Five Things: Buckeyes Dismantle Ducks, Advance to CFP Semifinals

By Chris Lauderback on January 2, 2025 at 10:10 am
Jeremiah Smith
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Entering the Rose Bowl CFP quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Oregon as a 2.5-point favorite, Ryan Day's team left no doubt during a 41-21 thrashing of the Ducks in Pasadena.

Like the first round victory over Tennessee, the Buckeyes again came out of the gates swinging, building a 24-0 lead just four minutes into the second quarter and a 34-0 cushion with just under three minutes before halftime before moving into choke-out mode to secure the W. 

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning was certainly impressed. After the beatdown, Lanning offered, "It's an unbelievable team. Coach Day and his staff have done an unbelievable job there. I don't want to discredit what our players were able to accomplish this year. We had a great team. We just ran into a great team tonight." 

The win sets up a CFP semifinal showdown with No. 5 seed Texas in the Cotton Bowl to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday, January 10. 

That contest of course pits the Buckeyes against former OSU quarterback Quinn Ewers amid numerous other storylines but before we go all-in on the Longhorns, here are Five Things from Ohio State's dominant victory over the Ducks. 

'TALK ABOUT IT, BE ABOUT IT'

Jeremiah Smith let it be known leading up to the rematch that if Oregon planned to play man against him at all, it was going to be a problem. With Chip Kelly and Day again scheming to win instead of not to lose, the offensive game plan fully weaponized the freshman wide receiver and it started right from the jump. 

On Ohio State's third play from scrimmage, a 2nd-and-10 snap from the Ducks 45, Smith lined up on the right side, motioned left as Oregon's defenders weren't quite set, and caught a quick pass before racing upfield. Smith benefitted from a great block out of Gee Scott Jr. and kept his balance following a near shoestring tackle on the way to the end zone giving OSU an early 7-0 lead. 

Two possessions later he made a nasty 32-yard catch on 3rd-and-4 to keep a drive alive later resulting in a field goal for a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. 

As soon as OSU got the ball back he went back to work as he got behind the defense for a 43-yard touchdown grab pushing the lead to 24-0 with 10:28 left before halftime. 

After Oregon cut the Ohio State lead to 34-14 midway through the third quarter, Smith converted a 3rd-and-8 via a 10-yard slant from Howard and added a ridiculous 16-yard catch on the following play. Two plays later, TreVeyon Henderson recorded an 8-yard touchdown run to make it 41-15 with 2:19 left in the third quarter, putting the last nail in the Ducks' coffin. 

Overall, Smith finished with seven catches for an OSU freshman single-game record 187 yards along with those two long touchdowns which made him just the third player with multiple 40+ yard scores in a CFP game. Named the Rose Bowl Offensive MVP, his five catches that didn't find the end zone all went for first downs and he averaged 26.7 yards per catch in a truly dominant performance.  

Through his first 14 collegiate games, Smith has 70 catches for 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns.

HOWARD'S REVENGE

Will Howard's slide to run out the clock with Ohio State on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the October matchup with Oregon has been well-chronicled. Leading up to the Rose Bowl rematch it was clear just how much Howard's last-drive performance ate at him as he even talked about having nightmares about the fateful possession. 

With revenge on his mind, Howard blasted the Ducks for 319 yards and three touchdowns and that's while he only threw the ball eight times in the second half as Day made sure to be the trusted guardian of the W. 

During the decisive first half, Howard connected on 11-of-18 throws for 269 yards and those three scores. Beyond the noted passes to Smith, another highlight came as he dropped a dime to Emeka Egbuka for a 42-yard touchdown giving OSU a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. 

Howard has now thrown for over 300 yards in back-to-back CFP games as Ohio State has leaned on the pass to showcase its playmakers on the perimeter. He also has five touchdowns across those two contests and the lone interception deserves an asterisk as his pass to Smith in the end zone against Tennessee should've resulted in a pass interference call before the tipped pass was miraculously intercepted by a rotating defender. 

