Hello and Roll Tide!

Alabama will take on the Indiana Hoosiers on January 1st, 2026 in the Rose Bowl. Indiana won the Big 10 Championship and are the #1 seed in this year’s playoff. The current playoff format awards the Big 10 Champion the right to host the Rose Bowl. This is Indiana’s third Big 10 Championship and will be their second time playing in the Rose Bowl. As for Alabama, this will mark their 9th Rose Bowl game. January 1st will also mark 100 years since Alabama’s first Rose Bowl game in 1926 where they won their first national title 20-19 over Washington. This game is represented in Alabama’s fight song with the lyrics, “Remember the Rose Bowl, we’ll win then!” Alabama was a big underdog in 1926 against the Washington Huskies and they find themselves in a similar situation against the top ranked Hoosiers. Both head coaches in this matchup spent time with the opposition: Curt Cignetti was a part of Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama from 2007-2011; Kalen DeBoer was the Offensive Coordinator at Indiana in 2019. Both coaches took long paths coaching below the FBS establishing themselves as winners. Kalen DeBoer won 3 NAIA National Championships with Sioux Falls before jumping to D1 in 2014 as the OC at Eastern Michigan. Curt Cignetti won Conference Championships with IUP in Division II and James Madison in the FCS. Both coaches bet on themselves and took the long road, and now find themselves competing in the “Granddaddy of Them All”. Below are injury updates, an Indiana Preview, and Rose Bowl Storylines. Let’s go!

Injury Updates:

  • Alabama is the healthiest they’ve been. The report only includes 3 players who were already listed as OUT for the remainder of the season: Jah-Marien Latham, Jeremiah Beaman, and Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.
  • Indiana will be without Star defensive lineman Stephen Daley. Daley leads the team with 19 tackles for a loss. Indiana already lost defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt for the rest of the season. They will have to rely on depth at the position

CFP Round 2: Rose Bowl Game Preview – Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana finished the regular season 12-0 before defeating Ohio State in the Big 10 Championship game. This was Indiana’s first undefeated regular season since 1945 when they went 9-0-1. This is the first time that Indiana is ranked #1 in the AP Poll, the previous high being #4. Prior to Curt Cignetti taking over at Indiana, they had the most losses All-Time in the FBS. They have since been surpassed by Northwestern. In just 2 seasons, Curt Cignetti turned around the Indiana program, making the College Football Playoffs in each of his first two seasons. The three seasons prior to Cignetti, Indiana was 2-10, 4-8, and 3-9. This wasn’t a modern turnaround fueled by NIL and the Transfer Portal (like Texas Tech) but rather a cultural rebuild. Cignetti’s culture requires buy-in from everyone involved, starting with the coaching staff. Both of Indiana’s coordinators have been with Cignetti for most of their careers. OC Mike Shanahan joined Cignetti at IUP in 2016 as the Wide Receivers coach and continued that role at Elon and James Madison before taking over the OC duties in 2021. DC Bryant Haines was the strength and conditioning coach with Cignetti at IUP, linebackers coach at Elon, and DC at James Madison. This level of loyalty helps when establishing a new culture. The next step was making the players believe and that happened almost instantly. Indiana took the nation by surprise in 2024, going 11-1 in the regular season before losing at South Bend to Notre Dame in the CFP First round. Their only losses came to the National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes and the runner-up. Many thought the 2024 Indiana team was lightning in a bottle, but not the Hoosiers. This year’s team surpassed expectations and are now the #1 seed in the CFP. Indiana is the 4th best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 41.9 points per game. They are led by Heisman winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza was a 2-star prospect out of High School and played his first two seasons at Cal before transferring to Indiana this season. The Junior passed for 2,980 yards with 33 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Mendoza is surrounded by talented pass catchers in Omar Cooper and Elijah Sarratt. Omar Cooper leads the team in both receptions and yards with 58 catches for 804 yards. His most famous moment came against Penn State as he made a miraculous catch with 36 seconds left to take the lead. He showed tremendous body control as he caught the ball in the back of the endzone and was able to tap his left foot in bounds. Elijah Sarratt is Indiana’s second leading receiver with 51 receptions and 687 yards. Sarratt is an excellent route runner and leads the team with 12 touchdowns. Even with a Heisman quarterback, Indiana truly excels in the running game. The Hoosiers average 221.2 rushing yards per game, ranked 10th in the nation. Indiana operates with two running backs, Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black. Hemby rushed for 918 yards with 6 touchdowns, while Black rushed for 799 yards with 7 touchdowns. Hemby is also a threat as a receiver, catching 14 passes for 160 yards. The offensive line is anchored by left tackle Carter Smith who was selected as the Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Indiana’s success has come from both sides of the ball working together. The defensive unit ranks 2nd nationally in points allowed (10.8 ppg), 3rd in rushing yards allowed (77.6 ypg), and 4th nationally in total yards allowed (257.2 ypg). Indiana has playmakers on all three levels of the defense. On the defensive line, Stephen Daley and Tyrique Tucker plug holes limiting the run. Each have 5.5 sacks as they generate a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Daley was ruled OUT for the Rose Bowl, so depth pieces such as Hosea Wheeler (4 tackles for loss) and Mikail Kamara (5 tackles for a loss) will see additional playing time. Their linebackers combine speed and good instincts, limiting opposing offenses. They have the most tackles for a loss of any unit in the country: Rolijah Hardy recorded 13 tackles for a loss and 8 sacks; Isaiah Jones recorded 14 tackles for a loss and 7 sacks; Aiden Fisher recorded 7 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. This unit has the ability to create negative plays at a moment’s notice. In the Secondary, Indiana has a few ball-hawks. Louis Moore has 6 interceptions this season, tied for 2nd best in the country. Right behind him is Amare Ferrell with 4 interceptions. This is without mentioning their best corner, D’Angelo Ponds. Ponds is very physical at the catch point, recording 8 pass breakups this season. This defense may not be full of future NFL talent, but they all do their jobs exceedingly well. Rarely will they make mistakes, forcing everything to be earned by the opposing offense. On Special teams, Indiana sports the Big Ten Kicker of the Year, Nicolas Radicic. Radicic made 15 of 16 field goal attempts and all 71 PATs. Punt returner Jonathan Brady averages 17.5 yards per return and returned one punt for a touchdown. This earned him All-Big 10 Second Team honors. Long snapper Mark Langston was recognized on the All-Big 10 First Team.

