Before the Rose Bowl, Ohio State coach Ryan Day reminded his players that second chances don’t come around often. After a season full of missed opportunities, the Buckeyes knew they had another shot at top-ranked, undefeated Oregon. Ohio State made the most of it.
The Buckeyes were unstoppable, taking control early. Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes in a dominant 34-point first half. Ohio State went on to win 41-21, securing a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Day said.
Howard threw for 319 yards, while Emeka Egbuka also caught a long touchdown pass. Running back TreVeyon Henderson added a 66-yard touchdown run.
The win was a redemption for Ohio State (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), who had lost to Oregon 32-31 in October and ended the regular season with a disappointing loss to rival Michigan.
The new 12-team College Football Playoff gave the Buckeyes a chance to erase their past mistakes, and from the opening minute in Pasadena, they took full advantage.
“I think nobody has gone through more scrutiny than probably the team here,” Egbuka said. “Five weeks ago, people were getting death threats, our head coach was getting cussed out, people saying he should never come to Ohio again.
And now, by the end of tonight, when you scroll Twitter, and Instagram, everyone’s going to be singing our praises. We just know what to say true to in our building.”
Against the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the prestigious Rose Bowl, Ohio State scored on six of its first seven drives. Four of those scores were over 40 yards, and by late in the second quarter, they had built a commanding 34-0 lead over the unbeaten Ducks.
Henderson’s second touchdown late in the third quarter essentially sealed the win for Ohio State, who will now face No. 4 Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 for a chance to play in the national title game. Texas won a tough double-overtime game against Arizona State earlier in the day.
“I’m proud of the resilience of these guys,” Day said. “Still got a lot of football ahead of us.”
Smith, the standout freshman, had an incredible Rose Bowl debut with seven catches for 187 yards, including five catches for 161 yards in the first half alone. He caught touchdown passes of 45 and 43 yards. Egbuka compared Smith to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who had a record-breaking Rose Bowl performance three years ago.
“I would say legendary,” Egbuka said. “I was able to witness Jaxon’s game in the Rose Bowl and the pure dominant performance that that was.
Even though (Smith’s) stats might not reflect the exact same thing that Jaxon has, I don’t think it was too far off in terms of dominance. He’s a very special talent, and I’m so excited to keep watching him grow.”
Dillon Gabriel passed for 299 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Traeshon Holden for Oregon (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed). But the Ducks’ hopes for their first national title were crushed on the Rose Bowl turf. Their 14-game winning streak came to an end.
“We really didn’t have the ability to stop them, and we didn’t have the ability to get something going for us on offense,” said Oregon coach Dan Lanning. “We haven’t faced a lot of moments like this all year. (Ohio State) is an unbelievable team.”
Ohio State dominated the Ducks just 11 days after a big win over Tennessee to open the Playoff. The Buckeyes’ offense was explosive, and their defense, which failed to sack Gabriel in the first meeting, dropped the Heisman finalist eight times this time around.
The Big Ten champion Ducks couldn’t produce the big plays that had worked in their earlier win over Ohio State. They also played without receiver Evan Stewart, who had been key in their first game but was ruled out of the Rose Bowl due to a back injury.
“They brought the fight, and we got hit in the mouth,” Oregon receiver Tez Johnson said. “They won the game from the first snap.”
Ohio State didn’t waste any time. After the usual pregame celebrations in Pasadena’s 70-degree sunshine, the Buckeyes needed just three plays and 49 seconds to score first. Howard threw a quick screen pass to Smith, who sprinted 45 yards for the opening touchdown.
On Ohio State’s third drive, Howard threw a perfect deep pass to Egbuka, who caught it for a 42-yard touchdown. Howard finished the first quarter with a career-best 212 passing yards, already surpassing his 160-yard performance against Tennessee.
In the second quarter, Smith was wide open near the Ducks’ goal line, settling under Howard’s deep pass for a 42-yard touchdown. Henderson then broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run, giving the Buckeyes a 31-0 lead and leaving the Rose Bowl crowd in shock.
Oregon finally showed some life on its last drive before halftime. Gabriel connected with Holden for a 5-yard touchdown, but the Ducks still faced an uphill battle.
