The Ohio State Buckeyes weren’t about to let a Big 10 conference newcomer steal all the spotlight this season.
With a resounding 41-21 victory over top-ranked Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, the Buckeyes are headed to the CFP semifinal.
Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half. Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass, and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution sometimes hasn’t matched their formidable talent this season.
Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP, emphatically blowing out the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives and took a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team in the Granddaddy of Them All.
Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.
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Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel passed for 299 yards and hit Traeshon Holden for two touchdowns for the Ducks (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed), whose dreams of their first national title were flattened on the famed Rose Bowl turf. Oregon’s 14-game winning streak also ended.
Eleven days after routing Tennessee to open the Playoff, Ohio State dominated this rematch of these Big Ten teams’ regular-season thriller, won 32-31 by the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 12.
Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout freshman playmaker, had a remarkable bowl debut with seven receptions for 187 yards — including five catches for 161 yards in the first half alone, hauling in scoring passes of 45 and 43 yards.
For Oregon, a sensational inaugural season in the Big 10 will end in a blowout defeat. It also marks the end of Gabriel’s six-year college career.
Gabriel has been one of the best quarterbacks this season. He was named a first-team All-American, Big 10 MVP and Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024. He also led the Big 10 in both passing yards, with 3,558, and completions, with 297, this year.
The quarterback began his career starting for the University of Central Florida, where he played for three years before heading to Norman to play for the Sooners in Oklahoma. In December, with one year of eligibility remaining, Gabriel decided to head to the Pacific Northwest to play with the Oregon Ducks.
Now, Gabriel will look to the NFL Draft, where he is projected to be a second-tier quarterback prospect.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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