Indiana football ready for ‘a business trip’ as Curt Cignetti downplays ‘noise and clutter’ of UCLA matchup

Curt Cignetti has been all about ‘entertainment’ this offseason. He said it himself at Big Ten Media Days — ‘this is the entertainment business too’. But ahead of the first Big Ten game of the season, also coinciding with the first road game, he is up for anything but ‘entertainment’. Instead, it’s all business for the first year IU head coach.

It’s not just another road game for the Hoosiers. It happens to be one of the most historic venues in all of college sports, certainly college football. It’s the Rose Bowl.

As Indiana travels to Pasadena to face UCLA, the storylines are out there. But for Cignetti, he’s not getting caught up in all the hoopla.

“That’s a big part of my job to make sure we eliminate the noise and the clutter and everybody understand why we’re there,” Cignetti said on Monday. “The guys that make that trip will understand that.”

Indiana football is off to a 2-0 start and while the schedule hasn’t been one to write home about, it’s put the Hoosiers in position to succeed moving forward.

And, as Cignetti continues to emphasize — they play whoever is on their schedule, each critically important to their development.

“Next game up,” Cignetti said. “Every game is the most important game. You guys can write your stories and your angles on how important X game is relative to Y game, but they all count as one game.

“It’s the first conference game, so we’re excited about that, and we want to get off to a good start.”

Indiana is coming off of a program-best 77-3 win over Western Illinois on Friday. That followed a 31-7 win in the opener.

Through two games, IU has been dominant. There’s no questioning that.

Partly due to the opponent, but also the system, culture and program that Cignetti is forming.

So, it continues to be about execution and preparation.

“Our preparation has to be excellent starting today,” Cignetti said. “String together a good sequence of nows and prepare to the best of our ability to give ourselves the best chance.”

Not only is it the first road trip of the season for Indiana football, it’s a trip out west — not the ordinary Big Ten travel schedule.

Because of that, IU will be shifting its schedule slightly.

What else is different? Indiana football being favorited ahead of Saturday’s matchup.

“UCLA, a lot of tradition there,” Cignetti said. “Three straight years of bowl games, 25 wins the last three years. You look at us, nine wins the last three years going on the road. Somehow we’re favored, which doesn’t mean anything.”

While it shouldn’t mean anything, it does. And for this program, it means even more — especially after following the last three seasons of disappointment.

So as Indiana football gets ready to arrive at its first real test of the season, the same ‘backyard brawl’ type mindset that has led Cignetti to wins remains.

And that means it doesn’t matter who or where they play. They mean business.

“Rose Bowl has a lot of tradition for people that follow football,” said Cignetti. “For me and the team, it’s more of a business trip, whether we’re playing in the Rose Bowl or in a parking lot. It’s all the same.

”The venue, it’s never really played a big part in it from a coaching standpoint, and we’re looking forward to playing.”

SEE ALSO: Indiana football didn’t just win on Friday, It dominated — as it should. Now, it’s using it as a ‘confidence boost’ heading into first real test

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