LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nick Saban coached his final game for Alabama just two years ago in the Rose Bowl. Although the sport didn't know it at the time, an era ended for the 21st century’s most dominant program to date when Jalen Milroe got stopped on fourth down in overtime by Michigan.
Two years can be a blink and an eternity in college football. The Crimson Tide (No. 11 AP, No. 9 CFP) are returning to the Rose Bowl's storied turf on Thursday, but they're
underdogs against unbeaten Indiana (No. 1 AP, No. 1 CFP), which has improbably constructed a burgeoning superpower from the ground up during those two short years.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson sounded a bit like so many opponents of the Crimson Tide (11-3) over the past two decades Tuesday when he described the challenge of facing the Hoosiers (13-0) in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal doubling as the 112th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All.
“They're the No. 1 team for a reason, and we know it,” Simpson said. “As a coach's son, I know that to get that program to where it is in that time frame is just super-impressive. It's going to be a tough challenge, but that's what we live for.”
Alabama reached six Playoff finals and won three titles under Saban during the postseason format's first decade. Two years into the nearly impossible task of following Saban, coach Kalen DeBoer has had significant success — just not to the level expected at this program.
After going 9-4 last year, the Tide began this season with an embarrassing loss to Florida State, and they got blown out by Georgia in the SEC title game.
Alabama still made the CFP for the first time under DeBoer, who realizes he won't win over his new fan base without a strong national title run. The Tide's solid comeback victory at Oklahoma in the first round suggested they have the potential to ruin the Hoosiers' perfect season, yet DeBoer understands the enormity of the task facing his team.
“They’re undefeated for a reason,” DeBoer said. “They’ve got a very good football team. They play well. From our standpoint, there’s a belief in who we are. And that’s what you really you’ve got to focus on is, who are we? What we’ve been through, and how we’ve overcome, is what we’re proud of.”
It's a decade too soon to know whether Curt Cignetti is building the sport's next titan, but there's no denying his first two seasons have been more impressive than Saban's start at Alabama — when Cignetti was a Tide assistant.
Indiana is the CFP’s top seed and the Big Ten champion after its spectacular regular season culminated with a paradigm-shifting victory over Ohio State in the conference title game. The Hoosiers are in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1968, and they're the AP's No. 1 team for the first time — a distinction Alabama has held 141 times.
The Hoosiers made the Playoff last season, but the Rose Bowl is the CFP debut for Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the California transfer who has taken Indiana’s offense to an elite level.
“We want to win the national championship, but playing in the Rose Bowl, getting a chance to play a historic team like Alabama, it's something that's really important to appreciate,” Mendoza said. “The Big Ten championship was sweet, and it left a good taste in our mouth, but we've had a month for Coach Cignetti to light a fire under us and remind us we need to win the Rose Bowl. If we don't, this season was great, but it isn't what we want it to be.”
The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes on Dec. 6, but Mendoza believes they can benefit from a 25-day layoff without succumbing to the rustiness that likely played a role in last year's Playoff, when all four teams with first-round byes lost.
“I think having the month off is also a plus, although it was a negative for some teams last year," Mendoza said. “I just gave myself time to reflect on the Big Ten championship, the Heisman, all those other great things, let them sink in in a way where — 'OK, that’s cool. Boom. Now we've got the new season.'”
Mendoza is Indiana’s first Heisman winner. Alabama has four Heismans on its shelves, and some of the current Crimson Tide are using their memory of the most recent trophy winner as motivation.
“If you’re a true competitor, you want to play against the best,” Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “I remember my first year when Bryce Young was the Heisman winner. Going against him in practice every day, you just wanted to get a pick on him, to make a play. You always want to go against the Heisman winner, and we get that chance now.”
Alabama's former coach was at the Rose Bowl in spirit when Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher employed one of Saban's most famous similes to describe the Hoosiers' avoidance of outside praise or criticism.
“For us, we don't want to get wrapped up, tied up in the things that can be like rat poison, in a way,” Fisher said.
These schools have been playing football since the 19th century, but they've never played each other.
The winner faces either Oregon or Texas Tech next week in the Peach Bowl for a spot in the national championship game.
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