UCLA entered the contest on a three-game winning streak, but Indiana football took no time to jump on the Bruins.
Senior linebacker Aiden Fisher notched a 25-yard pick-six on the second play from scrimmage. However, on the Bruins’ second offensive possession, Fisher suffered an apparent left knee injury.
The 6-foot-1, 231-pound Fisher sported a black brace on his left knee and a white Gatorade towel draped around his neck as he stood on the Hoosiers’ sideline. During Curt Cignetti’s halftime interview, Fox’s Jenny Taft asked the Indiana head coach for an update on Fisher.
“We don’t really know,” Cignetti said. “He’s walking around fine right now. It’s more precautionary.”
Redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Jones slid into Fisher’s role as the quarterback of the defense with the coach-to-player communication inside his helmet. Jones was flanked by sophomore linebacker Rolijah Hardy throughout the first half.
Sixth-year senior defensive lineman Mikail Kamara suffered an apparent left shoulder injury in the second quarter. He made a trip into the medical tent on the sideline but later returned to the contest.
Lastly, sixth-year senior kickoff specialist Brendan Franke went down with an apparent lower-body ailment on the opening kickoff. Sophomore punter Quinn Warren stepped in for Franke for much of the first half while redshirt sophomore kicker Nico Radicic handled Indiana’s final kickoff of the first half.
The Hoosiers led the Bruins 35-3 at halftime. Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza rushed for a 20-yard touchdown on Indiana’s first drive of the second half to push its advantage to 42-3.
Indiana went on to secure a 56-6 victory over UCLA to improve to 8-0 for the second consecutive season. Cignetti provided another update on Fisher, who he said made a “huge play,” during his postgame press conference.
“We took him out kind of precautionary,” Cignetti said. “We'll do the X-rays, the MRIs, see what those say.”
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
