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The Indiana Hoosiers absolutely dominated the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl as part of their dominant College Football Playoff run.
The Hoosiers rolled to a dominant, 38-3 victory and held the Tide to just 193 yards from scrimmage. But according to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, Indiana didn’t exactly do anything special on defense to throw him and his teammates off.
In fact, Simpson claims it was the Hoosiers’ simplicity that was so impressive.
Was Ty Simpson caught off guard by Indiana? 👀
Caleb Downs has the Alabama QB relive the Rose Bowl and explain what made the Hoosiers so dominant. 😅 pic.twitter.com/sjDnlQavxx
— Downs 2 Business (@downs2business) April 17, 2026
Ty Simpson Says Indiana Played An Incredibly Simple Defense In The Rose Bowl
“I was like, they don’t do much. I was like, they do the same thing every down,” Simpson said on the “Downs 2 Business” podcast with former teammate and top NFL Draft prospect Caleb Downs. “When I got the ball, I knew exactly what was going to happen. They just didn’t mess up, bro.
“They were in the exact same spot they were supposed to be. They were so well-coached. It was so much different than the SEC. The SEC will play man; they’ll do these unorthodox coverages because that’s kind of how it is.
“That game was crazy to me. Of course, I got hurt, so that was a bummer. I just knew what they were going to do. We couldn’t really run the ball. We didn’t really throw. It was so crazy to me how it happened.”
Now, a lot of people would see that as Simpson complimenting the Hoosiers. After all, Simpson did note that Indiana didn’t mess up the whole game. But Hoosiers’ defensive coordinator Bryant Haines didn’t see things that way
Adorable. We also, saw everything they were doing, on every single snap… It’s just that we exploited those cues. And didn’t get frozen and crushed by them. pic.twitter.com/L3zjXB3c3I
— Bryant Haines (@Coach_BHaines) April 18, 2026
Haines took to X and responded to Simpson, calling the comment “adorable” and claiming that his defense knew exactly what Simpson and Alabama were going to do.
Now, that’s more or less exactly what Simpson said. Perhaps Haines didn’t like the framing of the conversation? Either way, it seems as if the Hoosiers still have a giant chip on their shoulder even after an undefeated season that saw them win a national championship.