UCLA football honors tradition in return to Rose Bowl, but starts slow against Indiana

PASADENA — A line of powder blue suits filed into the Rose Bowl Stadium. The UCLA football team was sharply dressed for its Big Ten debut.

The Saturday evening game against Indiana marked a new era for the Bruins. DeShaun Foster deepened his imprint on UCLA football, starting with bringing back the tradition of the Bruin Walk.

“(Tradition) is being embraced again,” Terry Thompson, a 1985 UCLA football alumnus, said. “Chip (Kelly) had a lot of support, but he didn’t show a lot of love back. Everyone’s excited about DeShaun because he’s one of us.”

UCLA rolled out a bright blue carpet for the Bruin Walk, which began on the edge of the Area H Fan Zone on Rosemont Avenue at roughly 1:40. Fans lined up on both sides of the carpet to welcome the football team, which solemnly parted the crowd.

Starting players were introduced just prior to kickoff, which is another change for this season.

Fans and alumni like Thompson, who travels from Costa Mesa for a handful of games every season, are feeling connected to UCLA once again — and especially to Foster.

“He’s a Bruin through and through, so he’s loyal,” Thompson said. “He’s going to recruit to all the positives of UCLA. He’s a hard-working guy, so he’s got a lot of support with people involved with the football team and the program.”

In addition to the Bruin Walk, UCLA honored the seven latest members of the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime and had four former UCLA receivers serve as honorary captains for the game: Drew Bennett, Freddie Mitchell, Brian Poli-Dixon and J.J. Stokes. Bennett and Stokes each went on to have multi-season NFL careers.

Another slow start

The sense of tradition started the day on an optimistic note, but UCLA’s performance in the first half quelled the enthusiasm. Indiana went into halftime with a 21-7 lead.

Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke sent a short pass to Miles Cross for a touchdown with 8:31 left in the first quarter. The Bruins turned over the ball on their next possession and Indiana went on to score a 14-yard touchdown on a pass from Kurtis Rourke to Ke’Shawn Williams.

Indiana led 21-0 before Garbers set the Bruins up for their first touchdown of the game with a 20-yard run after avoiding a sack with 1:18 left in the second quarter. TJ Harden finished off the scoring effort with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Moore starts in secondary

Devin Kirkwood was originally slated to start at left cornerback according to the depth chart that was released earlier in the week but did not start on Saturday against Indiana.

Kaylin Moore started in his place. Moore, an Oaks Christian School product, made his first start in a UCLA uniform after transferring from Cal Berkeley this season.

Kirkwood recorded two pass breakups and a solo tackle in the first half.