(photo courtesy Indiana Athletics)

(Pasadena) — Despite an unbeaten record and a #1 ranking, there were people who questioned just how good Indiana’s football program is. After all, this is IU football…a program that has the second-most losses of any college football program in history.

And then, on this New Year’s Day — at college football’s most hallowed shrine — Indiana silenced all doubters.

Curt Cignetti’s football team dominated #9 Alabama in every facet of the game, humiliating the Crimson Tide on the way to a 38-3 victory in the Rose Bowl. Indiana advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they’ll rematch with Big Ten foe Oregon at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on January 9.  The Hoosiers won at Oregon, 30-20, on October 11.

“We’ve had a pretty physical team all year long,” noted Cignetti, who saw his team raise its record to 14-0. “It’s a great win against a great team with a storied tradition. Looking forward to flight home with a day off tomorrow and get ready for the next game. We have a lot of veteran starters that have played successful football in their careers. We come through in the clutch moments. I’m proud of the way they responded and prepared.”

“Coach Cig hit on us ‘No complacency”,” smiled Heisman Trophy-winning Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. “A month off, we had to get our feet wet, hit our stride, put plays together and put points on the board. It was a gut-ot-outout and grind-it-out game. Shout out to the hoggies (offensive line). Not just a great group of guys, but a great group of football players.”

Five different Indiana players scored touchdowns, as Mendoza sparkled, completing 14-of-16 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns. But the true sense of domination happened on the line of scrimmage where Indiana outrushed the Crimson Tide, 204-30. In fact, center Pat Coogan, the transfer from Notre Dame, was named the game’s offensive MVP, triggering a wild celebration from his teammates.

“These last ten months have been the best months of my life,” said an ebullient Coogan on the field. “These guys are fighters and we’ve got more to get done. The support of Hoosier Nation is something I’ve never seen before. People have said to me after Oregon, after Ohio State, it’s the best day of their lives. But I promise you it’s the best day of our lives winning this Rose Bowl.”

The turning point in the game came when Alabama went for a fourth-and-one at its own 34, but a jet sweep was snuffed out at the line of scrimmage. Indiana took the ball on a short march, capped by Mendoza’s first touchdown pass to a leaping Charlie Becker from 21 yards to make it 10-0.

Indiana’s defense never gave Alabama a chance, holding the Crimson Tide to a mere 193 yards and handing them the worst loss in their 100-year bowl history.