{"id":117998,"date":"2026-01-02T23:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/117998\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T23:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:29:10","slug":"rose-bowl-mvps-credit-indianas-focus-as-key-to-win-over-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/117998\/","title":{"rendered":"Rose Bowl MVPs credit Indiana’s focus as key to win over Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Rose Bowl<\/a> game easily could have gone to Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza<\/a>. The Indiana quarterback finished the game with more touchdown passes than incompletions , threw for 192 yards and spread the ball to three teammates on scoring plays during their 38-3 rout of Alabama<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, the sportswriters and broadcasters awarded center Pat Coogan and the rest of the offensive line. After it was announced, the biggest celebration came from Mendoza, who jumped with excitement, smiled from ear to ear and pumped his fist as he swarmed his center with the rest of his teammates.<\/p>\n

Just another assist from a leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work really hard every single day because not only do we enjoy football, we also enjoy winning,\u201d said Mendoza, who completed 14 of 16 passes. \u201cAnd we know what that takes. So every single day we\u2019re always going to put our best foot forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coogan was the first offensive lineman to win the award since Norm Verry won it for USC in 1944.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all a credit to my teammates and my coaching staff for just believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense and fully entrusting in me and my abilities,\u201d Coogan said.<\/p>\n

Against the Crimson Tide, Indiana had its love for the game fully displayed on both sides of the field. The defense held Alabama to a field goal and 23 rushing yards while forcing two fumbles and recovering one.<\/p>\n

The crucial recovery came as the Tide approached Hoosiers territory as the second quarter was coming to a close. With Indiana ahead 10-0, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson ran on third and seven toward Indiana\u2019s 40-yard line. Instead of gaining a first down, Simpson fumbled on a hit by Hoosiers cornerback D\u2019Angelo Ponds. On its next drive, Indiana scored to make it 17-0.<\/p>\n

Ponds earned the Defensive MVP award for his pivotal hit and thanked defensive coordinator Bryant Haines for their preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a good job scheming [Alabama],\u201d Ponds said. \u201cHe knew what they liked to run, their tendencies and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coaching staff set the standards for Indiana and it all started with head coach Curt Cignetti, Coogan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe complacency factor, the [fear] to death of complacency, the never-ending journey of improving, taking it day-to-day, taking each day as the most important day in the history of the program,\u201d he said. \u201cIt all starts with [Cignetti], and he makes sure all of our eyes are focused forward and we\u2019re all thinking alike as he always says.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cignetti called the game a great team victory for Indiana against an opponent with great tradition and history, but there\u2019s still football to be played.<\/p>\n

Up next, the Hoosiers go up against Oregon at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 9. This will be the Big Ten teams\u2019 second meeting this season. <\/p>\n

\u201cGood to have another rematch against Dante Moore and a great Oregon team next week,\u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be the third time Mendoza faces the Oregon quarterback. The first time they met was in 2023 at the Rose Bowl, when they played for Cal and UCLA, respectively. Mendoza came out victorious 33-7.<\/p>\n

In October, they matched up again, this time with their current teams. Again, the Hoosiers quarterback came out on top, 30-20.<\/p>\n

But can lightning strike twice in a season?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to beat a really good football team twice,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indiana will take its unblemished record to Atlanta to face Oregon and hope the Hoosiers\u2019 chemistry carries them to Miami Gardens for a shot at the national championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are efficient because we have good players with high character,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cThey\u2019re great team guys and really good leaders, and they listen and they buy in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Offensive Most Valuable Player of the Rose Bowl game easily could have gone to Heisman Trophy winner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28848,13506,61261,61342,62634,62633,55843,11155,6308,423,59335,62632,48,52,51,47,50,49,61870,545,31704],"class_list":["post-117998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alabama","tag-atlanta","tag-cignetti","tag-coaching-staff","tag-complacency-factor","tag-coogan","tag-crimson-tide","tag-defense","tag-field","tag-game","tag-hoosiers","tag-indiana-quarterback","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mendoza","tag-oregon","tag-teammate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}