PASADENA, Calif. – No. 1 Indiana football walloped No. 9 Alabama in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Thursday, defeating the Tide 38-3 and advancing to the Peach Bowl versus No. 5 Oregon. The Hoosiers (14-0) dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball, rushing for 215 yards while holding Alabama (11-4) to 193 total yards en route to their first bowl win since 1991.
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza showed no signs of rust despite having 26 days off after the Big Ten Championship. He completed 14 of his 16 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns, throwing more touchdown passes than incompletions for the fourth time this season. Teams seeded in the top four were 0-6 entering the Rose Bowl, making Indiana the first team to win after receiving a bye in the 12-team Playoff era.
“Coach (Curt) Cignetti did a fantastic job of making sure there was no complacency,” Mendoza said. “I think we overcame that challenge and that showed on the field today.”
Alabama had no answers for Indiana’s ground game. Hoosier running backs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby combined for 188 rushing yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry, and center Pat Coogan was named offensive MVP after spearheading Indiana’s dominance up front.
“A credit to all my teammates,” Coogan said. “These guys are unbelievable.”
Despite the absence of all-conference edge rusher Stephen Daley, Indiana’s defense held Alabama without a touchdown for the first time this season. Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson was 12-for-16 passing, throwing for just 67 yards and losing a fumble before being benched for Austin Mack.
On a key third down late in the first half, Simpson scrambled and elected not to slide after reaching the line to gain. All-American defensive back D’Angelo Ponds made Simpson pay for his decision, forcing his first career fumble and setting Indiana up to take a 17-0 lead going into the locker room while leaving Simpson with a fractured rib. The Tide offense never settled in, with defensive coordinator Bryant Haines mixing up personnel and pre-snap looks to great effect.
“That’s a testament to coach Haines,” Ponds said. “He did a good job scheming them up. He knew what they liked to run. He put us in the right positions and we came out victorious. That was the goal.”
Alabama’s lone score came late in the third quarter when it kicked a 28-yard field goal on fourth and goal while trailing 24-0. Kalen DeBoer’s team failed to eclipse 200 total yards for the first time this season and went converted on just three of 11 third downs, faceplanting in its largest postseason loss in program history.
The Hoosiers now turn their focus to Oregon, who they beat 30-20 in Eugene on Oct. 11. The Ducks have not lost since falling to Indiana and enter the Peach Bowl on the heels of a 23-0 win over No. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. Cignetti knows beating Oregon and advancing to the national championship game versus either No. 10 Miami, No. 3 Georgia or No. 6 Ole Miss (a game still in progress as of this publication) will be anything but easy.
“We’ll have a very big challenge ahead of us next week,” Cignetti said. “It’s very hard to beat a good football team twice.”
The Peach Bowl kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 9 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
