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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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 earlier Thursday in the Orange Bowl. Indiana beat the No. 3 Ducks 30-20 in Eugene in October in one of Cignetti’s most impressive Big Ten victories.

Indiana is two wins away from the first national championship in school history after becoming the first team to advance after a first-round bye in the current 12-team playoff format. The first six bye teams — including the first two this season — couldn’t come back strong from an extra-long layoff, but the Hoosiers took care of business while improving to 25-2 under Cignetti.

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The Crimson Tide’s second season under Kalen DeBoer ended in the same venue as its final season under Nick Saban two years ago. Alabama was outclassed one week after an impressive road win over Oklahoma, managing just 151 yards before the meaningless final minutes of this blowout.

Ty Simpson passed for 67 yards before backup Austin Mack replaced him in the third quarter. Mack immediately got the Tide rolling on a 65-yard drive leading to a short field goal, but the Hoosiers responded with two touchdown drives.

Indiana dominated the famous Rose Bowl turf, which stayed pristine despite nearly 24 hours of steady rain before kickoff. The storms dissipated while the Hoosiers took their first-half lead, and blue skies appeared in the second half.

After the first scoreless first quarter in a Rose Bowl in 26 years, Indiana’s second drive stretched 84 yards and 16 plays over nearly nine minutes before Nicolas Radicic’s 31-yard field goal on the first snap of the second quarter.

Indiana’s defense then stopped Alabama on fourth and 1 at the Tide 34, and Mendoza fired a long, high pass to the leaping Becker four plays later for a 21-yard touchdown.

Simpson fumbled in Indiana territory after a courageous first-down scramble late in the first half, and the Hoosiers methodically drove for Mendoza’s 1-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to Cooper, the hero of Indiana’s dramatic victory over Penn State.

After halftime, Mendoza led a steady 79-yard drive that ended with his 24-yard TD pass to a leaping Sarratt.

The victory is the latest step in the two-season turnaround of a program that had the most losses in college football history before Cignetti took charge. After winning 11 games and reaching the CFP last season, the Hoosiers steamrolled through their schedule this fall before beating defending national champion Ohio State for the Big Ten title and ascending to the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the first time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
- TikTok Shop listing of swastika necklace called ‘bold,’ ‘stylish’ sparks outrage
- How 2025 shattered idea that US was exiting the Middle East
- 4 indicted in foiled New Year's Eve terror plot targeting SoCal businesses

TOP STORY: TikTok Shop was selling a swastika pendant necklace that was allegedly pushed to users through targeted ads. The now-deleted listing for the necklace described it as a "bold" and "stylish" piece. "Hiphop titanium steel pendant, bold, stylish, and simple swastika symbol, trendy and unique pendant necklace, suitable for both boys and girls, trendy and niche," the original description read. It also noted that a number of necklaces had been sold. Before the listing was apparently taken down, the description was changed from a "swastika symbol" to a "Buddhist manji symbol."

VIDEO: ADL accuses Mamdani’s transition team of antisemitism ahead of inauguration as Kaylee McGee White discusses his transition team and the antisemitism accusations it faces on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’ WATCH HERE:

FOOTPRINT STAYS: Washington talked retrenchment, but 2025 delivered the opposite: American power reshaped the Middle East. U.S.-backed Israeli force, Trump-led diplomacy and regional coordination ended the Gaza war, weakened Iran, collapsed old assumptions and expanded U.S. influence from Syria to the Gulf. The lesson, analysts say, was blunt—strength works, and U.S. leadership still sets the terms.

NEW YEAR'S TERROR PLOT STOPPED: Federal prosecutors charged four alleged extremists with plotting New Year’s Eve bombings across Southern California, including attacks on businesses and ICE agents. Tied to the anti-government Turtle Island Liberation Front, the suspects allegedly built pipe bombs, praised terrorism and coordinated via encrypted apps. The FBI foiled the plot during desert weapons testing, seizing detailed plans before any attack occurred.

GUEST EDITORIAL: Former FBI agent David Zimmermann, who served supervisory special agent in Tel Aviv and now is a senior research fellow at George Washington University, notes that anti-Semitic incidents are up 340% across the world since 2022, and warns that Western leaders must confront Islamist-inspired antisemitic violence before it targets everyone.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "When a platform allows an explicitly antisemitic symbol to be marketed as fashion, it signals a failure to protect Jewish users and a willingness to prioritize engagement over safety," Jewish on Campus, an organization aimed at serving as a voice for GenZ Jews in America, on TikTok Shop's sale of a swastika pendant.

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