CRAWFORD | Resilient Alabama rallies past Oklahoma, sets Rose Bowl date with Indiana

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It will be Indiana against Alabama in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, on New Year’s Day at 4 p.m. in Pasadena, California.

The programs have never met. No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Indiana (13-0) has opened as a 6-point favorite at DraftKings.

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

The Crimson Tide (11-3) punched their ticket Friday night with a dramatic 34-24 road victory over Oklahoma in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff — the first road playoff win by any team since the CFP began. Alabama rallied from a 17-0 deficit, scoring 27 unanswered points and holding off the Sooners late.

It was a game that showed the grit of Kalen DeBoer’s team. Alabama was shaky early and was outgained 118-12 in the first quarter. But the momentum shifted midway through the second.

Ty Simpson hit Lotzeir Brooks for a 39-yard completion on third-and-five to get its offense going, then Simpson found him again on a fourth-down touchdown pass to get Alabama on the board. Defensive back Zabien Brown followed with a 50-yard pick-six to tie it before halftime.

“I’m just proud of the fight,” DeBoer told ESPN after the game. “I know I’m going to get that from these guys, every time out. We had to create our own breaks a little bit. It was going to be a fist fight. We knew it was going to be a physical game. You just have to keep playing.”

Alabama’s go-ahead score came early in the third quarter on another Simpson-to-Brooks strike, this one from 30 yards. Kicker Conor Talty added a pair of field goals, and Daniel Hill’s 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter put the Tide up 34-24.

Oklahoma had its chances late. Twice in the final three minutes, All-American kicker Tate Sandell had opportunities to bring the Sooners within striking distance, but missed from 36 and 51 yards kicking into the wind.

Simpson, who finished 18-for-29 for 232 yards and two touchdowns, said a gutsy fourth-down call early in the game helped the team find its rhythm.

“It’s been like that all year for us,” he told ESPN. “A ton of situation stuff, and a ton of confidence in all our guys.”

That confidence extended to Germie Bernard, who made one of the most jaw-dropping catches of the season, pinning the ball against a Jacob Johnson's helmet for a 24-yard gain on Alabama’s final touchdown drive.

“I knew it was one-on-one coverage,” Bernard told ESPN. “This guy (Simpson) trusts me with the ball. Earlier in the game, I missed one, and he said he was going to come back to me. I couldn’t let him down in that moment.”

Now, Alabama prepares to face unbeaten Indiana — and for DeBoer, it’s a return of sorts. He spent the 2019 season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Tom Allen in Bloomington before launching his head coaching career.

That season, Indiana won eight games. This season, they haven’t lost yet. And now, the Hoosiers and Crimson Tide will meet in one of college football’s most iconic venues, with a spot in the semifinals on the line.