By: Cameron Cocquyt
Prior to Thursday’s kickoff in Pasadena, teams with a first-round bye were a combined 0-6 since the inception of the expanded playoff in 2024. The Hoosiers made history by becoming the first team to overcome the bye-week curse, and defeated Alabama 38-3 in front of a well-traveled Indiana crowd at the Rose Bowl.
After a shaky opening drive on offense, the stout Indiana defense forced the Crimson Tide into a punt that stuck the Hoosiers back at their own three-yard line. Led by Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, the team completed a 16-play, 84-yard drive that spanned the rest of the opening frame. The drive ended with a Nico Radicic field goal to start the second quarter, and just a few minutes later the Tide turned over the ball on downs at their own 34-yard line: from here, it was all Hoosiers.
The Hoosiers took advantage of the short field, and finished the drive with a 34-yard touchdown pass to an extended Charlie Becker in the end zone. Despite the acrobatic reception, the team was relying heavily on their run game and grueling offensive line play.
Fast. Physical. Relentless.
The team’s mantra was as prevalent as ever on the defensive side of the ball. With a touch over three minutes remaining in the half, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson scrambled toward the marker for a first down. He was met by numerous Hoosier defenders, but ultimately it was the hit from Indiana defensive back D’Angelo Ponds that jarred the ball loose. Standing at just 5’9”, the savvy All-American has been a staple of the Bryant Haines defensive scheme all season.
After an impressive first half performance, the Hoosiers led 17-0 going into the locker room at half time. Ultimately, the second half was more of the same. After a quick three and out, Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson never returned to the field. It was later revealed that Simpson sustained a cracked rib on the first half hit from Ponds.
Simpson was replaced by redshirt Sophomore Austin Mack who led the Tide to their only points of the night: a field goal on his first drive. The Hoosiers continued to dominate in all facets and finished with 38 points, despite throwing the ball just 16 times. Fernando Mendoza went 14/16 for 192 yards and three touchdowns: setting a Rose Bowl record by completing 87.5% of his passing attempts.
Indiana’s win wasn’t flashy, but it sure was physical. The Hoosiers finished the contest with 215 total yards on the ground, across five different ball carriers. In total, Cignetti’s squad ran the ball a total of 50 times: far more than the Tide’s 17 rushes for 23 yards.
On stage following the victory, Curt Cignetti was flanked by a number of his players. As Rece Davis began the introduction for the offensive MVP, the cameras panned toward the Mendoza family.
“And the Offensive MVP from the 2026 Rose Bowl is Pat Coogan, the leader of the offensive line,” exclaimed Davis.
As the cameras panned back to the stage, it captured the pure excitement of Coogan’s teammates for their vocal leader and team captain. Coogan, has been an anchor and steady presence all season at Center for the Hoosiers after transferring in this past offseason from Notre Dame. While there are games won in the trenches every weekend, we rarely see moments of recognition like this. In post-game availability, Coogan was asked his thoughts on the award and what led to the offensive line’s success.
“It’s pretty great. It’s probably the first, if I had to guess, offensive lineman MVP, but it’s all a credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for, first of all, just believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense and fully entrusting in me and my abilities.
And a credit to all my teammates. These guys are unbelievable. The belief that we have in each other, the ability to bounce off of each other and say, hey, ‘what are you thinking?’, or ‘do you see that?’ It’s just been, kind of like I said before, never-ending growth, never ending improvement,” said Coogan.
This attitude and mindset are a true testament to what Curt Cignetti and staff have instilled in their program from top to bottom. The dominance from the offensive line was impressive, but arguably even more impressive was the performance from the Indiana defense. Bryant Haines’ unit has been among the top in the country all season, and they once again showed why on Thursday. On top of the forced turnover, the Indiana defense finished the game giving up under 200 yards of total offense.
They may have been short a red carpet, but the Defensive MVP was awarded to none other than the one responsible for the turnover: D’Angelo Ponds. He was asked how they were so-well prepared to translate their game plan to the field. Ponds was quick to praise his Defensive Coordinator,
“I feel that’s a testament to Coach Bryant Haines. I feel he did a good job scheming them up. He knew what they liked to run, their tendencies and stuff like that. I feel he put us in the right positions to do that, and we came out victorious. That was the goal.”
Haines, the former Ball State linebacker and Piqua, Ohio native has quickly established himself as one of the best coordinators in college football. The defense has forged an identity that directly corresponds with the Hoosiers’ mantra. On Thursday in Pasadena, it was more of the same for their elite defense.
Curt Cignetti has spoken time and time again about ‘breaking down’ an opposing team. He was asked how the run game wore down the Tide over the course of the same, and had a similar reference. Here’s what Cignetti had to say:
“I think that’s what you always love to see as the head coach, things we used to preach when I was at Alabama, about changing the way they think, breaking their will, and that’s the best way to do it, running the football.
It takes a while. It doesn’t happen in the first quarter, the second quarter, it happens in the second half at some point, hopefully, when you’re able to achieve that goal.”
Once a former Alabama assistant under Saban, Cignetti and the Hoosiers controlled all four quarters against the Crimson Tide. On a Thursday in Pasadena, an elite Hoosiers squad showed that no stage was too big.
Not even the “Granddaddy of Them All”.
The Hoosiers will now prepare to square off against the Oregon Ducks in the CFB Semifinal and Peach Bowl on January 9th. The highly anticipated matchup is the second time the two programs have met this year. Previously, the Hoosiers routed the Ducks 30-20 in Autzen Stadium.
The Hoosiers will look to retool, and prepare for Dan Lanning’s Ducks because one thing holds true:
“It’s hard to beat the same twice.”