PASADENA, Calif. — The victory stage lingers on Speiker Field at the Rose Bowl as Cream and Crimson-colored confetti and the fresh roses lay scattered on the wet green grass.
The video boards inside the famed stadium display Indiana’s trident and “ROSE BOWL CHAMPIONS.”
Over an hour after No. 1 Indiana football gave the No. 9 University of Alabama its worst loss since 1998 on Thursday, Scott Dolson stands beyond the south endzone. The Hoosiers’ athletic director has been a lifelong fan of the department he now oversees.
Indiana hadn’t just won its first Rose Bowl and advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals. It delivered a historic 38-3 beatdown of Alabama, the sport’s premier program for much of this century. But Dolson isn’t overly joyous after what just occurred in the Grandaddy of Them All.
“It's funny ... because it's hard to kind of let that soak in because we still have a lot of season left,” Dolson says. “And you know, I guess growing up under Coach Knight, for me, it's still we've got to get back to work.”
Like Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, Dolson’s attention was already on the future: a Peach Bowl matchup with No. 5 Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 9 in Atlanta.
A sea of Cream and Crimson filled the 89,105-seat venue; almost every Indiana fan remained. While the Crimson Tide supporters headed for the exits throughout the fourth quarter, the Hoosier faithful didn’t.
The Hoosiers’ leaders, like senior linebacker Aiden Fisher, redshirt senior center Pat Coogan, redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, continued their tradition: singing the university’s fight song after a victory.
And again, for the second consecutive game, Indiana led the Hoosier fans through the song after another historic triumph.
Whether he was present in the locker room or near the victory stage over the past two wins, Dolson has surely been a part of all 25 renditions the Cream and Crimson have delivered over the past two seasons. It’s essentially become a program tradition to sing after every game because losing has become so rare.
For Dolson, who’s been at Indiana since 1984, Thursday’s chapter was different.
“Seeing our fans really at the end of the game as we were on the field just looking up is something I’ll never forget,” he said, “and I’ve been around IU a long, long time.”
Dolson was an Indiana men’s basketball student manager under legendary head coach Bob Knight from 1984-88. He’s worked his way up the athletic department’s ladder, eventually earning a promotion to his current role in 2020.
He’s seen all sorts of success during his time in Bloomington. Whether it was the Hoosiers’ 1987 basketball national championship, the swim and dive program winning championships, men’s soccer’s dominance or baseball’s College World Series appearance in 2013, there’s been no shortage of success.
Winning football, though? Nope. That’s a new concept.
Indiana’s unprecedented turnaround is well-documented. It was a program with the most losses and worst winning percentage in college football.
But Thursday at the Rose Bowl offered the Hoosier faithful the opportunity to migrate to the West Coast and make a trip so many have longed for since 1968. Throughout the lead-up to the contest, Indiana fans were everywhere. In downtown Los Angeles, in Pasadena and the surrounding areas, it appeared there were far more herds of Hoosiers than Crimson Tide loyalists.
The scale of Indiana’s takeover of the Grandaddy of Them All became evident during pregame warmups.
When Alabama ran out of the southeast tunnel and onto the wet field, it was showered with boos. Those same fans delivered loud cheers when their beloved Hoosiers arrived.
Throughout the game was no different. Any positive Indiana plays — and there were plenty of them — were met with overwhelming applause. When Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” blared over the stadium’s speakers, Hoosier fans disapproved with more boos.
In the end, Indiana had the majority of fans in attendance Thursday. And they had the most to cheer about.
“This was basically a home game for us,” sixth-year senior defensive lineman Mikail Kamara said postgame. “We was hearing boos every time Alabama touched the ball. They was roaring when we was making plays, and the whole stadium was just Indiana’d out. So, it was a beautiful scene, for sure.”
The Hoosier fans turned the Rose Bowl into a venue that resembled Memorial Stadium some 2,043 miles away.
It was almost impossible to not feel the presence Indiana’s dedicated fans had on the game. And while there were plenty of moments before, during and after the victory that surely stand out as unforgettable memories to all, there’s one that is above the rest for Dolson.
“Coming in on the buses and I was looking out the window and seeing Hoosier Nation flooding the streets and going crazy,” Dolson said. “I couldn't believe it, and it was one of the moments I told my wife when I got here, ‘I don't think I'll ever forget the trip into the game.’”
When the Hoosiers arrived at the stadium and began their walk down the black asphalt path and toward their locker room, Indiana fans lined any spot they could get just a glimpse of their beloved team. No matter if it was the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback or a walk-on, the patrons clad in Cream and Crimson sought to make their presence felt.
Dolson recognized the sacrifices fans almost certainly made. Traveling from Indiana — or from any place for that matter — certainly wasn’t cheap.
To Dolson, just the start of the day left a special mark. The rest of the day certainly did, too — not only him but for the stampedes of fans who watched their team do what no other has done better to the Crimson Tide in the postseason: break their will and demolish them.
“I do get emotional when it comes to our fans because I know our fans have been through so much thick and thin with us,” Dolson said. “And when I get to see them enjoy this, it means a lot to me. And it does get emotional to be honest with you.”
The Hoosiers have a significantly shorter trip to Atlanta in a week: just over 500 miles compared to the 2,000-plus to Pasadena.
And again, such an impressive turnout is almost expected at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which has a capacity of 71,000. The Hoosier faithful are seeking yet another special day Jan. 9.
No matter the result of the Peach Bowl, Indiana’s first-ever Rose Bowl victory certainly made its mark. It’s a day Hoosiers dreamt of, and it finally happened: roses were in the Hoosiers’ mouths with confetti raining down at college football’s grandest site.
“To see our fans show up like that and see our team respond and have a day like this, it meant so much to everybody,” Dolson said. “For me to say thank you to our fans doesn't even adequately express what their support means to us.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
