Alabama will be the underdog in Las Vegas when it takes on Indiana in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.
The Hoosiers are favored by 7 points, according to the latest college football odds. Of course, Kalen DeBoer and Co. will be looking to pull off the upset.
During a recent Sports Center appearance, ESPN’s EJ Manuel broke down what Alabama has to do in order to hand Indiana its first loss of the season in Pasadena. In short: Win the turnover battle.
“It starts with turnovers for Alabama,” Manuel said. “We saw that in the game against Oklahoma where they were able to turn over John Mateer.”
“If Alabama wants to stay in it, you have to create some havoc … Indiana, they’re great in the turnover margin. Plus-17 on the season.”
Indiana has certainly taken advantage of other team’s mistakes this season. With a +17 turnover margin, IU is tied for first nationally in that category so far this season (with Texas Tech).
IU has been particularly fortunate when it comes to recovering fumbles. The Hoosiers have recovered 8 of 11 opponent fumbles. They’ve also retained 5 of their 6 fumbles so far in 2025.
Alabama has lost the turnover battle only 3 times this season. But the Crimson Tide lost 2 of those games — to Oklahoma in the regular season and against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
