No. 9 Alabama fell to No. 1 Indiana 38-3 at the 2026 Rose Bowl Game Thursday. The quarterfinal loss put the team at 11-4 to close the season.
With the loss, Alabama became the first team without a bye to lose a quarterfinal game in the short history of the expanded College Football Playoff. The defeat was also the program’s first loss by more than 30 points since 1998.
“You just got to give a tip of the hat to Indiana,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “For us, it’s a lot of emotions right now.”
The Crimson Tide defense looked solid early, sacking IU quarterback Fernado Mendoza twice on the Hoosier’s opening drive to force a three-and-out.
Offensively, Alabama managed to drive into Indiana territory, but stalled after crossing midfield. Punter Blake Doud proceeded to pin the Hoosier offense deep with a kick that was downed inside the five yard-line with 8:52 left in the first.
Indiana put points on the board despite the horrible field position to start the drive, which came by way of a 31-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter. The drive lasted nearly nine minutes and spanned 85 yards.
The game’s scoreless first quarter was the first of such in a Rose Bowl since the year 2000.
Alabama’s next drive featured a turnover on downs in its own territory after a wildcat sweep to wide receiver Germie Bernard was thwarted by Indiana.
The Hoosiers took advantage of the field position with the first touchdown of the game, which came via a 21-yard Mendoza strike to receiver Charlie Becker to give IU a 10-0 lead with 10:49 left in the half.
Despite a couple of catches by Bernard and receiver Ryan Williams, the Crimson Tide offense stalled and was forced to punt again.
Alabama’s defense got some momentum going on the ensuing drive with a sack and a huge hit from cornerback Dijon Lee to jar a pass loose on third down, forcing a punt.
Then, just as it seemed like momentum carried over to the offense, quarterback Ty Simpson fumbled after crossing into IU territory after picking up what would have been a first down with 3:09 left in the half.
Indiana took advantage of the turnover before halftime, scoring on a one-yard toss from Mendoza to Omar Cooper Jr. to put the Hoosiers up 17-0, 17 seconds before the teams departed the field for halftime.
The Crimson Tide went nowhere out of the break, gaining just two yards and going three-and-out to start the second half.
Indiana then gained yards in bunches as it put together a 79-yard scoring drive, capped by a 24-yard passing touchdown to give the Hoosiers a commanding 24-0 lead with 7:46 left in the third.
“Indiana did a great job,” defensive tackle Tim Keenan III said. “We didn’t make the stops that we needed to and stuff like that.”
While its doors were being blown off, Alabama was forced to bench Simpson for California native Austin Mack due to an apparent injury.
“Every game, I tell myself to be ready and never really be surprised,” Mack said. “Anything can happen and I knew I was one play away from getting in that game.”
His first drive of the afternoon featured a 13-yard scamper to pick up a first down and a 34-yard pass to Bernard to set up a chip-shot field goal to put Alabama on the board, still down 24-3 with 2:44 left in the third.
“When they told me I was going to get in the game, it was kind of like, let’s go and let’s just play ball,” Mack said.
Indiana took over and continued to bully the Crimson Tide defense. This time, it was a 75-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard rushing touchdown from tailback Kaelon Black to make the score a staggering 31-3.
After a dud of a drive for Alabama, the Hoosiers took over and tacked on another touchdown to make the score 38-3 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
The remainder of the contest was a mere formality as neither team did much of note and the Hoosiers completely rolled over the Crimson Tide.
“We’ll be back to work and start all over again,” DeBoer said.
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