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Archives for January 1, 2026

Blood Bath in Pasadena

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PASADENA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Blue blood meets new blood and they’re both red bloods when Alabama and Indiana square off in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Thursday in California. Though the ninth-seeded Crimson Tide have a storied history, they are the underdogs coming in with something to prove.

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The Hoosiers entered the season as the losingest program in college football history, but they assume the Goliath role as the No. 1 playoff seed and college football’s lone undefeated team, with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza in tow.

“I want to stop quarterbacks, whether they’ve won the Heisman Trophy or not,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said.

The Hoosiers-Crimson Tide winner will take on either No. 4 Texas Tech or No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 in Atlanta.

The Hoosiers (13-0) are not only trying to continue to break long-term precedent in continuing their best season in school history — ahead of 2024’s 11-2 mark — but also break recent precedent set last season in the first edition of the 12-team playoff.

All four first-round winners beat the top four seeds last season.

“Would I prefer to play earlier? Yeah, I probably would, to be quite honest with you,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “But that’s not the case. We’re excited about playing.”

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Mendoza has thrown for 229.2 yards per game, with 33 total touchdowns and just six interceptions. He also has rushed for six touchdowns.

The Crimson Tide have had plenty of success slowing down quarterbacks this season, entering with the No. 10 passing defense in FBS at 168.4 yards allowed per game.

Alabama (11-3) is coming off a 34-24 road win over Oklahoma in the first round on Dec. 19.

Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson struggled late in the season but had a bounce-back game against the Sooners. He averages 250 passing yards per game and has tallied 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The biggest difference in the offenses comes in the ground game, where Indiana is in the top 10 nationally with 221.2 rushing yards per game, while Alabama has struggled with just 109.9 rushing yards per game (118th).

“I look at (the Hoosiers’) skill around the offensive line, they just all complement each other,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “They go make plays. When the opportunities are there, they get it done.”

Indiana has been in the Rose Bowl just once before — losing to Southern California to end the 1967 season.

Alabama is in the game for the ninth time, going 5-2-1 with their most recent appearance coming in a 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan in the CFP semifinal two seasons ago. The Crimson Tide also won the 2009 national title with a win over Texas in the then-BCS Championship Game in the historic stadium.

Cignetti was Alabama’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for that championship team.

While Cignetti has an appreciation for Alabama’s history, DeBoer also can recognize how far Indiana has come under Cignetti. DeBoer was the Hoosiers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019.

Mendoza figures to have one of his favorite targets back Thursday.

Hoosiers receiver Omar Cooper Jr., who suffered a right leg injury early in the Big Ten title game on Dec. 6, is cleared to play in the Rose Bowl. Cooper, a redshirt junior, leads Indiana with 58 catches for 804 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Alabama also figures to get a key piece back with the return of edge rusher LT Overton.

Overton, a senior, missed the Southeastern Conference championship game and the first-round win over Oklahoma due to an illness.

–Field Level Media

CFP Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Ole Miss

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NEW ORLEANS – (Wire Service Report) – Ole Miss did just fine in its first rematch of a regular-season game in the College Football Playoff. But the No. 6 Rebels find themselves in a much different situation in their CFP quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night in NOLA.

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Ole Miss (12-1), which defeated Tulane 45-10 on Sept. 20, rolled past the No. 11 Green Wave 41-10 in a first-round game Dec. 20 in Oxford, Miss. But this time the Rebels are hoping the outcome changes as they have a second meeting with the Bulldogs (12-1).

Georgia outlasted Ole Miss 43-35 on Oct. 18 in Athens, Ga., but there have been significant developments in the nine-plus weeks since that game ended.

And some things the Rebels realize will need to change to flip the script in the sequel.

Pete Golding, who was promoted from defensive coordinator to Ole Miss head coach when Lane Kiffin departed to become head coach at LSU at the end of the regular season, said he remembers one thing most of all from the first meeting.

“They didn’t punt,” he said.

The Rebels had a 35-26 lead but were outscored 17-0 in the fourth quarter. They were outgained in the game 510-351.

“I think the biggest thing versus these guys is you’ve got to contest every play,” Golding said. “We can’t give them free things, whether it’s a lack of communication, whether it’s a missed tackle.”

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who passed for 263 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 42 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting, is the engine for this group.

But Golding said the Rebels will have to run the ball better overall after having just 88 yards on the ground in the first meeting. Kewan Lacy, who has 1,366 rushing yards for the season and a school-record 21 rushing touchdowns, did score twice in the first meeting but had just 31 yards.

Lacy left the victory over Tulane in the third quarter after injuring a shoulder. Ole Miss is hopeful that he’ll be able to start Thursday.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart said the first game is meaningless in preparation for the rematch.

“I don’t think either team is exactly the same,” Smart said. “Both teams have evolved some. And everybody will have new wrinkles. That’s what you do during this time.”

Ole Miss has won its last six games. The Bulldogs have won nine in a row since a 24-21 home loss to Alabama on Sept. 27.

“We didn’t really get tested until the road game at Tennessee (a 44-41 win in the third game of the season),” Smart said. “And then as the season evolved and we’re playing high-level opponents, we were stopping the run pretty well, and we were running the ball pretty well.”

Georgia also has a dangerous dual-threat quarterback in Gunner Stockton, who completed 26 of 31 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns in addition to rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting.

Smart is pleased with the way his defense has evolved over the course of the season, and the scoreless fourth quarter against the Rebels appears to have been a turning point. The Bulldogs have allowed a total of just 70 points in the six games since beating Ole Miss.

Stockton’s first career start came 12 months ago in the Sugar Bowl, a loss to Notre Dame that fed the quarterback’s fire all offseason. He said upon arriving in New Orleans for the playoff matchup that he knows he doesn’t take losses well.

“I know he’s got a bad taste in his mouth about our first opportunity in the playoffs last year,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said of his quarterback. “I know it was his first start, but he wants to go out, like our whole football team, and play well in this game and give ourselves a chance to win a ball game.”

–Field Level Media

“U” Da Men

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – Miami’s Carson Beck passed for 138 yards and a touchdown as No. 10 seed Hurricanes upset No. 2 seed and defending champion Ohio State 24-14 in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl in Texas on Wednesday night.

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Miami (12-2) will play either No. 3 Georgia (12-1) or No. 6 Ole Miss (12-1) in a semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. The Bulldogs and Rebels meet on Thursday in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans. In the two years of the CFP 12-team playoff, all five teams to receive first-round byes lost.

The Hurricanes stunned the Buckeyes (12-2) with a 14-0 halftime lead on the strength of a 9-yard touchdown catch by Mark Fletcher Jr. and a 72-yard pick-6 by Keionte Scott. Fletcher also ran for 90 yards in the game.

After Jeremiah Smith’s 14-yard TD catch on a pass from Julian Sayin made it 17-14 with 13:28 to go, the Hurricanes marched 70 yards to wrap it up when CharMar Brown ran in from the 5 with 55 seconds left. Sayin completed 22 of 35 passes for 287 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while Smith made seven catches for 157 yards.