LOS ANGELES -- If UCLA wants to earn their first win of the season against Northwestern, they’ll have to conquer one of the most distinctive stadiums in college football to do so.
Heading on the road to the Chicago suburb of Evanston, the Bruins are preparing to take on the Wildcats from Martin Stadium, a 12,000-seat location sitting on the Lake Michigan shore which serves as Northwestern’s temporary home. The venue is primarily built for Northwestern’s soccer and lacrosse teams, but is in its second season hosting the football team while their regular home, Ryan Field, gets rebuilt.
The combination of the unique location and weather coming off the water present a challenge for the Bruins, but one that they are looking to embrace.
“I’m kind of excited, man,” interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “[You] get in the stadium, you can actually see the water right there, so it’s pretty cool. Only thing that makes me a little nervous, I see the flags moving around in there, so we got to see how the wind is when we get there. And obviously, we’re in Chicago, and it could change during the game, but to be honest with you, I’m very excited.”
According to AccuWeather, the current forecast for Saturday in Evanston is sunny with a high of 76 degrees and wind gusts of 12 miles per hour. As Skipper mentioned, however, being right on the water can quickly change the outlook.
“I don’t really think you can do anything to prepare for it when you’re out here in Southern California,” redshirt sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava said. “But I’ve played in a lot of windy games, for sure. And it’s really about ball speed and making sure that spiral is right, to spin through the wind.”
The game is pivotal for both the 0-3 Bruins and the 1-2 Wildcats. Both teams are coming off a bye week, and based on how their seasons have gone so far, wins on the rest of the schedule are uncertain at best. Each side badly needs a win to try and get their season back on track.
When breaking down the matchup, Skipper and Iamaleava cited two main aspects of the Northwestern team: their defense and their discipline. While the Wildcats’ scoring offense is 113th in the FBS, their scoring defense is 62nd, allowing them to at least stay within a somewhat reasonable margin in their losses.
“Their d-line is really good,” Skipper said. “They’re well coached. They’re going to play shell defense. They’re going to make you beat yourself. They keep everything in front of you, sound tackling.”
On the disciplinary side, Northwestern has committed just 14 penalties this season compared to UCLA’s 30, an issue that has plagued the Bruins in every game this season.
“We’ve been in multiple positions where, you know, we start a drive off with a penalty, we get a big play and then a penalty,” Iamaleava said. “If we play a clean game, this whole season could be different.”
Throughout his time as UCLA’s head coach, Skipper has emphasized the importance of resetting the season for the remaining nine games.
“Really to me, we are 0-0 record wise, and we’re in week two,” he said. “And this is actually week one for a game, but it’s week two overall.”
This week is no different, and he’s spread the message to the entire team.
“You can’t dwell on these past three games,” Iamaleava said. “We really got to just focus on what’s ahead of us. You know, the season’s still alive for us. Like I said to the guys, we got nine more games to try and flip this around.”
It’s a brand new week for UCLA. Of course, that’s always true given changes in record and opponent, but that feels especially important to emphasize this week. The team is playing its first game with Skipper at the helm, and they’ll be doing it at an entirely different kind of location.
“The locker room’s kind of a four minute walk [away] and all that stuff,” Skipper said. “That’s football to me. I like it, so I’m just excited to go see it and see all the changes and all that stuff. Nice, intimate size stadium. So it’ll be fun. I'm excited for that.”