Alabama’s loss to Indiana by the numbers: Crimson Tide hit new low in CFP era

For Alabama fans, the Rose Bowl was grotesque, bloody and often disturbing to watch – the type of visual content they hadn’t seen in the College Football Playoff era.

Kalen DeBoer did everything he couldn’t shield his eyes in the fourth quarter in the worst loss of his coaching career, a 38-3 score at the hands of Indiana in a game that was never competitive after a fourth-quarter failure in the second quarter opened the attack.

Alabama’s running game was non-existent, third-down conversions were a problem and by the end of a black-and-blue first half, it looked like the Crimson Tide were already eyeing the scoreboard in preparation for their comeback flight.

“We can be upset because losing doesn’t suit us,” DeBoer said afterward. “We can be frustrated about it. This is what our program will be. We have to use that emotion moving forward, but we’re also proud. Proud of what we’ve accomplished.

“It’s hard to look the players in the eye because they gave everything they had to the program. Our guys were all involved. They were committed and it showed in our actions throughout the season. It doesn’t sit well with us, but after today all we can do is move on.”

It’s going to be difficult to ask the Alabama faithful, a group accustomed to winning big in the postseason, to “move on.”

It was Alabama’s worst loss since the turn of the century, which included mauling the Crimson Tide at the hands of Clemson in the national championship game to end the 2018 season.

• Bowl of Roses 2025: Indiana beat Alabama, 38-3
• 2018 National Championship: Clemson beat Alabama, 44-16
• 2003: LSU beat Alabama, 27-3
• 2000: Mississippi State beats Alabama, 29-7

It was also Alabama’s most lopsided loss in a bowl game (35 points) and the lowest point total in a postseason game since Bear Bryant’s Crimson Tide ended the 1960 Bluebonnet Bowl in a 3-3 tie with Texas.

The once-fierce Crimson Tide is slipping back under DeBoer after a late-season setback this fall, including a failure in the SEC championship game against Georgia and an error-filled mess in early November at home against Oklahoma.

Thursday’s performance was the worst of the DeBoer era, pushing the program to a lower level than it subsequently faced. open the season with lackluster outing against Florida State.

• Alabama now has three straight bowl game losses for the first time since Bryant lost four straight from 1971-74.

DeBoer is the first Crimson Tide coach to lose four or more games in consecutive seasons since Mike Shula in 2003-04. Shula was not retained after the 2006 campaign, making way for Nick Saban, who embarked on an era of greatness to which all successful coaches at Alabama will be compared.

• Mendoza finished with more touchdown passes (3) than incomplete passes (2), going 14 of 16 for 192 yards with one of his best passer ratings of the season.

Alabama entered its CFP quarterfinal with the best secondary in the SEC, allowing just 168.4 yards per game and 6.2 yards per attempt. The Tide were torched by Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza.

• Indiana had more rushing yards (215) than Alabama had in total yards (193), with much of that damage coming between the tackles.

Having trouble showing up in big games wasn’t a problem for the Crimson Tide under the previous regime, but it’s something that will need to be corrected moving forward under DeBoer and his staff. Alabama trailed 17-0 in the first half of its CFP first-round victory at Oklahoma before mounting a comeback in what would have been DeBoer’s third loss in three tries to Brent Venables since taking over in Tuscaloosa.

• Alabama has eight total losses over the past two seasons after recording the same number of losses over the previous five years combined. The dynasty was starting to fade late under Saban, but not in this way.

DeBoer’s stock has taken a major hit this season, with this latest loss being the most embarrassing of his impressive career. He entered the 2025 campaign with a 15-3 career record against national-level competition as head coach, a winning percentage of 0.833 that topped the Power Four rankings. DeBoer added four top-25 wins to that total over a four-week stretch at midseason before the momentum waned with ranked losses to Oklahoma, Georgia and now Indiana to end it.