A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The battle for college football's national championship is down to four teams after last quarterfinal games on New Year's Day. Steve Futterman has been following the season from Los Angeles, which is right next door to Pasadena, where the Rose Bowl was played. So, Steve, that's the first time I've watched Indiana play a full game all the way through. That is one efficient college football team.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Well, it was very impressive. No. 1 Indiana gave one of college football's blue bloods, No. 9 Alabama, just a shellacking, 38-3. And it continues one of the most remarkable stories this season, the turnaround at Indiana. Now, two seasons ago, the Hoosiers had a record of three wins and nine losses. Then they brought in Curt Cignetti as the head coach. And since then, Indiana has played its best football in history. Last year, the Hoosiers went from 3 and 9 to 11 and 2. This year, they are undefeated. This is rarefied air for Indiana fans like Carrie Humphrey (ph). We spoke with him after the game.
CARRIE HUMPHREY: It is absolutely astounding, absolutely. Never in our wildest dreams would we imagine being here.
FUTTERMAN: Now, the Hoosiers are led by their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza. Yesterday, he threw for three touchdowns, completed 14 of 16 passes. He says this is a very confident team.
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FERNANDO MENDOZA: We also enjoy winning. And we know what that takes. So every single day, we're always going to put our best foot forward.
FUTTERMAN: And this was the first time, A, Indiana has ever won the Rose Bowl.
MARTÍNEZ: So many people wearing Hoosier red all over LA (laughter) this past week.
FUTTERMAN: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: So it's been cool to see. All right, so Indiana clearly the No. 1 team still. The Rose Bowl, though, might not have been the best game to watch yesterday.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah, it wasn't. I would say the best game clearly to watch was last night's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans between No. 3 Georgia and No. 6 Mississippi. It had just about everything. Thrilling touchdowns. The lead went back and forth. Remarkably, it changed hands five times. Georgia tied the game, 34-34, with 59 seconds left. It looked like overtime, but Mississippi drove the ball down the field, and with just nine seconds left, Luis Carneiro (ph) came in for another field goal attempt. This is how it sounded on ESPN.
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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Forty-seven yards, and it is good. Right down the middle.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah. Well, now, what makes this win by Ole Miss even more remarkable is how the team has overcome the distraction of losing its head coach, Lane Kiffin, on November 30, just over a month ago. Kiffin didn't just leave Mississippi. His new team is one of Ole Miss' rivals, LSU. Often distractions like that have an effect on a team on the field, but we just haven't seen that yet.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, so much drama with that. It's juicy drama, Steve. We'll get to that at some other time.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so what about the other two quarterfinals?
FUTTERMAN: Well, the New Year's Eve game, the Cotton Bowl, saw defending champion, No. 2 Ohio State, fall to No. 10 Miami, 24-14. That assures there will be a new champion this year. And the fourth quarterfinal, No. 5 Oregon beat No. 4 Texas Tech, 23 to nothing.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, three games left, the games left.
FUTTERMAN: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: What's next?
FUTTERMAN: Well, next week are the semifinals. Ole Miss plays Miami on Thursday. Indiana faces Oregon on Friday. And the championship game, that will come down to two teams on January 19.
MARTÍNEZ: I got a feeling, whether they admit it or not, I think a lot of people are rooting for Indiana (laughter).
FUTTERMAN: I agree, I agree.
MARTÍNEZ: The Cinderella story, right? Yeah. That's Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. Steve, thanks a lot.
FUTTERMAN: Thank you, A.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE OLYMPIANS' "SIRENS OF JUPITER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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