No. 9 Alabama’s season came to a close with a 38-3 loss to No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
The Crimson Tide limped their way through the final weeks of the regular season, and it carried on throughout the postseason as well. Battling injuries and the inability to run the ball, Alabama finally ran into a complete team that took advantage of the Tide's flaws. A couple of first-half mistakes led to short fields, allowing the Hoosiers to develop a big first-half lead. Indiana never let up and continued to roll over the Crimson Tide.
Here are a few takeaways from the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoffs.
- Big Gamble Backfires
Early in the second quarter, Kalen DeBoer made the biggest gamble of the game. On fourth and one on Alabama’s 34-yard line, both coaches traded timeouts in the cat-and-mouse game that ended up with the Crimson Tide going for it. Alabama went back to the original wildcat formation that it used before the timeouts were called. Daniel Hill took the snap and flipped it to Germie Bernard in motion. Bernard didn’t make the line to gain, and Indiana got the ball with premium field position. Four plays later, Fernando Mendoza tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to extend the Indiana lead to 10.
- Slow Start
Once again, Alabama’s offense got off to a slow start. Like the previous playoff game, the Tide got down by 17 points. This time, they had only 20 minutes to erase the 17-point deficit and faced a much better team. Indiana continued to keep its foot on the gas, while Alabama continued to struggle on offense, and there was no comeback this time.
- Critical Turnover
Alabama had a big opportunity to weather the storm as it put together a nice drive late in the second quarter. All signs were pointing towards the Crimson Tide cutting into the 10-point lead with either a touchdown or, at the very least, a field goal attempt. On third down, the pocket collapsed, and Ty Simpson took off and ran for the first down, but while being tackled, the ball dislodged, and the Hoosiers recovered the fumble. Indiana marched down the field 58 yards and scored a touchdown right before half to extend its lead to 17.
- Mendoza Made the Plays
Fernando Mendoza showed why he was the Heisman Trophy winner on Thursday. He may not have as flashy of passing stats as previous winners, but he made the plays needed to advance his team to the next round. His passing yards weren’t gaudy, but they were efficient. While Mendoza threw for 192 yards and three touchdowns, his legs were a huge factor. When the Alabama coverage was great, he was able to pick up first-downs with his legs.
- Couldn’t Stop the Run
The Alabama front seven got bullied around by the Indiana offensive line. After a couple of early sacks, the defensive line struggled to get a pass rush and couldn’t slow down the Indiana rushing attack. The Hoosiers rushed for 215 yards on 50 carries against the Crimson Tide. The inability to stop the rush helped the Indiana offense open up the passing attack, as Alabama had to bring extra defenders in the box to slow the run.
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