Historic run by Bruins has Hoosiers heaping praise

Cignetti impressed by 'undefeated' UCLA and its record-tying surge under Skipper.

- BY BEN BOLCH

VERA NIEUWENHUIS Associated Press

INDIANA COACH Curt Cignetti and his No. 2 team face a foe that has already pulled off a top-10 upset.

As UCLA prepared to try to topple its highest-ranked opponent in nearly two decades, one coach talked about the challenges of beating an undefeated team, of stopping its vaunted rushing attack, of halting its quick starts.

The coach was Curt Cignetti.

His team just happened to be No. 2 Indiana, the popup juggernaut that the Bruins will try to take down on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"We're playing a 3-0 football team that's undefeated, that's 3-0 in the conference since they have retooled their staff," Cignetti told reporters. "Very impressive football team."

So startling is the transformation that the Bruins have made since their winless start that they are the ones now being praised by the coach of one of the nation's top teams.

Surging UCLA (3-4 overall, 3-1 Big Ten) is only the third Big Ten team to lose its first four games and win its next three, joining 1963 Indiana and 2001 Penn State.

Of course, the Bruins hope the parallels end there given that those Hoosiers went on to lose their final two games and those Nittany Lions finished with a losing record.