Alabama and Indiana couldn’t have more different football histories.
This Indiana team couldn’t be more unlike the program’s painful past.
Alabama will play No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 in a national quarterfinal matchup between a blue blood and the ultimate upstart. Alabama is one of the most successful programs in college football, with six national titles this century. Indiana has never won a New Year’s Six game and has no bowl victories since 1991.
Alabama (11-3) is well aware that this Indiana team is different. The Hoosiers (12-0) feature Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has been AP Coach of the Year the past two seasons.
The Hoosiers beat previous No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, showing they can handle a traditional power.
“We know they’re a special team and they’ve got a special season going, so it’ll be a great challenge for us,” DeBoer said.
Indiana looks forward to playing in the Rose Bowl, for years the assigned destination for the Big Ten champion.
“Obviously it’s the granddaddy of them all with a lot of great tradition involving the Big Ten, so we’re excited about that,” Cignetti said. “At the end of the day, you know, it’s a football game. We’ll approach it like every other game.”
Both coaching staffs have been involved with the other program. Cignetti was an assistant at Alabama from 2007 to 2011. DeBoer was offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2019, and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was a defensive assistant there for three seasons.
Alabama proved it doesn’t worry about opponent or situation when the ninth-seeded Crimson Tide rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Oklahoma 34-24 on the road in the first round on Friday night.
“Man, I just think we’re a resilient team,” Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “Even though we were down 17-0, we didn’t really look at the scoreboard. We know Coach DeBoer always says keep playing and the game will come back to you. That’s been our mindset all year.”
Though Indiana has just three bowl wins in its history, Alabama may have more to prove. DeBoer is following Nick Saban, who won six national titles with the Crimson Tide.
DeBoer got the Crimson Tide refocused after losing the Southeastern Conference title game to Georgia.
“Just everyone kind of owning their space, owning the issues that we had in the past, correcting it, and just being all in,” DeBoer said. “That was the message here the last couple games — just being all in. So that was really the case since that game two weeks ago.”
Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said the comeback against Oklahoma shows that they Crimson Tide are ready for the next step.
“That’s the guys I know,” he said. “That’s the fight that I saw all the way back in August and in spring, and just seeing it come to life today, the last thing I told them was job not done. We’re still rolling.”
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