Get to know Alabama, Indiana football's Rose Bowl opponent
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football now can dive into its prep for the Rose Bowl after Alabama advanced through the first-round with a 34-24 win over Oklahoma.
The No. 9 Crimson Tide (11-3) erased a 17-0 deficit in the game to escape Norman with a win over their SEC rival to set up a matchup against the CFP’s No. 1-seeded Hoosiers (13-0) in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
Here’s five things to know about the matchup:
Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti won a national title at Alabama
Cignetti was part of Nick Saban’s first staff at Alabama in 2007.
He was the program’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator when the program won the national title in 2009.
The connection between the coaches dates back to Frank Cignetti Sr’s tenure at West Virginia. Cignetti’s dad hired Saban as his defensive backs coach and his tenure overlapped with Curt’s senior year as the Mountaineers backup quarterback.
“When I went with coach (Saban), I’d been coaching about 28 years at that point,” Cignetti said during his introductory press conference. “Learned more from him in year one about how to lead and run a program than the previous 27, I would say.”
“Just everything from A to Z — monthly calendar, how to lead and manage people, how to avoid complacency, which he was so good at on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute, second-to-second count. How to practice, how to play the game, plan for winning the game, how to recruit, how to evaluate, how to staff or restaff every year.”
Cignetti has echoed Saban’s past comments about ignoring “rat poison” — positive media coverage of the team — throughout his tenure.
Alabama football’s key staff members all passed through Bloomington
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer success coaching Michael Penix in 2019 as IU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach put him on the path to Tuscaloosa. He landed his first coaching gig at Fresno State after helping the Hoosiers to an 8-5 record — their most wins since 1993 — with one of the most productive offenses in the Big Ten.
His quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and defensive backs coach Jason Jones are former IU assistants as well. Wommack was a finalst for the Broyles Award as the Hoosiers defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2020.
This will be Indiana football’s first game against Alabama
Indiana’s return to Pasadena will feature its first ever meeting against Alabama.
The Hoosiers are 34-28-3 all-time against SEC opponents with most of the games coming against Kentucky. Their last win against an SEC opponent was a 31-27 win over Missouri in 2014 just two years removed from when the Tigers joined the conference.
This will be IU’s first game against an SEC opponent since a 26-20 loss to Ole Miss in the 2021 Outback Bowl.
Alabama football quarterback Ty Simpson waited his turn
Ty Simpson is a former five-start quarterback prospect — he was the No. 26 overall ranked recruit in 2022 (No. 3 at his position) — in the 2022 signing class. He spent his first two years on the team backing up the likes of Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe.
The former Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year won the starting job midway through fall camp and didn’t look back.
Simpson had 3,268 passing yards (64.3%) going into Friday’s nights game with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions. He led the Alabama to a comeback win over South Carolina on the road while trailing by eight points with less than 10 minutes to go and threw a game-winner against Auburn with less than four minutes to go in the Iron Bowl.
He threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns in Friday night’s win over Oklahoma with four completions of 20-plus yards.
Alabama has one of the best pass defenses in the country
Alabama ended the regular season with the top passing defense in the SEC (157.7 yards allowed per game) that ranked sixth nationally. They went into the SEC title game with as many interceptions (10) as passing touchdowns allowed (10).
They came out of the first round of the CFP still not having allowed a 300-yard passer this season. They allowed more than 200 passing yards in a single game just three times.
Junior safety Bray Hubbard, who earned third-team All-American honors from the AP last week, anchors a talented Alabama secondary. He went into Friday’s game against Oklahoma with a team-high four interceptions and six pass breakups.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 3 things on Alabama, IU football’s foe in the Rose Bowl
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos