Alabama is bringing back both Austin Mack and Keelon Russell in 2026.
The school’s NILcollective announced Friday that the two had signed deals to stay at the school. Mack was Ty Simpson’s backup in 2025, while Russell was a five-star recruit in the class of 2025.
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Their return to Alabama in 2026 likely takes the Tide out of the running for a transfer portal quarterback as the two competed with Simpson for the starting job ahead of the 2025 season before Simpson was announced as Alabama’s Week 1 starter. He held the job for the entire season and declared for the 2026 NFL Draft earlier in the week. Simpson was 305-of-473 passing for 3,567 yards and 28 TDs with 5 interceptions across 15 games in 2025.
Simpson was forced to leave Alabama’s 38-3 Rose Bowl loss in the second half with an undisclosed injury. Mack replaced him and was 11-of-16 passing for 103 yards.
Mack followed Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer from Washington after the 2023 season. He backed up Michael Penix Jr. as the Huskies made the national title game and then was on the Alabama roster behind Jalen Milroe and Simpson in 2024. He’ll be a redshirt junior in 2026.
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Russell will be a redshirt freshman after appearing in two games across the 2025 season. The Texas native was the No. 2 quarterback recruit in the country behind Michigan’s Bryce Underwood out of high school and was also the No. 2 overall player in his class. Mack was a four-star recruit in the class of 2023 and the No. 16 quarterback in the country.
David Blough has quickly risen through the coaching ranks in Washington. The Commanders have decided to hire Blough as their new offensive coordinator after his first season with the team, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Hired as an assistant quarterbacks coach before the 2024 season, Blough finished the year as QB coach after Tavita Pritchard was hired as the head football coach for Stanford University. Washington felt strongly enough about his potential to block him from interviewing with the New York Jets, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears.
Blough, 30, will replace former Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired after his second season on Dan Quinn’s staff. A quarterback with the Lions from 2019-21, Blough also received interest from his former team for their offensive coordinator vacancy. Rather than risk losing him, the Commanders gave Blough a promotion before he could interview in Detroit.
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This season, Washington ranked No. 22 among NFL teams in total offense, a significant decline after ranking No. 7 the previous year. Jayden Daniels being limited to only seven games due to elbow, hamstring and knee injuries was a major factor in that slide. In 2024, Daniels won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
With Daniels’ absence, the Commanders compiled the third-fewest passing yards (3,129) in the NFC, averaging 184 per game. The offense also averaged just under 21 points in its 17 games.
“He’s very bright, there’s no doubt. He’s been around some great offensive minds,” Kingsbury said to ESPN about Blough, who played for him with the Arizona Cardinals in 2022. “So his biggest strengths are he sees it from the lens of the player and yet he can kind of separate and still be the coach.”
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Blough’s rapport with Daniels may also have been a factor in promoting him to offensive coordinator. The coach and player reportedly competed in a game of “P.I.G.” before practice each Friday.
“Just a guy that’s recently just got out of football, has been around and knows Matthew Stafford, [Jared] Goff, [Kirk] Cousins,” Daniels said to The Athletic last season. “Bringing different knowledge of how he’s seen the game, how he’s seen those guys prepare day in and day out, so he is very knowledgeable. You can go ahead and talk to him about anything.”
Trae Young spoke about running the pick-and-roll with Alex Sarr and throwing a lob to the second-year standout center. He discussed delivering passes to a cutting Bilal Coulibaly.
During the four-time All-Star point guard’s introductory Washington Wizards news conference ahead of Friday’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the 27-year-old Young was visualizing what it will be like playing for his new team when he returns to the court.
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Young is currently sidelined with a right quad contusion, and he missed 23 games earlier this season with an MCL sprain in his right knee that’s reportedly caused residual pain.
“Coming over here doing these physicals, they want to make sure I’m right and things like that,” Young said, alongside Wizards general manager Will Dawkins.
“I don’t want to come back and not be myself for this team and for this city. So I’ll just leave it up to them to make sure they let you know when I’m coming back — hopefully soon.”
The Dallas Mavericks selected Young No. 5 overall in the 2018 draft before immediately trading him and a first-round pick to the Hawks for the draft rights to Luka Dončić.
Young spent seven-plus seasons in Atlanta. He was eligible for a four-year extension, but the Hawks didn’t make him a long-term offer this past offseason. After leading the NBA in assists per game in 2024-25, Young is now in the fourth year of a five-year, $215 million deal.
He talked Friday about wanting to see through Capital One Arena renovations and how he’s taken notice of an organizational transformation under Dawkins and team president Michael Winger.
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“Just being able to watch from afar and just some of the pieces that they’ve gotten since [Dawkins and Winger have] been here and the headaches I’ve had these last couple of times playing against them, you kind of see the difference and feel the difference from the way they play.”
Young added, regarding the Wizards’ franchise: “It’s on its way up, and I hope I’m a piece of this puzzle on the way up with it.”
Why the Wizards traded for Young
Dawkins and Young go way back.
Before Dawkins became the Wizards’ GM in 2023, he spent 15 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, ultimately serving as the team’s vice president of basketball operations from 2020-23.
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Young, who played at Norman North High School before starring at nearby University of Oklahoma, went to his fair share of OKC games when he was growing up.
“Probably saw him come to one of our games when he was like 12, 13 years old, and people are like, ‘Hey, he’s a young talent.’” Dawkins said.
“There’s a lot of ties there being in Oklahoma City. It’s a small town. He’s from Norman. My wife’s from Norman. Her whole family lives there. He went to OU. My wife’s family all works at OU, went to OU. So I’ve known him for a very long time. When you’re in a city like that, and you have the player of the year-type candidates in high school and college, it’s very easy to see him.”
Dawkins continued: “So you see him in the different gyms, and then you learn his family and you know what he’s about and you know the fiber that he comes from. Always kept in touch with the family, kept in touch with him once he became a professional player and watched him through the ranks.”
Dawkins described trading for Young this season as an “easy decision.”
The Wizards haven’t had an All-Star since Bradley Beal in 2021. Young hasn’t gone two straight seasons without earning that recognition in his career.
He’s criticized for his defense, and the value of his offense has been questioned in a league where points no longer come at a premium.
Young pointed out Friday that even though he no longer has a baby face, he’s not a finished product. It’s clear the Wizards see his upside, too.
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“When Michael [Winger] and I got here two-and-a-half seasons ago,” Dawkins said, “we wanted to emphasize a few things: the importance on remaining flexible throughout the rebuild, the importance of thinking and thinking in layers and stacking things up, and then I would say being opportunistic and doing that while finding players that fit toward our long-term vision, which is sustained success.
“And I think looking back on the trade, that reflects well on all those principles.”
Trae Young #3 of the Washington Wizards reacts on the bench with Bilal Coulibaly #0 and Khris Middleton #22 during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Capital One Arena on January 9, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
(Scott Taetsch via Getty Images)
The franchise has won 50-plus games only five times, and not since 1978-79 when it was still going by the name “Washington Bullets.”
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Despite a bundle of young talent — including Sarr and Coulibaly as well as second-year forward Kyshawn George, second-year guard Bub Carrington and rookie guard Tre Johnson — the Wizards are second-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings.
And yet Young was interested in taking his talents to D.C.
“There’s a lot of different directions I could have went as far as my goals and what I want my legacy to be at the end of the day,” he said.
“Just being able to have an impact on my teammates and people around me … being able to be a vet and doing it with these young guys here, I feel like I have more experience and more things that I can give these young guys.”
Young later said: “D.C. is overlooked as far as a big market. In the NBA, I feel like this is a big market. And I just feel like I’m being able to come into an opportunity to be myself. I’m around people that obviously have known me for a long time and know the type of person I am and the type of winner I want to be.”
Young makes jersey change, reminisces on John Wall days
Young is going from wearing No. 11, which he donned at Oklahoma and then with the Hawks, to wearing No. 3 with the Wizards.
It’s not a totally new number for him, though.
He told reporters Friday that he wore it during his freshman year of high school.
Young is turning back the clock, and he hopes to help return the Wizards to the success they enjoyed with Beal and, of course, five-time All-Star guard John Wall in the 2010s.
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“I walked into the arena yesterday, and I was telling Will [Dawkins] how I want to see this place sold out,” Young said. “I remember seeing this place, and we’re about to retire John Wall’s jersey, and just seeing it as a kid packed out.
“I want to get it back to that. And it’s not just me. It’s going to be this team and everybody [as] a part of it. So I just am super excited to have this feeling. I’m glad that the fan base is excited, and we going to give them something to be excited about going forward.”
Those Beal-Wall teams maxed out at the Eastern Conference semis. Young went to the Eastern Conference finals during the 2020-21 season, his third in the league.
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Now a veteran, Young wants to help the Wizards’ young core reach that stage, and then make a run at the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“I understand where we’re at right now and where we want to go. This is a day-by-day process,” he said.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead or set expectations on when this will happen because you never know. It happened faster than I expected in my last place. So you never know when it can happen. But if you focus on the daily stuff, I mean, things are going to work out.”
United States women have not won an Olympic medal in figure skating’s singles event since Sasha Cohen’s silver in 2006. Based on the performances of Amber Glenn, Alysa Liu and Isabeau Levito in this week’s nationals, however, that could change at the Milan Games in just a few weeks. .
The Big Three lived up to their name, claiming gold, silver and bronze, respectively, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night. And now they await their selection to the United States Olympic team on Sunday, and a date with the rest of the world in February.
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Skating her long program to “I Will Find You” by Audiomachine, Glenn opened with a triple axel — 3 1/2 revolutions — and never looked back. A soulful, evocative program marred only by the slightest of wobbles and tightness was nonetheless strong enough to earn Glenn, 26, a score of 233.55, good for her third straight national title.
Liu, 20, has recaptured the nation’s attention — and soon the world’s — thanks both to her talent as an Olympian and two-time U.S. champion, and to her decision to walk away from the sport entirely for two years. But now she’s back, skating with joy and exuberance, and on Friday night she posted a Lady Gaga-soundtracked routine of graceful brilliance that judges awarded a silver medal-winning total score of 228.91.
Levito, the 18-year-old 2023 national champion, skated an exquisite routine to the music of “Cinema Paradiso.” Her near-flawless performance earned her a total final score of 224.45. In any other Olympics of the last 20 years, she’d be the leading light, in this one she’ll have to fight for the spotlight. It’s a good problem for the United States to have.
Alysa Liu competes during the women’s short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Efimov and Mitrofanov executed a brilliant, though not quite flawless, long routine to maintain their hold atop the pairs standings, finishing with 207.71 points. Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea, the 2024 U.S. champions, won silver with 197.12 points, and Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman finished in the bronze position with 187.45. Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe claimed the pewter medal, while Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy struggled through their long routine and plummeted from second place after the short program to fifth overall.
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov celebrate their 2025 national championship win. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Matthew Stockman via Getty Images)
There’s still significant uncertainty at the top of the rankings from an Olympic perspective. Efimov and Mitrofanov’s Olympic fates remain at the mercy of the federal government. Efimov is not a U.S. citizen, but possesses a green card and has applied for naturalization. While many international competitions do not require skaters to be citizens of the nation they represent, the International Olympic Committee mandates that all its competitors be citizens of their nations. The problem for Efimov is that the standard waiting period for her request is measured in years … and she only has hours.
Among the women, Glenn had leaped out to an early lead in Wednesday’s short program when she posted an 83.05, the highest score in U.S. Championships history. Liu placed less than two points behind her at 81.11, which was the championships record for the few minutes until Glenn skated. Levito followed with a 75.72. All three skaters set personal best short-program marks.
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“I feel ecstatic. The score was huge,” a joyful Glenn said after her skate. “I was not expecting that.”
Liu, equally gleeful, gushed, “I feel over the moon right now. I’m so happy with that short program. I would say that’s my favorite program I’ve done that I’ve performed for an audience.”
“This competition feels like a really big show, with the announcing and the lights and the suspenseful music,” Levito added. “It felt a little different, and I felt really happy with myself that I did my job.”
U.S. Figure Skating will select its teams on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, and then the preparation for Milan begins.
Here are the five plays that defined Indiana’s blowout win to set up a matchup with Miami in the national championship game on Jan. 19.
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D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-6
It’s very, very difficult to score on the first play from scrimmage when you do not have the ball. Yet Indiana was up 7-0 without its offense even thinking about taking the field.
D’Angelo Ponds picked off Oregon’s Dante Moore on the first offensive play of the game and returned the ball for 25 yards and an early lead. Ponds clearly knew where Moore wanted to go with the ball at the snap and read the QB’s eyes perfectly for the score.
Oregon bounced back on its next drive with a 14-play, 75-yard possession that resulted in a 19-yard TD from Moore to Jamari Johnson. But it’s hard to deal with the game being 7-7 without the opposing offense taking the field.
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Dierre Hill Jr. knocks the ball out of Dante Moore’s hands
The Hoosiers scored on their first offensive possession of the game to take the lead back. After punting on their second offensive possession, Oregon had the ball at its own 13-yard line. And a self-inflicted disaster happened.
Moore elected to pass the ball on a run-pass option. After faking the handoff to Dierre Hill Jr. — the Ducks’ No. 3 RB forced into duty because of injuries to Noah Whittington and Jordon Davison — Hill was very close to Moore as Moore went to throw.
Too close, in fact. As Moore’s arm went backward, the ball hit Hill in the shoulder and popped into the air. Mario Landino recovered at the Oregon 3-yard line.
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Three plays later, Indiana RB Kaelon Black was in the end zone for a two-score lead. Oregon would never get any closer.
Fernando Mendoza’s 36-yard TD pass to Charlie Becker
After Indiana went up 21-7, Oregon gained six yards in five plays before punting back to the Hoosiers thanks to back-to-back sacks of Moore.
It didn’t take long for Indiana to score again after Oregon punted the ball. Just four plays after getting the ball back, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza threw his second TD of the night with a perfectly placed 36-yard bomb to Charlie Becker and a 28-7 lead.
Dante Moore’s second fumble
By now, you know where this is headed. Two plays after Becker’s touchdown, Moore was strip-sacked by Daniel Ndukwe. Landino was in the right spot at the right time again and recovered the football.
Guess what? Indiana capitalized on the turnover, too. Moore fumbled with 2:36 to go in the first half. Ninety-seven seconds later, Mendoza threw his third touchdown of the game. This time, it was a 2-yard score to Elijah Sarratt.
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Daniel Ndukwe’s blocked punt
Indiana scored on its first possession of the second half to extend its lead to 42-7. The game was over at that point. There was no way Oregon was coming back.
But if you needed any more proof that Oregon was toast, Ndukwe provided it in the fourth quarter with his blocked punt of James Ferguson-Reynolds. Just look how Ndukwe fought through the block to get to the kick.
The ball was caught by Kaiden Turner and returned to the Oregon 7-yard line before Mendoza threw his fifth and final touchdown of the night for a 49-15 lead.
Ndukwe finished the game with three tackles, two sacks and the blocked punt. Those were the first two sacks he had all season after he entered the game with just one tackle for loss and eight tackles in 13 games.
In the final 3 1/2 minutes of Friday night’s game in Memphis, the Oklahoma City Thunder outscored the Grizzlies 14-2, completing a 21-point second-half comeback without reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and standout center Chet Holmgren.
Granted the Grizzlies were missing star point guard Ja Morant — who is currently sidelined due to a right calf contusion and is reportedly on the trading block — but they still were in the driver’s seat at home against a Thunder team that’s looked more vulnerable over the past month.
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In fact, with Oklahoma City’s 117-116 triumph over Memphis, head coach Mark Daigneault’s squad improved to just 8-6 in its past 14 games after starting the season 24-1.
The Thunder (32-7) still have the Grizzlies (16-22) figured out. Oklahoma City has won 16 straight games against Memphis, including a sweep in the first round of last year’s playoffs and all three of the teams’ matchups this season. First, the Thunder rallied from 19 points down on Nov. 9, and now they’ve pulled off an even more improbable come-from-behind victory over the Grizzlies.
Whereas Jalen Williams was still recovering from his wrist surgeries when that November meeting took place, the Thunder wing was in the lineup against Memphis this time around.
Williams led Oklahoma City with a season-high 26 points and his first double-double of the 2025-26 campaign. He collected 10 assists to go with his five rebounds and was one of three Thunder players to turn in 20-point games.
The others were second-year guard Ajay Mitchell and veteran wing Kenrich Williams. Mitchell poured in 23 points and Williams chipped in 21 off the bench, in part thanks to his 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
Kenrich Williams hit a go-ahead 3 from the left wing to pull Oklahoma City ahead 115-114 with 1:07 remaining. The Thunder, who came into the night leading the NBA in defensive rating, put a bow on their head-turning win with two key stops.
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Lu Dort stole a pass from Grizzlies two-time All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr., who then immediately fouled Dort, resulting in a pair of Thunder free throws.
Memphis center Jock Landale turned an offensive rebound into a second-chance hook shot that made it a one-point game again.
On the Grizzlies’ final possession, Thunder guard Alex Caruso put the clamps on rookie guard Cedric Coward.
With no timeouts left, seemingly nowhere to go with the ball and the clock ticking after he had already picked up his dribble, last year’s No. 11 overall pick pivoted repeatedly before putting up a shot Caruso got a piece of.
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Jaren Jackson Jr. paced the Grizzlies with 23 points. Cam Spencer delivered 11 assists. And GG Jackson added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting off the bench.
Memphis committed 17 turnovers and went nearly three minutes of game time without a point late in the fourth quarter.
The Peach Bowl did not start well at all for Oregon.
After the Ducks received the opening kickoff of the College Football Playoff semifinal, Indiana defensive back D’Angelo Ponds picked off Oregon QB Dante Moore on the first play from scrimmage and returned the ball for a 25-yard pick-6 to open the game.
It was one of three turnovers for Moore on the day as he also lost two fumbles later in the game. That all helped Indiana run away with a 56-22 victory to advance to the national title game.
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Indiana entered the game as a 3-point favorite thanks to its undefeated season and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. And also because of a defense that forces a lot of turnovers. Ponds’ pick was the 18th of the season over 15 games for the Hoosiers. Indiana has now forced 29 turnovers all season — that’s just under two per game.
Indiana is an overwhelming early favorite against Miami in the national championship game.
The No. 1 Hoosiers have opened as 7.5-point favorites at BetMGM against the No. 10 Hurricanes on Jan. 19 in Miami. Though Miami would appear to have a home-field advantage, Indiana fans took over Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the school’s Peach Bowl win over Oregon in Atlanta and should be well-represented in South Florida. After all, Indiana is looking to win its first national title in school history.
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Indiana is -300 to win the game straight up, while Miami is at +240. A $10 bet on Indiana would net $3.33, while a $10 bet on Miami to win the game would profit $24.
A victory for the Hoosiers would be a third straight national championship for the Big Ten. Michigan won the final four-team playoff at the end of the 2023 season and Ohio State won four playoff games to take the national title a season ago. Miami is looking to win its first national title since the 2001 season and become the first ACC team since Clemson after the 2018 season to win the national title.
Indiana was a 3.5-point favorite ahead of its 56-22 blowout win over Oregon on Friday night. The Hoosiers had a 35-7 lead at halftime and a 42-7 lead just after the third quarter started to make the rest of the game a formality.
Mendoza had four incompletions and five touchdown passes against Oregon. It was the fifth time over 15 games this season that he had thrown more touchdowns than incompletions.
Indiana is also trying to make modern college football history as the only undefeated team remaining at the top level. If Indiana can beat Miami, the Hoosiers will be the first team since Yale in 1894 to go 16-0. A season ago, Ohio State and Notre Dame became the first modern teams to play 16 games thanks to the advent of the 12-team playoff. Both finished 14-2 after the Buckeyes lost to Oregon and Michigan during the regular season.
Indiana could not have advanced to the national championship game in a more dominating fashion.
The undefeated No. 1 Hoosiers scored on the first play of the game on the way to a 35-7 halftime lead in their 56-22 destruction of No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl. Indiana will now play No. 10 Miami on Jan. 19 in Miami for the national title.
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Indiana (15-0) got that first touchdown despite not receiving the opening kickoff. Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds read Oregon QB Dante Moore’s eyes perfectly and intercepted Moore’s first-down pass for a 25-yard pick-6.
To Oregon’s credit, the Ducks (13-2) responded with a 14-play, 75-yard drive on their next possession to tie the game at 7-7. But the drama ended after that, thanks to two fumbles by Moore.
The first wasn’t his fault. As Indiana led 14-7 and Oregon took over at its own 13-yard line following a Hoosiers punt, running back Dierre Hill Jr. faked taking a handoff from Moore. As Moore went to throw on the run-pass option play, the ball hit Hill’s shoulder as Moore started to throw. The ball popped in the air before Mario Landino recovered it at the Oregon 3-yard line.
Three plays later, Kaelon Black scored to give the Hoosiers a two-TD lead that would only grow from there.
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After Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza found Charlie Becker for a 28-7 lead, the lead became 35-7 after Moore’s second fumble of the game. He was sacked by Daniel Ndukwe and Landino was there again to recover the ball with 2:36 to go in the first half.
Six plays later, Mendoza hit Elijah Sarratt for a 2-yard TD and a four-touchdown lead to end any hope Oregon had of winning the game.
Mendoza posts another absurd stat line
Mendoza won the Heisman after leading Indiana to the only undefeated season at the top level of college football and putting up some incredible individual performances. In the 13 games before the Heisman was given out, Mendoza had three games with more passing TDs than incompletions and a fourth with four touchdown passes and four incompletions.
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In the Rose Bowl, Mendoza was 14-of-16 for 192 yards and three scores to up his number of games with more TDs than incompletions to four.
Friday night, it rose to five with Mendoza’s performance in the Peach Bowl. He was ruthlessly efficient once again and finished 17-of-20 passing for 177 yards and five touchdowns.
It was yet another reason why Mendoza is the overwhelming favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Though he hasn’t officially declared, it’s a formality that Mendoza will do so given that Indiana already has signed TCU QB Josh Hoover in the transfer portal.
Oregon was short-handed on offense
Both Hill and Jay Harris played significant roles at running back for the Ducks on Friday thanks to sudden attrition at the position. Starting RB Noah Whittington was suddenly listed as questionable on Oregon’s Thursday injury report and hardly saw the field on Friday with his right lower leg heavily wrapped. Five-star freshman Jordon Davison, who scored two touchdowns in the Orange Bowl, fractured his clavicle near the end of that game. And No. 4 RB Jayden Limar was no longer with the team after entering the transfer portal.
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Harris, the team’s No. 5 RB at the start of the year, is also in the transfer portal. But he was available on Friday in what basically amounted to a showcase game for any prospective new school.
He broke a 71-yard run in the third quarter. But it was too little, too late for an Oregon team that also lost left tackle Isaiah World and right guard Alex Harkey during the game.
The lack of depth at running back stacked more on Moore’s shoulders and provided a great opportunity for him to show why he should be considered at the top of the NFL Draft along with Mendoza if he declared. Instead, Indiana’s defense held Oregon to fewer than four yards a play in the first half before the Ducks found some yardage after the Hoosiers pushed their lead to five scores early in the second half.
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Fernando Mendoza throws 5 TD passes to lead the Hoosiers to an utterly dominant win in the Peach Bowl. Indiana will face Miami for the national title on Jan. 19.
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Dante Moore tosses a 1-yard TD to Roger Saleapaga, because why not. It’s a meaningless score with 22 seconds to play.
Indiana 56, Oregon 22
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Kaelon Black breaks free for a 23-yard TD run, and the Hoosiers have put up a 50-burger in a national semifinal game.
Indiana 56, Oregon 15
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Fernando Mendoza tosses his FIFTH touchdown of the game, this one to Elijah Sarratt for 3 yards. A night to remember for the Heisman winner.
Indiana 49, Oregon 15
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The Hoosiers weren’t rushing a ton of players, but Daniel Ndukwe gets through anyway to get a hand on the kick and recover inside the Oregon 10.
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A promising drive ends with Jay Harris getting stuffed on a 4th-and-1 at the Indiana 32 late in the 3rd quarter.
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Dante Moore to Jeremiah McClellan for 43 yards. The Ducks aren’t gonna quit.
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Fernando Mendoza throws just his second incomplete pass of the night, and that leads to a defensive stop by the Ducks.
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Jay Harris runs it in from the 2 after he was set up by a 71-yard run by Dierre Hill Jr. Ducks convert the 2-point try.
Indiana 42, Oregon 15
Here was the big run to set up the TD:
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Fernando Mendoza to E.J. Williams for a 13-yard TD toss. Rinse. Repeat.
Indiana 42, Oregon 7
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Fernando Mendoza loses the ball for the second time today, but the Hoosiers fall on it.
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Indiana receives the 2nd half kickoff. Can it continue to run up the score?
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Oregon lost in a one-sided affair to Ohio State last year in the CFP quarterfinals. Could it be headed for a similar fate against Indiana?
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Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza played a nearly flawless first half.
ATLANTA — The air horn at Mercedes-Benz Stadium blasted for the first time Friday night after just 11 seconds. It’s a distinct, piercing sound with a unique local story, ringing through the sky here after every touchdown.
This city began to sprout up from the ground nearly two centuries ago because it is where the Western & Atlantic railroad made its last stop. With a stake hammered into the ground, they originally called it Terminus — the end of the line.
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Since erecting this modern football palace nine years ago and adding the train horn to commemorate how it all began, nearly every great college football team has come through Atlanta on its way to a national title.
But none have embodied that sound quite like Indiana.
Sleek and efficient, powerful and unrelenting, the Indiana Hoosiers — yes, the Indiana Hoosiers — are barreling down the tracks like a locomotive running late for a date with destiny, blowing that horn as a warning to any creature in its path.
Hey, after 139 years of mostly bad Indiana football, what’s another 10 days to become the most mesmerizing national champion we’ve ever seen?
“They’re complete,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “They do a lot, and they do it really, really well. There’s not a weakness in their game. They run the ball well, they stop the run well, they throw the ball well, they defend the pass well, they’ve been good on special teams. They obviously have a ton of belief, and deservedly so. They’re really good.”
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza threw more touchdowns than incompletions against Oregon on Friday. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
Oregon, it turned out, never really had a chance.
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When these two teams played in mid-October, with Indiana winning 30-20 on the road in Autzen Stadium, the game was competitive enough to make a dramatic rematch seem plausible.
But it took 11 seconds to realize Indiana football has subsequently evolved into something different. It is now a weapon sharpened for dissection, a machine built for humiliation, deployed with confidence and precision as its coach stalks the sideline with an eternal expression of annoyance.
On the first play from scrimmage, Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds — one of the many players who followed coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana two years ago — read the eyes of Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, jumped the route and snagged a pick-6 to trip that air horn for the first time.
Then Indiana did it four more times before the first half concluded, each one chipping away at Oregon’s belief until it became a myth. By the time both teams went to the locker room with the Hoosiers leading 35-7, the only point of comparison for a CFP semifinal in this building was LSU’s 63-28 win over Oklahoma six years ago.
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Since that season, 2019 LSU has remained the gold standard for modern-era college football dominance, a team so ruthless in the way it attacked opponents that most realized after awhile they never had a chance in the first place.
Indiana is one more performance like this from taking their crown.
Does Miami even have a prayer?
“A lot of people [who doubted us] really don’t know our team,” Cignetti said. “They don’t know what we’re made of, what we got, and I get it. There was a lot of skepticism after last year that we were a fluke. That team did a lot of great things and got it all started. We’ve just built off our successes, and we’ve won some big games on the road, and it helps when you have a quarterback play his best football when the game’s online in the fourth quarter. And so, you know, here we are.”
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Here they are, indeed.
Player for player, the Hurricanes will believe they’re the better team based on recruiting rankings, physical size and NFL Draft stock. But so did Oregon and Alabama, which lost to the Hoosiers by a combined 69 points in this playoff.
With Indiana, it’s not about the measurables. All season long, the Hoosiers have been a nuclear missile of execution and attitude, mocking anyone who dared not believe a program with a litany of laments and losing seasons could turn into this juggernaut practically overnight.
It was the seventh time against an FBS opponent this year Indiana has won by 30 or more points, and at every turn, they’ve thirsted for more. Beating Ohio State to become Big Ten champs for the first time since 1967? Not enough. A Rose Bowl romp over Alabama? They expected it long before we realized it was possible.
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Even when this game against Oregon was well in hand in the fourth quarter, Indiana kept delivering indignities. Only after one final 24-yard touchdown run by Kaelon Black, which drew the slightest smile from Cignetti’s lips with 5:14 to go, had Indiana’s appetite been satisfied. For a little while, anyway.
“Our philosophy is to attack,” Cignetti said. “The reason we are where we are is because we prepared the right way, and that’s why we’ve been able to meet the challenge and put it on the field.”
And when the game finally ended, it looked like the most perfunctory of Indiana’s three big celebrations this postseason. This wasn’t like the relief of conquering the Big Ten or the sheer joy of reducing college football’s most iconic brand to a bystander in Pasadena. This was the moment before the moment, the one that seems poised to stamp Indiana as the greatest turnaround story maybe in the history of American sports.
“I don’t think there’s any time to celebrate because this is what everybody dreams of,” Mendoza said.
Now just one game remains as the Indiana train rolls through Atlanta, headed to Miami at maximum speed. To Terminus and beyond.
