Desmond Howard says Alabama gave up in Rose Bowl loss to Indiana
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Desmond Howard played in a lot of big games in college at Michigan and in the NFL, so he knows what maximum effort in the biggest of spots looks like.
And in the aftermath of Alabama‘s 38-3 beatdown loss to top-seeded Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, Howard had some harsh words regarding the effort he believes the Crimson Tide gave — or didn’t give, in this case. It was the all-time worst loss for Alabama in a bowl or postseason game, and Howard believes it didn’t have to be that bad if the Tide actually showed they wanted to be on the same field as the Hoosiers at the Rose Bowl.
Howard, a longtime college football analyst at ESPN, sat on the network’s studio show desk between the Alabama-Indiana game and the start of Georgia‘s all-SEC Playoff tussle with Ole Miss and handed it to the Tide like the Hoosiers just had.
“The most impressive thing is they don’t win games, they beat teams. Like, they take away your will to compete,” said Howard about Indiana, before tearing into Bama. “I’m out there watching Alabama on that gridiron and at some point, it just looked like they didn’t really want to compete anymore with the Indiana Hoosiers.”
Bama trailed 17-0 at halftime, but during a 2nd half when things could’ve gotten better, they only got worse for the Tide, who were outgained, 407-193, allowed 215 yards rushing while running for only 23 yards and managed just 11 first downs.
It was ugly on the stat sheet for Bama, and Howard believed the pure effort was substandard, too.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
