing complimentary football and playing as a team,” UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper told reporters about Ohio State. “I mean, it’s good to see that that can still happen. Their offense, defense, special teams, it’s all tied into each other.”

The Bruins are aware of the parallels between the Indiana loss and Saturday’s game, and they want to use their past experience as a learning opportunity.

“The big message from that game to this one will just be starting fast,” Skipper told reporters. “That basically was our last road game. So when we get back on the road, we want to make sure we put a big time emphasis on starting fast. That’s going to be the big thing. But we have to take care of us. We can’t worry about who we’re playing, things like that. Control the controllables, and we can control what we do.”

One major difference between the two games will be in the venues at which they take place. While Indiana’s Memorial Stadium was packed when the Bruins came to town, it officially seats a little over 53,000 fans. In contrast, Ohio Stadium’s capacity holds over 102,000, placing it in the top five largest sports stadiums in the United States. The size, combined with Ohio State’s success and passionate fanbase, have given the stadium a reputation as one of the most difficult road environments in all of college football.

UCLA last played in Columbus in 1999, before anyone on the current roster was even born. Invited to this new opportunity, the players are embracing the challenging environment.

“Indiana was a great opponent. Ohio State’s a great opponent. Number one for a reason,” defensive lineman Jacob Busic said. “I’m glad Indiana was an away game, dealing with some of that crowd noise. Ohio State’s gonna be loud [with] 100,000 people, but we’re really excited to just get back out there and play our brand of football against a really good opponent.”

While none of the current Bruins have ever represented UCLA at Ohio Stadium before, many of them have played at famous stadiums and in loud road games, helping them to place the coming week in context.

“We do a lot of things, same things we do every week when we go to away games, so it’s not too special,” running back Anthony Frias II said. “I mean, we played in loud environments before — all of us, whether we were here last year or not — throughout the country. So I think everybody’s used to it.”

Of course, it will help a lot if the offense can score more than six points, both to make the game more competitive and lessen the crowd’s impact. In several games this season, the offense has taken too long to get going and been forced to mount a comeback rather than stay consistent throughout all four quarters.

“We just got to keep sticking to our guns and be who we are,” Frias said. “I think that we’re doing a good job. We just got to continue to just trust ourselves and not let things get out of hand. Don't make one bad play affect the next play, and as long as we just keep a one-play mentality and move forward, I think we'll be alright.”

A road upset over the top-ranked team in the country would be another incredible turn of events in a season full of ups and downs, not least of which was a 50-point loss against the nation’s second-ranked team. But Skipper and the rest of the team are trying to not give that too much attention.

“He really does say every week’s the same. He really does,” Frias said of Skipper. “That’s who he is, and that’s what we love about him, is that he doesn’t make any moment too big for us, and he keeps all the small moments also to that same level that, ‘hey, man, you can’t sleep on these guys.’ So I think that that’s a really good thing. … We’re all excited to play, and I think that we’ll have a good time and have fun and showcase what we can do, and just go out there and ball as brothers.”

Skipper can say that every week is the same. Given the similarities in setting to the Indiana game and the very different result the Bruins desire, that statement is both more and less true than usual.

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