CFP Second Round: Rose Bowl Storylines

Stop the run/force Mendoza to beat you: It might sound crazy suggesting that Alabama should challenge the Heisman Memorial Trophy winner to beat them, but Indiana is a run-first offense. As noted above, they rank 10th nationally in rushing offense, but are only 44th nationally in passing (251.6 ypg). Yes, some of that may be due to running the clock out in blowouts, but this Indiana team relies on the run game to set up play-action. Mendoza is one of the best play-action quarterbacks in the country, so stopping the run could limit Indiana’s ability to run play-action effectively. Stopping Mendoza will be a huge challenge and stopping the run would make it slightly easier for the Tide.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable: Indiana’s success on defense comes down to advanced scouting and preparation. They figure out what you do poorly, and force you to play that way the entire game. Having watched Alabama play all season, we should expect Indiana to challenge Alabama to run the football or throw the deep ball. Ty Simpson is a master at intermediate passes (between 7 and 15 yards downfield) but the Tide has struggled running the ball and creating explosive plays in the passing game. Both Oklahoma and Georgia had success taking away Alabama’s strength of intermediate passing. Alabama was able to beat Oklahoma the second time around with help from the deep ball. I’d expect Indiana to take a page from their playbook. Alabama will have to run the football effectively or generate explosive plays downfield to open up the intermediate passing game.

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away: Alabama enters the Rose Bowl the healthiest they’ve been since week 6. The three players on the injury report were already expected to be OUT the remainder of the season. This means that Alabama will have several key contributors back at full health: Josh Cuevas missed the last three games and will start at tight end on Saturday; LT Overton missed the Georgia and Oklahoma games due to an undisclosed illness, and will be back at 100%; Jam Miller missed the SEC Championship and was limited against Oklahoma, but will play in full against Indiana. Having zero players QUESTIONABLE or PROBABLE will allow Alabama to play free without worrying about depth.

“The Game That Changed The South”: After Alabama’s historic win in the 1926 Rose Bowl, Clyde Bolton of the Birmingham News wrote “The 1926 Rose Bowl was without a doubt the most important game before or since in Southern football history.” This victory put Southern football teams on the map, in a time where the North and West dominated most media polls. College Football finds itself at an inflection point where Mega-Conferences are taking over. Many believe the Big 10 to have surpassed the SEC. This could be a statement game not only for the Alabama Crimson Tide, but the SEC as a whole. Once again, Alabama could write another epic chapter in Southern football history.

What is your score prediction? Who will be the difference maker for Alabama in the Rose Bowl? As always, send any questions or comments my way. If you know of anyone who wants to join the newsletter, send me their email.

Roll Tide! -Jake