Top-Seeded Indiana Routs Alabama

January 2, 2026 4:28 am

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Fernando Mendoza threw three touchdown passes, Indiana’s defense thoroughly throttled Alabama, and the top-seeded Hoosiers roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 38-3 victory in the 112th Rose Bowl. Mendoza passed for 192 yards in his first game since winning his school’s first Heisman Trophy, but the hard-nosed Hoosiers won the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history by dominating the Crimson Tide at the line of scrimmage. 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.