Indiana beats Alabama 38-3 in Rose Bowl, advances to CFP semifinal

Indiana defeated Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl on Thursday, sending the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

This was the Crimson Tide’s most lopsided postseason defeat in program history. It was also Alabama’s largest margin of defeat since a 42-6 loss to Arkansas on September 26, 1998.

Indiana hadn’t won a bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991, but history was no match for Curt Cignetti and his dominant Hoosiers during the coach’s two transcendent seasons.

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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw for 192 yards and three touchdowns in his first game since winning his school’s first Heisman Trophy.

Indiana scored the first 24 points of the game and then poured in scoring in the fourth quarter with rushing TDs from Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby to complete a spirited win in the 112th edition of the “Grandfather of Them All.”

Charlie Becker, Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt caught TD passes, while Black rushed for 99 yards. Indiana defeated Alabama 407-193, leading its long-struggling team to its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1968. He consistently delighted the decidedly pro-Indiana crowd, who celebrated with chants. in the last minutes.

The Hoosiers will travel to the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 for a CFP semifinal rematch with fifth-seeded Oregon, which defeated Texas Tech 23-0 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday. Indiana beat the No. 3 Ducks 30-20 in Eugene in October in one of Cignetti’s most impressive Big Ten victories.

Indiana is two wins away from the first national championship in school history after becoming the first team to advance after a first-round bye in the current 12-team playoff format. The first six bye teams, including this season’s first two, failed to come back strong after an extra-long layoff, but the Hoosiers took care of business as they improved to 25-2 under Cignetti.

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Roman Hemby (1) of the Indiana Hoosiers runs with the ball in the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., on January 1, 2026. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The Crimson Tide’s second season under Kalen DeBoer ended in the same place as their last season under Nick Saban two years ago. Alabama was a week behind an impressive road win over Oklahoma and had just 151 yards remaining in the meaningless final minutes of that blowout.

Ty Simpson passed for 67 yards before being replaced by backup Austin Mack in the third quarter. Mack immediately led the Tide to a short field goal with a 65-yard drive, but the Hoosiers responded with two scoring drives.

Indiana dominated the famed Rose Bowl turf, which remained pristine despite nearly 24 hours of continuous rain before kickoff. As the Hoosiers took the lead in the first half, the storms cleared and blue skies appeared in the second half.

After the first scoreless first quarter in the Rose Bowl in 26 years, Indiana’s second drive took 84 yards and 16 plays over nearly nine minutes before Nicolas Radicic’s 31-yard field goal on the first down of the second quarter.

Indiana’s defense then stopped Alabama on fourth-and-1 at the Tide 34, and Mendoza threw a long, high pass to a leaping Becker for a 21-yard field goal four plays later.

Simpson fumbled in Indiana territory after a gutsy first-down tackle late in the first half, and the Hoosiers steadily advanced on Mendoza’s 1-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to Cooper, the hero of Indiana’s dramatic victory over Penn State.

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Indiana Hoosiers linebacker D’Angelo Ponds (5) forces Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) to fumble the ball after a kick in the second quarter of the College Football Playoff Rose Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

After halftime, Mendoza led a steady 79-yard drive to Sarratt, who leapt in a 24-yard TD pass.

The victory was the final step in a two-season comeback for the program, which had the most losses in college football history before Cignetti took over. After winning 11 games last season and reaching the CFP, the Hoosiers quickly completed their schedule this fall and then beat national champion Ohio State for the Big Ten title, earning a No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 for the first time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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