One team showed up and one team showed out. Indiana blasts Alabama 38-3. It was not a happy new year for Bama fans as Bama got blow out by Indiana in the Rose Bowl 38-3. Not only did Alabama lose, but Alabama lost badly. Fernando Mendoza throw three touchdowns and the Hoosiers' ground game and defense completely overwhelm the Crimson Tide. Indiana advanced to the Peach Bowl semifinals, while the loss was a disappointing end to Alabama's season. What happened and where did things go wrong. Bama forced IU into a 3 & out. Bama then punted the ball back to IU and IU went 84 yds and kicked a FG to take a 3-0 lead at the start of the 2nd quarter. Bama on its next drive only down 3-0 went for it on 4th and 1 on its own 35 yd line and didn’t make it as IU blew up the play. Terrible panic move by Bama to go for it instead of punting the ball and playing the field position game and as IU got the turnover on downs and scored to go up 10-0. IU took advantage of the short 35 yd field to score on 21 yd pass to Charlie Becker as he beat the Bama defender on one on one move for great pitch and catch. But prior to that, IU had 1st & 20 on the Bama 44 yd line after a holding penalty and a 21 yd run by Roman Hemby got IU the first down to put IU in the redzone after Bama had IU backed up. Bama played a soft coverage and got gashed by the IU running game on this play with poor alignment, tackling, and scheme. With IU up 10-0, Bama has short drive and punt, IU goes 3 & out, and then Bama goes 7 plays for 43 yds, but Ty fumbles on a scramble play on 3rd and 7 after picking up the first down as IU defender hits Ty hard and a second one punches the ball out. IU recovers the ball, takes advantage of the turnover short field, and goes on an 11 play drive for 58 yds and scores on 1 yd pass from Mendoza to Cooper to go into the half with a 17-0 lead. IU capitalized on two short fields and two turnovers by Bama in the first half to take the 17-0 lead. And on the play where Ty fumbled, he was hurt and played hurt the rest of the game until he was pulled out of the game with 7.46 mins left in the 3rd quarter with Indiana up 24-0. Before Ty was pulled, Bama came out on the first drive in the 2nd half and went 3 and out. Then IU drove down the field methodically before Mendoza threw his 3rd TD pass of the night to Saratt to take a 24-0 lead. The game was over at that point. Austin Mack replaced Ty for the last 7 mins of the 3rd quarter and all of the 4th quarter throwing for 103 yds on 11 completions and 16 attempts. Here are the highlights of the Alabama season 10-2 regular season record 7-1 regular season record in the SEC and tied for first Played in SEC Championship game Played in the CFP and won 34-24 first round game at Oklahoma. After missing the playoff in 2024 and only going 9-3 in the regular season, this season was a marked improvement. It was a fun season to follow and it was great to cheer on the Tide to 11 wins in the season after only winning 9 games in 2024. Alabama fans expect more given all the success of the Saban era, but still a successful season. What's Next: Alabama's season ends with an 11-4 record Now it is time to solidify the roster for 2026 Transfer Portal opens Today Jan 2, 2026. Bama will have players leave in the portal, and Bama will need to add some players in the portal to shore up some key positions. Need to figure out who is staying, who is going into the NFL draft, and who is leaving. And it is time to go portal shopping and shore up the o-line, the d-line, the running back room, and certain positions on the defense. And from a coaching perspective and x and o perspective, the coaches will have to figure out ways to shore up issues from the 2025 season. O-line and run blocking Run scheme and finding a RB who is elite D-line Tackling and playing with proper technique Defensive schemes Special teams – FG kicking and special teams coverage Just general issues of execution in all three phases of the game