Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Henry opened the scoring with a 21-yard run with 12:21 left in the first quarter and scored on a 2-yard run as Baltimore took an 11-point lead with 12:50 remaining.

But he did not get on the field again, and the Ravens lost to the Patriots 28-24.

New England answered Henry’s second touchdown with one of their own (plus a 2-point conversion) to cut Baltimore’s lead to three points with 9:01 to play.

When the Ravens, playing without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson by that point, took possession, they had Keaton Mitchell at running back. He carried the football on two of Baltimore’s six snaps before the Ravens punted.

New England scored another touchdown with 2:07 left to take a four-point lead. Baltimore took the field without Henry again and threw two passes. The second was completed, but fumbled, and the Patriots recovered to seal their victory.

After the game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked if Henry should have been in the backfield after New England cut the lead to three points.

“I mean, yeah,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, I look back, and I say yeah. …

“Looking back, would I rather have Derrick starting the drive? Yeah, but you know, Derrick was kind of ready for Keaton to start that drive, and then he was planning on coming in next. So they were working that rotation. You look back on it, I think it’s pretty easy to say he should have been in there or shouldn’t have been in there, but we’re rotating those guys throughout the game as two backs. But yeah, game-winning drive, do I want Derrick Henry in the on the field? Sure, I do want him on the field.”

Mitchell finished the game with 13 yards on nine carries.

“We’ve been doing the rotation for how many weeks,” Henry said. “Keaton’s doing a great job in the run game. We’re both in there doing the best we can. We got a lot of good players, so everybody has to get their touches, get opportunities. And Keaton is deserving of it.”

Between the touchdowns, Henry lost a fumble at the New England 32-yard line in the first quarter.

Including the playoffs, Henry has 33 games with at least 128 rushing yards. Sunday night’s contest was the third that his team had lost.

The loss dropped Baltimore two games behind the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North race with two games to play. The Ravens play the Green Bay Packers on Saturday and the Steelers play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday before Baltimore and Pittsburgh square off in the regular-season finale on Jan. 4.

Henry was among the 39 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 16^th Sunday of the NFL’s 106th season.

Four other former Alabama players were involved in the New England-Baltimore game:

• Christian Barmore started at defensive tackle for the Patriots. Barmore registered one quarterback hit.
• Patriots tight end CJ Dippre was designated as a game-day inactive. 
• Marlon Humphrey (Hoover) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made six tackles, intercepted one pass and broke up another. Humphrey picked off quarterback Drake Maye at the Baltimore 4-yard line in the first quarter. Humphrey’s third interception of the season was the 22nd of his career. That’s tied for the fifth-most by a former Alabama player in the NFL with Russ Craft and Kareem Jackson. Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville) recorded his second sack of the season.
• Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville) recorded his second sack of the season.

Three wins to a national title.

Every game from here out is the biggest in IU football history.

In a national quarterfinal matchup, the No. 1 Hoosiers (13-0) will face No. 9 Alabama (11-3) on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (ESPN).  The game marks the first ever meeting of these programs.

Indiana and Alabama could not have more different histories.

Alabama claims 18 national titles and 30 conference championships, while IU has never won a national title and can claim just three league titles.  Alabama has the third-most wins in college football history, while the Hoosiers have the second-most losses.

But while the game is a historical mismatch, Indiana will take the field as the favorite.

Most sports books have IU as a 6.5 to 7-point favorite over the Crimson Tide in The Rose Bowl.

In the analytical models, ESPN’s Football Power Index gives No. 1 Indiana a 71.4% chance to beat No. 8 Alabama.  ESPN’s SP+ likes No. 2 Indiana over No. 15 Alabama by 13.1 points.

Alabama played five games against teams currently ranked in the CFP Top-25:  Two games against Georgia and Oklahoma, and a game against Vanderbilt.  The Tide went 3-2 in those games.

FPI says Alabama played the sixth-hardest schedule this season, while IU played the 28th most difficult.  Meanwhile IU has the No. 1 strength of record, and Alabama No. 10.

The lone common opponent for Indiana and Alabama is Wisconsin, a team both the Hoosiers and Crimson Tide beat on their respective home fields by 24 points.

Alabama is led by head coach Kalen DeBoer, who is in his second season in charge in Tuscaloosa.  DeBoer is 20-7 in his two seasons at Alabama, and 124-19 overall as a head coach.  He and former IU quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. led Washington to the national championship game in 2023.

DeBoer is one of several members of the Alabama coaching staff who were once coaches at Indiana.

DeBoer was the IU offensive coordinator in 2019.  Crimson Tide quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan was at IU from 2017-2021 and was offensive coordinator the last two years.  Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was at IU from 2018-2020 and defensive coordinator the last two years.  Defensive backs coach Jason Jones was the IU safeties coach from 2020-2022.  And strength coach David Ballou is an IU alumnus and was the IU strength coach from 2018-2020.

Alabama is No. 39 nationally in scoring offense, putting up 31.4 points per contest.  Indiana is the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense at 10.8 points allowed per game.

The Crimson Tide are No. 13 in scoring defense, allowing just 17.9 an outing.  IU is No. 4 in scoring offense at 41.9 points per contest.  The most points scored by any team against Alabama this season was 31 by Florida State in a season-opening loss.

6-foot-2 junior quarterback Ty Simpson has completed 64.1 % of his throws for 3,500 yards, with 28 touchdowns and just five interceptions.  Including sacks, he has rushed for just 76 yards and two touchdowns this season.

PFF grades Alabama as having the No. 31 offense, the No. 14 defense, and the No. 22 special teams in the country.

The weather shouldn’t be a factor in this game.  Rain is rare in Southern California this time of year, and the temperature should be pleasant.  The current long-term forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 67 degrees.  We’ll check back on this as the game gets closer.

We will of course have much more on this game in the days to come.

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Related

In the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers (13-0) will play the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-3) in the Rose Bowl, starting at 4 p.m. ET in Pasadena, California. Indiana is favored by 7 points.

Learn how to get tickets to the Hoosiers vs. Crimson Tide matchup.

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Indiana vs. Alabama location, livestream, TV channel

• When: Thursday, January 1, 2026 at 4 p.m. ET
• Location: Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
• TV: ESPN
• Live stream: Watch LIVE with Fubo! (Regional restrictions may apply)

Indiana leaders

• Fernando Mendoza has 2,980 yards through the air (229.2 per game) and a 71.5% completion percentage (226-for-316), pitching 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions. He also has 240 rushing yards on 69 carries (with six touchdowns).
• Roman Hemby has run for a team-high 918 yards (70.6 per game) and tallied six touchdowns.
• So far this season Kaelon Black has rushed for 798 yards (61.4 per game), with seven touchdowns.
• Omar Cooper Jr. has grabbed 59 passes for a team-high 828 yards plus 11 touchdowns. He averages 63.7 receiving yards per game.
• Elijah Sarratt has been targeted 73 times and added 663 yards (on 50 catches) plus 12 touchdowns.
• Charlie Becker has caught 26 passes on 35 targets for 515 yards and two touchdowns.