Aiden Fisher's early interception, Mendoza brothers' TD runs help No. 2 Indiana roll past UCLA 56-6

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Aiden Fisher intercepted the first pass of the game and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown and the Mendoza brothers — Fernando and Alberto — each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana routed UCLA 56-6 on Saturday.

The Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) extended their school-record home winning streak to 14, protected the highest ranking in school history for the second straight week and now open a second straight November with a perfect record.

Fernando Mendoza was 15 of 22 for 168 yards, three TDs and one interception before leaving late in the third quarter, getting serenaded again with chants of “Heismendoza” from the student section.

“It was on a big platform against a team that was hot, and we wanted to be physical and dominate the line of scrimmage, and I thought we did that early in the game,” said Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, who still hasn’t lost a home game. “Fisher made a huge play early in the game.”

Roman Hemby finished with 17 carries, 81 yards and two scores while Kaelon Black rushed 10 times for 70 yards. E.J. Williams Jr. had five catches for 109 yards and two scores and Indiana outgained UCLA 475-201 in total yards.

The Bruins (3-5, 3-2) saw their three-game winning streak snapped as Nico Iamaleava went 13 of 27 for 113 yards and two interceptions. He ran seven times for 28 yards.

UCLA never recovered from its poor start.

“We always preach starting fast and we didn’t do that there and playing against a team like that, that plays well in all three phases, you’re going to have start fast,” UCLA coach Tim Skipper said. “And when they create a turnover that creates points, that’s hard to overcome. It kind of shell-shocked us and took us a while to get going.”

After Fisher’s interception 57 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers pulled away on Hemby’s 1-yard TD run late in the first quarter and a second-quarter flurry that began with Elijah Sarratt’s 1-yard TD catch, continued with Hemby’s 13-yard run and ended with Williams’ 2-yard catch to make it 35-3.Indiana sealed it with Fernando Mendoza’s nifty 20-yard scoring run, Williams’ 62-yard catch and Alberto Mendoza’s 4-yard run early in the fourth.

The takeaway

UCLA: The Bruins had looked much better under Skipper, who took over from the fired DeShaun Foster. But their three wins came against opponents that were a combined 1-11 in conference play. They were overwhelmed Saturday. Now they have two weeks to figure out what went wrong.

Indiana: The Hoosiers are rolling. While they weren’t perfect Saturday — Fernando Mendoza threw a rare interception — there’s little to quibble with. They took control early and never let it go.

Injury update

Fisher made the big early play and returned for UCLA’s next series before leaving with an injured knee. He later wore a protective brace on the Indiana sideline.

“We took him out, kind of precautionary,” Cignetti said after the game. “We’ll do the X-rays, the MRIs, and see what those say.”

All-conference defensive end Mikail Kamara also left briefly in the first half with what appeared to be a shoulder or arm injury, but he did return.

Up next

UCLA: Hosts Nebraska on Nov. 8 after next week’s bye.

Indiana: Heads to Maryland next Saturday.

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