Indiana hands Alabama worst postseason loss in program history in Rose Bowl beatdown

Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn and Mark Ingram reacted after Indiana defeated Ohio State to win the Big Ten championship.

Indiana dominated Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl Thursday to send the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

It marked the most lopsided postseason defeat for the Crimson Tide in program history. It was also Alabama's biggest margin of defeat in any game since a 42-6 defeat to Arkansas Sept. 26, 1998.

Indiana had not won any bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991, but history has been no match for Curt Cignetti and his dominant Hoosiers during the coach’s two transcendent seasons.

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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 a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at Rose Bowl Stadium Jan. 1, 2026, in Pasadena, Calif.  (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

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

Indiana scored the game’s first 24 points before pouring it on with fourth quarter rushing TDs from Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby, wrapping up a jubilant win in the 112th edition of the "Granddaddy of Them All."

Charlie Becker, Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt caught TD passes, while Black rushed for 99 yards. Indiana outgained Alabama 407-193, steadily delighting a decidedly pro-Indiana crowd that celebrated its long-struggling team’s first Rose Bowl game appearance since 1968 with chants of "Hoosier Daddy?" in the final minutes.

The Hoosiers are headed to the Peach Bowl Jan. 9 for a CFP semifinal rematch with fifth-seeded Oregon, which routed Texas Tech 23-0