Sometimes blowouts can be fun, especially when there are pesky narratives going into them that need to be dispelled with great force. One of the more annoying things about the coverage around Thursday's Alabama-Indiana game, particularly on major networks, was the pundits' undying faith in Alabama. Too many ostensible experts bought into the idea that Alabama could win this game, based on nothing beyond the fact that they've seen that helmet win games like this before. But as anyone paying attention to the Tide all year could tell you, this is a team that cannot handle being hit square in the nose. They win based on reputation, performing well against finesse squads or teams that like to play with their food. But bullies? They used to be the bullies, but now they can't handle bullies, and Indiana is a team of bullies.
By the third quarter of Indiana's all-out 38-3 assault—which at that point was about 24-0—my main concern was no longer whether Indiana would win but what kind of chaos they could start in Tuscaloosa if they goose-egged them. Frankly, the only disappointing part of yesterday's game was that they came just short of accomplishing that, thanks to the most cowardly field-goal decision I've ever seen. Fernando Mendoza, dorky as he is, showed why he earned his Heisman, going 14-for-16 with 192 yards and three TDs. Kaelon Black tacked on an additional 99 yards on the ground off 15 carries. A perfect encapsulation of the game came in the second quarter: Down 3-0, Alabama decided to go for it on fourth down from within their own 30-yard line. Why would they do that? Because they knew what I knew, that you can't hold the Indiana offense off forever, they are going to score and then keep scoring. And keep scoring they did.
I'm not even sure the final score properly captures how total of an annihilation this was—not just of Kalen DeBoer's Alabama team, but of the Alabama mystique, of any belief that DeBoer could continue Nick Saban's legacy. We thought Ohio State took a whooping from Miami, as demonstrated by a quirked-up Michael Irvin, but this one was a soul-crusher. Tide fans should call into Finebaum this weekend just to cry it out. This wasn't a fluke by Indiana, either. They can keep doing this because they have kept doing this. Hell, they already did it to their next opponent, Oregon, earlier in the year. Curt Cignetti's team is the real deal, high-IQ and highly tough and violent, and their quarterback is for real too. They looked like the more Sabanesque team on the field yesterday.
I get the temptation to distrust Indiana. I mean, it's Indiana. A basketball school. Cignetti doesn't have some history as an elite coach or recruiter; he came from James Madison, as did a bunch of the players on the team now. Nothing happening right now make much sense, and yet when you watch the Hoosiers play, their dominance makes complete sense. Whatever historical brand associations we had have gone out the window in college football's new reality. None of the four teams left in the playoff have any recent history of championship success. It's a brave new world out there: Alabama's status has crumbled, and Indiana's is just beginning.
