PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Saturday night was supposed to be a showcase game for UCLA.
It was the Bruins' first game in the Big Ten with it being nationally-televised in prime time from the Rose Bowl.
Instead, it was Kurtis Rourke and Indiana who made an emphatic statement.
Rourke passed for 307 yards and four touchdowns as the Hoosiers jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter and romped to a 42-13 victory over the Bruins to spoil their Big Ten debut.
“I know (the win) will get a lot of people's attention,” said Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who became the first Hoosiers coach to begin his tenure with three straight wins since Bill Lynch in 2007. “We went in there and wanted to play physical, tough and nasty and we did.”
The 29-point victory largest in the Big Ten for the Hoosiers (3-0, 1-0) since they beat Northwestern 34-3 in 2019.
Besides the ceremonial significance, it was UCLA's worst loss in a home opener since being shut out 35-0 by Stanford in 2010.
“This hurts. I’m a Bruin through and through. I don’t want to get emotional, good or bad, but it hurts," Bruins first-year coach DeShaun Foster said. "That’s not something … It’s not acceptable, and we’re gonna fix it.”
Rourke completed 25 of 33 passes and was 9 of 9 for 128 yards on third down.
It is the 10th 300-yard game of Rourke’s career, with the previous nine coming at Ohio University, where he was the Mid-American Conference's Offensive Player of the Year in 2022.
“There were definitely a lot of flashes since January and spring ball that we could be a good team," Rourke said. "We had a lot of really good pieces in order to compete this year, and it’s great to see that come out and show it and be able to let everybody know that we are to be taken seriously.”
After rallying for a 16-13 win at Hawaii on Aug. 31, the Bruins (1-1, 0-1) again found themselves in a double-digit hole in the first half, but this time couldn’t recover.
Indiana scored on its opening possession for the second straight game when Miles Cross caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone to complete a 75-yard, 12-play drive.
UCLA quickly turned it over when quarterback Ethan Garbers fumbled and Indiana defensive lineman Mikail Kamara recovered at the Bruins 17.
“I think it’s pretty simple. It just comes down to at the end of the day, we didn’t execute as an offense like we would like. We had a bunch of self-inflicted wounds, including our first play of the game," said Garbers, who was 14 of 23 for 137 yards and a pair of turnovers (one fumble, one interception)..
Two of Rourke's TD passes went to Ke’Shawn Williams. The senior transfer from Wake Forest, who had three receptions for 31 yards, gave the Hoosiers a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter when he caught a short flare from Rourke on a crossing route and went 14 yards.
Williams then caught a 2-yard pass on third-and-goal with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter to extend Indiana's lead to 28-10.
Cross had six receptions for 90 yards, including a one-handed grab for 33 yards while being covered by UCLA's Devin Kirkwood during the second quarter. On the next play, Justice Ellison had his third straight game with a touchdown when his 1-yard carry up the middle extended IU's lead to 21-0.
After UCLA's Mateen Bhaghani kicked his second field goal early in the fourth quarter, Rourke threw his fourth touchdown on the ensuing possession — a 23-yard strike to Omar Cooper Jr.
Elijah Greene then capped the scoring with a 14-yard run.
The Bruins only touchdown came in the second quarter when T.J. Harden's 1-yard run with 42 seconds remaining got them within 21-7 at halftime.
Indiana: The Hoosiers had a better result at the Rose Bowl compared to their first trip here in 1968, when they lost to Southern California 14-3 in the Granddaddy of Them All.
UCLA: Things will not get any easier for the Bruins, with LSU, Oregon and Penn State awaiting the next three weeks.
Indiana: Host Charlotte next Saturday.
UCLA: At 16th-ranked LSU next Saturday.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, left, can't hold on to a pass intended for him as UCLA defensive back Jaylin Davies defends during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Pasadena, Calif. Davies was called for pass interference on the play. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — More than 100 wildfires stretched thousands of firefighters to the limit in northern Portugal on Wednesday, with seven deaths since the worst spate of fires in recent years spread out of control over the weekend.
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declared a state of calamity for the hardest-hit areas late on Tuesday, invoking powers to mobilize more firefighters and civil servants. He also called on police investigators to redouble their efforts to find those who started the fires and pledged help for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated.
“We are well aware that these difficult hours are not over yet,” Montenegro told the nation in a televised address. “We have to continue to give everything we have and ask for help from our partners and friends so that we can reinforce the protection of our people and property.”
The European Copernicus satellite service said that over 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) had been scorched and a combined 13 kilometers (8 miles) of fire fronts had been detected as on Tuesday night. It added that an area home to 210,000 people was exposed to the fire risk.
The hot, dry conditions behind the outbreaks in Portugal coincided this week with flooding in central Europe. The European Union said Wednesday that the juxtaposed extreme weather phenomena are proof of a “climate breakdown. ”
Fellow European Union members Spain, France, Italy and Greece have committed two water-dropping aircraft each to help Portuguese firefighters.
Spain’s military is also sending 240 soldiers and vehicles from its emergency response battalions specialized in combating fires to its neighbor.
Thick grey smoke and the smell of burnt wood reached some 85 kilometers across the border into northwest Spain.
Montenegro made a special call for security forces to pursue both arsonists and any individuals who started a fire out of negligence. Portuguese national police said that they have arrested seven men suspected of having started wildfires in recent days. Authorities have prohibited the use of heavy farming equipment to reduce the risk of inadvertently starting a blaze.
Among the hardest hit areas is the district of Aveiro, south of the northern city of Porto, but several major blazes were also raging out of control in other wooded areas.
Authorities have yet to release figures for property damage or the number of evacuees, but Portuguese state broadcaster RTP has shown charred houses in rural villages and local residents trying to battle flames with buckets of water, hoses, and even large tree branches. Other televised images showed visibility reduced to a few meters as orange smoke enveloped the terrain.
Three firefighters died in their vehicle on Tuesday, while another had succumbed to what authorities called a “sudden illness” while on duty over the weekend. Three civilians have also perished, according to civil protection authorities.
Portugal was devasted by massive fires in 2017 that killed over 120 people.
Experts link the fires to both climate change and the abandonment of traditional farming and forestry professions that helped keep rural areas clear of underbrush that is now fuel for fires.
Joseph Wilson wrote from Barcelona, Spain. Teresa Medrano contributed from Pontevedra, Spain.
Clouds of smoke drift with the strong wind as fires rage on the hills around Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
A fire burns on a hillside near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
Fires rage on the hills around Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday night, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
A fire rages on the hills around Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday night, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
Wildfire advances near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
A woman tries to extinguish the flames near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
Firefighters work to control a fire next to warehouses in Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by wildfires fires, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
A car drives past a road closed by police as a wildfire burns close to it, near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Monday night, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
Vehicles drive past a fire burning by the road near Sever do Vouga, a town in northern Portugal that has been surrounded by forest fires, Monday night, Sept. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruno Fonseca)
