Preview of the Rose Bowl

By Skip Daley, South Central Indiana News

The ‘Granddaddy of them all’, the 112th playing of the Rose Bowl will feature the #1 seeded Indiana Hoosiers (13-0) and 18-time national champions, #9 seed Alabama (11-3). Kickoff is set for 4pm on Thursday, January 1^st. The game will be televised on ESPN.

The Rose Bowl is the oldest college football Bowl Game, stemming from the famed Pasadena, California festivity, the Tournament of Roses. The first ever Rose Bowl was a 49-0 dismantling of Stanford by Michigan, back in 1902.

Since then, Alabama has played in 8 of them and Indiana just once, back in 1968, losing to an OJ Simpson led USC team.

“The Rose Bowl’s got a lot of great tradition. A lot of great players and teams have competed in that game,” said Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti. “We went to the playoffs last season, fell short, weren’t happy with the way we played. So, we definitely want to improve upon that.”

How Did They Get Here?

Indiana was the only undefeated NCAA Division 1 team this year, jumping to the #1 ranking in the country after defeating Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten Conference Championship, and earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoffs.

Alabama went 8-2 on the regular season, lost an additional game to Georgia in the SEC Championship, and then defeated #8 seed Oklahoma 34-24, after falling behind by 17 points in the opening round of the CFP.

“Well, I actually did get to watch some of [Alabama] early in the year, because we had a couple bye weeks, and I’m a film junkie, and I’ve always enjoyed studying Coach DeBoer’s offenses from the time he was at Washington. So, I got to watch their first Georgia game and some of their other things. They do a lot of really great stuff,” said Coach Cignetti.

Nuts and Bolts

Indiana is roughly a seven-point favorite with the over/under running around 48.8 total points. The Hoosiers are a much more versatile team on both sides of the ball, loaded with offensive weapons designed to manage long drives. Alabama has seen a great deal of success this season, but they have largely been a one-dimensional offense, dependent on the passing game.

The Tide have suffered when under Quarterback pressure, something you know Coach Cignetti will have in his arsenal. The burden to win this game will likely rest on the arm of Alabama’s QB Ty Simpson, should the Tide have any chance of overcoming the odds.

The Hoosiers will most likely force Alabama into running the ball on early downs to impose long-yardage must-pass scenarios.

Indiana’s style of low-mistake football could be quite a headache for Alabama second-year Head Coach Kalen DeBoer. Preventing IU from scoring on offense will only be part of Alabama’s challenge, as they will need to overcome Indiana’s stifling defense and not allow the Hoosier’s effective Special Teams to become a factor.

If Alabama can force a few quick 3-and-outs and can capitalize on stops early in the contest, they could remain competitive in the second half, when the Hoosiers have traditionally turned it up a notch on their opponents.

QB Comparison

Indiana’s Junio Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been nothing shy of amazing this season, earning him the game’s top individual player award, the Heisman Trophy. Mendoza has started all 13 games this season, completing 71.5% of his passes for nearly 3000 yards, while connecting for 33 touchdowns (first in the nation) with just 6 interceptions on the year. Mendoza is 3^rd in the country with a passer rating of 88.6.

Alabama’s Ty Simpson is also a Junior who has put together some amazing numbers. Simpson is 6^th in the nation for total yardage, with 3500. He completed 28 touchdowns with just 5 interceptions and has the 18^th best passer rating in the country.

Both leaders have demonstrated amazing resilience throughout the season, directing their teams back from second half deficits on more than one occasion.

With the first round wrapped, we’ll see some big matchups in the CFP Quarterfinals:

Injuries

Alabama Tight Ends Jack Sammarco and Danny Lewis Jr are out with undisclosed injuries, as are Wide Receivers Derek Meadows and Jalen Hale. Running Back Kevin Riley is listed as ‘Questionable’.

Indiana Wide Receiver Omar Cooper, Jr, Place Kicker Brenn Franke, and Line Backer Amari Kamara are all listed as ‘Questionable’. Lee Beebe, Jr, remains out with a leg injury he sustained earlier in the season.

The two Defensive injuries that stand out for this match-up are Alabama’s Team Captain Tim Keenan, and Indiana’s leading Pass Rusher, Stephen Daley.

Keenan, a Defensive Lineman, needed assistance getting off the field in the second half of UA’s 34-24 College Football Playoff win over Oklahoma, with a leg injury, is expected to be active in the game, although Daley suffered a season ending injury to his knee, and is unavailable. IU Coach Cignetti left it a mystery with the press as to how he plans to fill the void of Daley’s absence.

Indiana Hoosier Past Bowl Appearances and Results

·       2024/25 College Football Playoff:             Notre Dame 27 – Indiana 17

·       2020 Outback Bowl:                                    Ole Miss 26 – Indiana 20

·       2019 Gator Bowl:                                         Tennessee 23 – Indiana 22

·       2016 Fosters Farms Bowl:                          Utah 26 – Indiana 24

·       2015 Pinstripe Bowl:                                   Duke 44 – Indiana 41 – OT

·       2007 Insight Bowl:                                       Oklahoma State 49 – Indiana 33

·       1993 Independence Bowl:                         Virginia Tech 45 – Indiana 20

·       1991 Copper Bowl:                                      Indiana 24 – Baylor 0

·       1990 Peach Bowl:                                        Auburn 27 – Indiana 23

·       1988 Liberty Bowl:                                      Indiana 34 – South Carolina 10

·       1987 Peach Bowl:                                        Tennessee 27 – Indiana 22

·       1986 All-American Bowl:                            Florida State 27 – Indiana 13

·       1979 Holiday Bowl:                                     Indiana 38 – BYU 37

·       1967 Rose Bowl:                                          USC 14 – Indiana 3

Other 2025 CFP Quarter-Final Match-ups

·       No. 5 seed Oregon vs. No. 4 seed Texas Tech in the Capital One Orange Bowl, Thursday, January 1^st, noon. Oregon is a 2.5-point favorite. Both teams rank in the top ten nationally for scoring offense and scoring defense this season.

·       No. 6 seed Ole Miss faces No. 3 seed Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Thursday, January 1^st, 8pm. This will be a rematch of the SEC game back in October when Georgia defeated Ole Miss 43-35. Georgia is a 6.5-point favorite.

·       No. 2 seed Ohio State vs. No. 10 seed Miami (FL) in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Wednesday, December 31^st, 6:30. The Hurricanes escaped a low-scoring opening round against Texas A&M to be able to face the Buckeyes, led by QB Julian Sayin’s top-ranked 78.4% completions. OSU is a 9.5-point favorite over Miami.

The post Preview of the Rose Bowl first appeared on The Bloomingtonian.