Indiana football dominates Alabama in Rose Bowl game

PASADENA — Indiana, the top-seeded team in the College Football Playoff, fought off a swarming Alabama defense early and dominated the final three quarters to win the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game 38-3 on Thursday afternoon.

The Hoosiers (14-0) and back-to-back Associated Press coach of the Year Curt Cignetti extended their unbeaten season after taking down the traditional SEC powerhouse, which was making its second straight Rose Bowl appearance.

“We work really hard every single day because not only do we enjoy football, we also enjoy winning,” Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza told reporters after the game. “And we know what that takes. So every single day, we’re always going to put our best foot forward.”

Indiana will next play fifth-seeded Oregon in the CFP semifinals on Jan. 9.

Mendoza, this year’s Heisman Trophy winner, completed 14 of 16 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns in his team’s first Rose Bowl appearance since 1967. Kaelon Black rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown and Roman Hemby collected 89 yards on the ground with one touchdown.

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson did not play in the second half. The junior had completed 12 of 16 passes for 67 yards before taking a big hit with 2:45 remaining in the first half.

“Ty had an injury, obviously, and he really wanted to try to go out there,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters. “And we treated him there at halftime. He gave it a series. I know he feels like he let down the team, and there’s no way that that’s the case.”

Backup quarterback Austin Mack was 11 for 16 for 103 yards.

The Crimson Tide (11-4) sacked Mendoza twice in the opening quarter and although Indiana was still able to manufacture 79 yards of offense, it still remained the first scoreless first quarter in a Rose Bowl Game since 2000.

“As an offense, myself included, I think we got off to a slow start,” Mendoza said. “And then other than that, once we got our feet wet, we got the ball rolling and we got back to playing Indiana’s brand of football.”

Indiana had the ball at the end of the frame and concluded the drive at the start of the second quarter, going a total of 84 yards in 16 plays for a 31-yard field goal by Nicolas Radicic.

The Hoosiers, who were coming off a first-round bye, forced a turnover on downs on Alabama’s next possession and scored when the ball was once again in their hands.

Mendoza dropped back and quickly made a read to get Charlie Becker a 21-yard touchdown pass. Becker sprinted forward on a post route and created just enough separation between himself and his defender to reach up with both hands in the center of the end zone.

Indiana pulled ahead 10-0 on the play with 10:49 left until halftime, and the defense created an opportunity to extend the lead again before the horn sounded.

Simpson scrambled out of the pocket to gain a handful of yards, but All-American cornerback and defensive player of the game D’Angelo Ponds dropped his shoulder to pop the ball out of Simpson’s hands. Linebacker Isaiah Jones was there to scoop up the ball.

“I feel that’s a testament to Coach Bryant Haines,” Ponds said. “I feel he did a good job scheming them up. He knew what they liked to run, their tendencies and stuff like that. I feel he put us in the right positions to do that, and we came out victorious. That was the goal.”

The Hoosiers shifted their offense to lean on the rushing attack, handing the ball to Hemby and Black for the majority of the ensuing drive. The two ball carriers had rushed for a combined 1,717 yards heading into the game.

Indiana called in a sixth offensive lineman when it reached the 1-yard line and Mendoza dropped back for a pass to Omar Cooper, Jr., who was waiting in the back right corner of the end zone with 17 seconds on the clock.

“I think that’s what you would always love to see as the head coach,” Cignetti said of the run game wearing Alabama down.

“Things we used to preach when I was at Alabama, about changing the way they think, breaking their will, and that’s the best way to do it — running the football. It takes a while. It doesn’t happen in the first quarter, the second quarter. It happens in the second half at some point, hopefully, when you’re able to achieve that goal.”

The offense kept on rolling for Indiana in the second half while Mack, who had previously thrown just 16 passes in three games this season, couldn’t put together a touchdown drive.

“Austin did some nice things when he got on the football field there tonight,” DeBoer said, “and just got put in a tough spot when you’re trying to catch up and it’s the third quarter already.”

Mendoza hit Elijah Sarratt with a 24-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, and Alabama was only able to muster a 28-yard field goal by Conor Talty to avoid the shutout.

The Hoosiers’ offensive line opened up a gap for long enough to allow Black to run for a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Hemby got a rushing touchdown for himself with 10:33 remaining in the game when he broke through the trenches for an 18-yard run.

Defensive back Devan Boykin sacked Mack behind the line of scrimmage with roughly five minutes remaining and the Indiana defense shut down the run game as well. Alabama rushed for negative-6 yards in the second half.

Indiana will now turn its attention to a rematch with Oregon in the CFP semifinal. In the first meeting between the two teams, Indiana won 30-20 in Eugene during the Big Ten regular season.

“We’ll have a very big challenge ahead of us next week,” Cignetti said. “It’s very hard to beat a really good football team twice. There’s no doubt about that.”

Including Indiana and Oregon’s wins, the Big Ten Conference is 9-4 in bowl games or CFP games this season, while the SEC is 4-8 collectively this postseason.