PASADENA, Calif. — Finally, the team that was supposed to win did.
No. 1 Indiana shut down No. 9 Alabama and picked up a convincing 38-3 winat the Rose Bowl on Thursday afternoon. The Hoosiers, who are now a perfect 14-0 this season, will advance to the Peach Bowl next week to take on No. 5 Oregon in theCollege Football Playoffsemifinals.
Indiana is now the first team in the expanded playoff's history to win a postseason game after receiving a first-round bye. Entering Thursday's contest in Southern California, teams who had received a bye were a combined 0-6.
After a bit of a slow start — this was the first Rose Bowl in 26 years to have a scoreless opening quarter — things quickly spiraled out of control for the Crimson Tide. Kalen DeBoer and Alabama, after a bit of failed trickery, opted to go for it on a short fourth down deep in their own territory early in the second quarter. It backfired completely. They tried a short pass to convert the fourth down, which set up Indiana with incredible field position after it didn't work.
Just four plays later, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza found an open Charlie Becker in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. That put the Hoosiers up 10-0 at the time.
FERNANDO MENDOZA AND INDIANA FIND THE END ZONE FIRST 🎯(via@espn)pic.twitter.com/3CX3T4WUOQ
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports)January 1, 2026
Indiana's defense forced another turnover just before halftime, too, after Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson tried to scramble for a first down. He was hit hard by D'Angelo Ponds and lost the ball, which led to a 1-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. right before the break.
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Indiana entered the locker room up by 17 points. Alabama, which trailed Oklahoma at halftime in the first round of the playoff, managed just 30 rushing yards and five first downs while averaging less than four yards per play in the opening 30 minutes of the game.
Whatever DeBoer said at halftime didn't work. Alabama came back and had to punt the ball away about 90 seconds into the third quarter. Mendoza then quickly led Indiana down the field and hit Elijah Sarratt for a 24-yard touchdown. That put the game out of reach not even halfway through the third period.
A DART FROM MENDOZA FOR THE TD 🔥pic.twitter.com/ivhddNF2OQ
— ESPN (@espn)January 1, 2026
DeBoer even tried to switch quarterbacks after that, but it didn't matter.Austin Mack came in to replace Simpson, who briefly went into the injury tent, and actually led Alabama on its first scoring drive of the game. He got them into scoring position on a few deep passes, and set up an easy field goal to avoid the shutout.
But Indiana, of course, kept piling on. Kaelon Black capped a six-play drive with a 25-yard touchdown run right away, and then Mendoza got them back into scoring position on their next drive to set up an 18-yard touchdown run from Roman Hemby.
ROMAN HEMBY TDpic.twitter.com/PuGyQ2fO71
— NFL Paint (@NFLPaint)January 1, 2026
From there, the Hoosiers were on cruise control for the rest of the game.
The playoff win was the first in Indiana school history. The Hoosiers also made the playoff last season in Curt Cignetti's first year with the team, but fell to Notre Dame in the opening round. Indiana is now an incredible 24-2 under Cignetti's reign. The Hoosiers' 14 wins this season marks a school record, which was set last year, and this is now the first time in program history that they've had back-to-back seasons with double digit wins.
Indiana will now take on Oregon next week in Georgia. TheDucks rolled past Texas Tech 23-0 in their quarterfinals matchup at the Orange Bowlearlier on Thursday. The winner of that contest will advance to the national championship game, a place Oregon hasn't been to in over a decade. Indiana hasn't even come close.
But now, with a playoff win finally under their belts, the Hoosiers have more than proven themselves as a real threat to win it all in just a few weeks.
Indiana wins to advance to CFP semifinals
The Hoosiers complete the 38-3 blowout of Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Next up for Indiana: No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 with a spot in the championship game on the line.
INDIANA DOMINATES ALABAMA 38-3 TO WIN THE ROSE BOWL 🌹
The Hoosiers hand the Crimson Tide its worse playoff loss in program history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mCbyXuIdbr— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) January 2, 2026
