Thursday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal on the Rose Bowl pitted a program with the third-most wins within the sport (Alabama) and the second-most losses (Indiana) in opposition to each other.
The sport didn’t mirror that as Indiana (14-0) picked up a dominant 38-3 win to advance to the CFP semifinal on the Peach Bowl in opposition to No. 5 Oregon, which routed No. 4 Texas Tech, 23-0, within the Capital One Orange Bowl.
The Hoosiers clearly performed just like the No. 1 staff within the nation as they proceed their exceptional turnaround below head coach Curt Cignetti. As deserving as they have been to win the sport after outplaying Alabama (11-4) in all aspects, the loss is simply the newest disappointing final result with Kalen DeBoer on the helm of the Crimson Tide.
Kalen DeBoer’s tenure at Alabama simply acquired even uglier after newest loss
It was a tall process when DeBoer took over for the legend Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa. In spite of everything, he led the Crimson Tide to 6 nationwide titles in a 12-year span earlier than DeBoer took over and set an unimaginable mark on the college.
Nonetheless, Alabama has not been nice below DeBoer, going 9-4 in his first season earlier than ending 11-4 after dropping two of its final three video games this season. Previous historical past apart, Alabama clearly acquired outplayed by Indiana and was not the most effective staff on the sector in Pasadena, struggling its first loss by 35 factors since 1998.
Indiana doubled up Alabama in first downs, 22-11, whereas the Crimson Tide have been an abysmal 3-of-11 on third down. Alabama was additionally outgained, 407-193, and was held to only 23 dashing yards, which ought to come as no shock for a staff that’s one hundred and twenty fifth out of 136 FBS groups in dashing yards per sport (97.6 YPG).
A weird determination to go for it on 4th-and-1 by itself 34-yard-line early within the second quarter set the tone for the remainder of the sport. Quarterback Ty Simpson’s struggles continued after going 12-of-16 for 67 yards with backup Austin Mack ultimately coming into the sport within the second half.
In contrast to the first-round win over eight-seed Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide have been unable to rally from 17 down this time round. Not solely did Indiana play complementary soccer, it merely didn’t give Alabama any shot of finishing a comeback by not beating itself.
Indiana has the third-best protection within the nation (11.8 PPG), however that’s no excuse for Alabama’s embarrassing efficiency. As soon as the Crimson Tide fell behind, they hardly discovered any rhythm in any respect on offense and seemed outmatched till the ultimate whistle.
Lots of that previous success at Alabama is why many followers refused to give Indiana any respect heading into the Rose Bowl. Whereas the Hoosiers have by no means been often called a soccer college, Cignetti has fully turned this system round and has them in place to finish an undefeated season with two extra wins.
As unimaginable as that’s, it’s equally as disappointing for Alabama, a staff that skilled a lot success below Saban that something lower than a nationwide title was a letdown. After this system’s worst loss this century, the strain continues to mount on DeBoer as Alabama searches for solutions following a disastrous Rose Bowl efficiency.
