PASADENA, Calif. – Good-guy Fernando Mendoza, smiling Mendoza, most-charming-dude-on-earth Mendoza, was nowhere to be seen under a steel-gray New Year’s Day sky. This was Mendoza as ruthless competitor, as card shark, as the all-business leader of the nation’s top-ranked team.
Ninety minutes before Thursday’s playoff quarterfinal showdown against Alabama and Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback strode onto Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl with steely eyed intensity, focused on the process, first with his band stretching, then his warm-up throws, rifling spirals from 10 yards as if trying to break the fingers of a team manager as receiver.
Mendoza was ready. Boy, was he ready.
The Crimson Tide (11-4) had no chance.
Mendoza thrived with his arm (completing 14-of-16 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns) and legs (scrambles of 8, 8, 7, and 12 yards) in the top-seeded Hoosiers’ 38-3 victory. Alabama blitzed Mendoza a season-high 12 times. The result — he was 8-for-8 for 161 yards and three touchdowns as IU advanced to the Jan. 9 Peach Bowl semifinals against fifth-seed Oregon (13-1), which beat fourth-seed Texas Tech, 23-0, in Thursday’s Orange Bowl.
The Hoosiers (14-0) defeated the Ducks 30-20 during the regular season in Eugene, Oregon.
“I’m very confident in the way team is playing,” Mendoza said. “We enjoy football. This is why we work so hard. We also enjoy wining. We know what it takes, which is why we put our best foot forward.”
He paused.
“We have a very tough Oregon opponent.”
IU wasn’t fazed by its three-and-a-half-week layoff as the seventh other playoff-bye teams since the 12-team format started in 2024 are 0-7. Once again, a head coach Curt Cignetti’s team achieved the unprecedented in blasting past SEC mystique as effectively as it had the Big Ten.
It wasn’t fazed that it hadn’t won a bowl game since the 1991 Copper Bowl, that it had lost its only previous Rose Bowl appearance to top-ranked USC 14-3 in 1968.
It wasn’t fazed about anything.
“Coach Cignetti did a fantastic job of making sure there was no complacency,” Mendoza said. “That’s very tough to do.”
Cignetti is 25-2 with the Hoosiers, breaking Urban Meyer’s Big Ten record for most victories in a coach’s first two seasons.
“It all starts with Coach Cignetti,” said center Pat Coogan, who earned game offensive MVP honors. “Complacency can be a factor. It’s a never-ending journey of improving, of taking each day as the most important day in the history of the program. He makes sure all of our eyes are focused forward. It’s real. That’s why we see success.”
Success was fueled by Mendoza and Coogan, who led an attack that totaled 407 yards, 215 on the ground. Running backs Roman Hemby (89 yards and a touchdown) and Kaelon Black (99 yards and a TD) ran through Alabama tacklers as if they were a myth.
“First, I want to credit my teammates and coaching staff for believing in me, for entrusting me,” Coogan said. “These guys are unbelievable. The belief we have in each other. It’s about a never-ending growth.”
And yet, even in dominance, Coogan saw flaws.
“We have a lot to clean up. In the fourth quarter, we were kind of sloppy. It starts with me. I have to make sure the guys on are the right page.”
This is exactly what Cignetti wants to hear.
“We have good players with very high character. They listen and they buy in.
“Fernando is a special guy. He’s very unique. He’s selfless. Coogan is the same way. He’s the ultimate team guy.”
The Hoosiers turned a previously potent Alabama offense into rubble, holding the Crimson Tide to just 193 total yards and one field goal behind defensive MVP D’Angelo Ponds (the All-American cornerback recorded his first career forced fumble), safety Devin Boykin (seven tackles, three for loss) and linebacker Aiden Fisher (seven tackles, one sack, one forced fumble). IU had six tackles for loss and three sacks.
“It’s a testament to (defensive coordinator Bryant Haines),” Ponds said. “He did a good job of scheming (Alabama) up. He put us in the right position to make plays and we made them.”
Pasadena, CA – January 01, 2026 – wide receiver Charlie Becker #80 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Indiana Hoosiers at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA. Photo By Indiana Athletics
The result was Alabama’s worst-ever postseason loss.
“A tip of the hat to Indiana and everything they did,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “They execute at a high level and feed off each other. They’re all aligned and do a good job.”
Cignetti said IU’s strong Wednesday walk-through was a catalyst.
“Our mindset was good,” he said. “I liked our prep for the most part.
“It was hard fought early in the game. They had us off balance. We made the plays we needed to take over in the second half.”
In other words, the Hoosiers pushed until the Crimson Tide broke.
“It’s changing the way a team thinks and breaking their will,” Cignetti said. “It takes a while. When it happens, it’s in the second half at some point.”
As far as the game, a 30-yard Mendoza-to-Charlie Becker completion and some Black power running highlighted a 16-play, 84-yard, nine-minute drive that ended with Nico Radicic’s 31-yard field goal and a 3-0 Hoosier lead.
They got the ball back when Alabama gambled on fourth-and-1 at its own 35-yard line and lost when linebackers Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy made the play for no gain. Mendoza capitalized with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Becker for a 10-0 lead four minutes into the second half.
“I tried to be aggressive,” DeBoer said, “and it turned out to be reckless.”
IU got the ball back when Ponds forced the fumble and Jones recovered it at the Indiana 41-yard line. The Hoosiers drove for a touchdown, capped by Mendoza’s 1-yard scoring pass to Omar Cooper Jr. for a 17-0 halftime lead. Mendoza was 10-for-12 for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
IU opened the second half by forcing Alabama to a three-and-out, then drove 79 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown. Mendoza capped it with a 24-yard scoring throw to Elijah Sarratt and a 24-0 lead.
Due to an injury, Alabama switched from standout quarterback Ty Simpson to Austin Mack. The result was a field goal and a 24-3 score late in the third quarter. IU countered with Black’s 25-yard touchdown run for a 31-3 lead. It was set up by tight end Riley Nowakowski’s 31-yard catch and run.
Hemby completed the scoring with his 18-yard touchdown fourth-quarter run.
Next stop for IU — Atlanta and Oregon.
“I’m not assuming anything will be fine,” Cignetti said. “It’s a process. We have a big challenge next week. It’s hard to beat a good team twice.”
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