by Photo via Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
In a stunning turn of events, the Ohio State football team dominated #1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl and CFP Quarterfinal by a score of 41-21. With the victory, the Buckeyes will now advance to the semifinals where they’ll face Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Similarly to the Tennessee win, Ohio State got out of the gates quickly, with quarterback Will Howard completing a 45-yard catch-and-run touchdown to freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith in the first minute of action. Following a couple of punts by Oregon, Howard found wideout Emeka Egbuka for a 42-yard touchdown that doubled the Buckeyes lead. After forcing a turnover on downs, the offense went back to work with Smith catching another huge touchdown pass, this one for 43 yards.
Despite the huge 24-0 advantage in the second quarter, Ohio State didn’t stop there as on the first play of their next drive, running back TreVeyon Henderson found a seam and took it to the house to pad the lead. To end the half, Oregon finally found momentum and scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to at least cut into the 34-8 scoreline.
The Ducks continued their momentum to start the third quarter with another touchdown, and for about the only time in the whole, caused Buckeye fans to sweat. However, when Henderson found the endzone once again a few minutes later, their worries were dispelled and from there, Ohio State cruised to a 20-point victory.
Howard was magnificent for the second straight game, throwing for 319 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s playing his best football of the year at just the right time and it’s been much needed. Howard’s certainly also been helped out by the fact that Smith has been an absolute sensation all year, and he caught seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns today. Egbuka finished with five catches for 72 yards and a score as well.
Also playing his best football of the year right now is Henderson, who ended the day with eight carries and 94 yards and two touchdowns. His backfield partner, Quinshon Judkins, struggled a bit, rushing for 85 yards on 17 carries. It’s not by any means a bad number, but it’ll be interesting to see if he continues to get more touches than Henderson despite not playing quite as well recently.
The performance of the defense shouldn’t go unnoticed either, as they were absolutely dominant all day long. Linebacker Cody Simon led the charge, leading the team in tackles and recording two big sacks. Edge rushers J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer each had two sacks as well and safety Lathan Ransom and edge rusher Caden Curry both had one. The constant pressure on Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel made it incredibly difficult for the Ducks offense to put together any sort of offensive flow, and the secondary made sure Gabriel had nowhere to go.
Now over a month later, the Michigan loss appears to be in the rearview mirror and the Buckeyes are just two wins from a national championship. Texas is certainly a tough team and a lot has to happen, but a win like this over the consensus top team in the country means that we can start to smell it.
