PASADENA \u2013 One day into 2026, and the sports world already feels tipsy.<\/p>\n
Indiana has become so good at football that I felt sorry for Alabama in the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n
Hoosiermania engulfed the Crimson Tide and many of their fans Thursday as top-seed Indiana hammered the ninth-seed Crimson Tide in the lines, got three touchdown throws from Fernando Mendoza and won 38-3 to book a spot in the College Football Playoff national semifinals game, Jan. 9, against fifth-seeded Oregon in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Behind Heisman Trophy winner Mendoza\u2019s passing and their defense\u2019s astute reads and hard hits, the Hoosiers took a 17-0 lead into the second half and saw Mendoza throw his third TD pass early in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Then came a punishing finish that Bear Bryant and Nick Saban would\u2019ve appreciated when they were leading Alabama to many of its SEC-record 16 NCAA-recognized national titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir run game wore us down,\u201d said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer.<\/p>\n
Indiana senior center Pat Coogan was named the game\u2019s offensive MVP.<\/p>\n
Running backs Kaeion Black and Roman Hemby went for a touchdown apiece and finished with 99 and 89 yards on 6.6 and 4.9 per carry.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaking the will\u201d of an opponent, said Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, was emphasized when he coached at Alabama under Saban as an offensive assistant and recruiting coordinator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the best way to do it, running the football,\u201d Cignetti said. He added:\u00a0\u201cThe backs, I was really impressed with how hard they ran.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Quarterback](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LDN-L-ROSE-0102-KB60.jpg\")
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers hoists up the Leishman Trophy after defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-3 to win the 112th Rose Bowl CFP quarterfinal playoff football game in Pasadena on Thursday, January 1, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News\/ SCNG)<\/p>\n
For years, even decades, Indiana teams ended seasons with opponents\u2019 cleat marks imprinted on their bodies.<\/p>\n
Cignetti said that would change, fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoogle me, I win,\u201d he said after he was introduced at Indiana.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s 25-2 with the Hoosiers, including a 14-0 mark this season.<\/p>\n
Cignetti had ample reason to believe he would succeed with Indiana, and not only because he had won big with James Madison and at his two earlier head coaching stops \u2014 at Indiana University-Pennsylvania and tiny Elon in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
Abetting a first-year sprint that took Indiana to 11-1 and the national playoffs\u2019 first round, where it lost to eventual runner-up Notre Dame, Cignetti brought his two longtime coordinators with him and several of their top players from James Madison.<\/p>\n
The 11-2 record wasn\u2019t likely to be a blip, either.<\/p>\n
The whole program\u2019s upside was pushed higher when Mendoza opted to transfer from Cal last winter.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback said he was swayed by what he saw from the \u201924 Hoosiers and reports from his brother, Armando Mendoza, a backup quarterback on the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I were to come to Indiana, I believed that I would develop as a quarterback, I\u2019d get great coaching, and I would be able to be the best Fernando Mendoza that I could be,\u201d he said, per The Sporting News.<\/p>\n
![\"Indiana](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LDN-L-ROSE-0102-21-WL.jpg\")
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) looks for running room as Alabama\u2019s Red Morgan (16) defends during the first half at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. The top ranked Indiana Hoosiers play the 9th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the 112th Rose Bowl Game. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)<\/p>\n
Mendoza has praised his Cal coaches and teammates many times.<\/p>\n
The Miami product went to Berkeley after a late offer led him to de-commit from Yale.<\/p>\n
Following a redshirt year and 19 starts over two seasons with Cal \u2013 including a victory over San Diego State in 2023 \u2013 he headed to the Midwest.<\/p>\n
Cignetti and his longtime offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, had won a lot of games together. In Mendoza, they got a chance to work with a QB whose talents are worthy of a power-conference school.<\/p>\n
It took a few months for Mendoza to gain full comfort, but clean, savvy playing style almost certainly will make him the first player chosen in the next NFL draft.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old QB\u2019s Rose Bowl performance no doubt improved his NFL stock.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir trigger-man made the throws,\u201d said DeBoer, linking Mendoza\u2019s efforts to Indiana converting on 9 of 14 third downs.<\/p>\n
He threw on time and on target, going 14 for 16 with 192 yards. Mendoza\u2019s strikes of some 30 yards, hand to hand, netted two completions near the sideline and a seam shot catch that was later jarred loose.<\/p>\n
He made good decisions on run-pass-option plays, never turned the ball over and oversaw an offense that had no presnap penalties.<\/p>\n
Three sacks submerged his rushing totals, but he showed keep-them-honest running skills.<\/p>\n
He legged out a 14-yard gain nullified by a holding flag. Weaving through traffic, he converted third-and-3, fueling a TD drive.<\/p>\n
![\"Indiana](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/LDN-L-ROSE-0102-07-WL.jpg\")
Indiana cheerleaders dance prior to the 112th Rose Bowl Game against Alabama at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. The top ranked Indiana Hoosiers play the 9th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in the 112th Rose Bowl Game. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)<\/p>\n
Indiana displayed no rust from a 26-day gap between its victory over No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game and Thursday\u2019s kickoff.<\/p>\n
As a first-time No. 1 seed in the still-toddling national playoffs, facing a program of Bama\u2019s stature, the Hoosiers were playing perhaps their highest-stakes game.<\/p>\n
It was just the second Rose Bowl game in the school\u2019s history, and the first since the 1968 team lost to O.J. Simpson and USC, 14-3.<\/p>\n
Players and fans availed themselves, having a giddy time of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a perfect college venue,\u201d said Mendoza, who lost his helmet and wobbled after a teammate banged him in celebrating a second-half TD.<\/p>\n
Some 60,000 Indiana fans accounted for the announced crowd of 90,278.<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t allow a steady rain dampen their mood in the hours before kickoff.<\/p>\n
Much beer was consumed three and four hours before kickoff by Hoosiers fans outside the stadium and walking through a nearby neighborood.<\/p>\n
Many fans wore crimson-and-cream vertical-striped pants. An older man sported a purple \u201cHickory\u201d basketball shirt, in honor of the movie \u201cHoosiers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blaring at high volume for four quarters, IU\u2019s band played the school\u2019s fight song so often that cries of \u201cI-U!\u201d echoed after the stadium emptied.<\/p>\n
Fans cheered scoreboard displays of famous IU alums. Late in the game, as the sunlight broke through, they sang to \u201cHurts So Good\u201d by Indiana-born rocker John Cougar Mellencamp.<\/p>\n
Two more wins. That\u2019s what it\u2019ll take for Indiana to become champion of college football. Georgia and Miami may have a bit more explosiveness. Beating Oregon a second time this year may be extra difficult.<\/p>\n
Indiana\u2019s pieces fit well. This is a sound football team. Cignetti coaches football every bit as well as Bob Knight, IU\u2019s three-time national champion, coached basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PASADENA \u2013 One day into 2026, and the sports world already feels tipsy. Indiana has become so good…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":486183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-486182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-top-stories-sdut","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115823361829529424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}