If Howard can continue to get the ball to Ohio State's skill guys and avoid the big mistake, the Buckeyes are going to be a tough out.

CHUNKY STYLE, MY FAVORITE

Ah, one of my favorite lines from the very good movie, The Bachelor, uttered by Tom Hanks as he prepared some potato salad for his fiancé, Tawny Kitaen. 

But in the context of Ohio State's cooking of the Ducks, I mean chunky as in big plays by the Buckeye offense. The Day/Kelly offense cranked out 13 chunk plays (runs of 10+, passes of 15+) for 381 yards and four touchdowns. 

Raising the criteria a bit, the OSU offense posted seven plays of 29 yards or more in the first half: 29 yard pass, 30 yard pass, 32 yard pass, 42 yard pass (TD), 43 yard pass (TD), 45 yard pass (TD), and a 66 yard run (TD). That's sheer domination of what was the nation's No. 10 total defense and No. 20 yards per play allowed defense (4.89). 

As those first half chunk plays indicate, Ohio State leaned on the pass to build its lead (269 pass yds, 121 rush yds) but let's take a minute to relish in TreVeyon Henderson's 66-yard scoring strike making it 31-0 midway through the second quarter. 

Quinshon Judkins also had runs of 12, 15 and 18 yards as the OSU offense clicked to the tune of 390 yards on 11.8 per play in the first half and 449 yards on 10.2 per play through the first three quarters before going into full-blown bleed the clock mode. 

SMOKED DUCKS

It was well-known Jim Knowles' defense, like Howard, had revenge on its mind after surrendering 32 points, 496 yards on 7.6 per play, and eight plays of over 20 yards in the regular season loss to Lanning's squad. 

And even with at least five mega-holds not flagged yesterday, the OSU defense suffocated the Ducks in the first half holding them to eight points and 139 total yards with 75 of those coming on Oregon's lone scoring drive as Ohio State built a 34-8 halftime cushion. 

Oregon's other six possessions in the first half went for 64 total yards on 2.46 per play with four drives ending in 3-and-outs and the longest drive going for... 26 yards. 

While it should be noted the game flow with Oregon falling behind early and also losing starting tailback Jordan James to injury did its run game no favors, the bottom line is Ohio State held the Ducks to -23 yards rushing on the day and even if you take out the eight sacks for 56 yards, they still had only 33 rushing yards on 1.7 a pop. Oregon's 276 total yards of offense were also a season-low. 

Mike linebacker Cody Simon, the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP, was sensational posting a team-high 11 stops, three tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass breakup which came on 4th-and-3 to force a turnover on downs. Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams' stat line read three tackles and one TFL but it doesn't do justice in capturing the play-by-play havoc he created. Safety Caleb Downs was credited with just three stops but provided stellar coverage all day including three PBUs of his own. 

And after cornerback Denzel Burke was absolutely roasted in round one, his coverage was on point in the rematch. The veteran only allowed one target and zero catches, per PFF, even as the Ducks threw it eight more times (42) than in the regular season contest. 

For the game, Ohio State tallied 13 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and nine PBUs. 

ON THE EDGE

Amid all that success enjoyed by the Ohio State defense, the last Thing goes to the defensive end combo of Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau. 

The pair combined to record five stops, five tackles for loss, four sacks and four PBUs, which alongside Williams and Ty Hamilton, proved to be way too much for Oregon's offensive line to handle. 

With Oregon hanging on for dear life after opening the second half with a touchdown drive cutting the OSU lead to 34-15 and then forcing a 3-and-out from the Buckeye offense immediately thereafter, the pressure was on the Silver Bullets to extinguish any hopes of a comeback. 

Enter Sawyer. 

On 1st-and-10, Sawyer tipped a Dillon Gabriel pass incomplete. On 2nd-and-10, he bullied his blocker for a 7-yard sack to force 3rd-and-17. On the next snap, he damn near recorded another sack and while he didn't, his pressure forced Gabriel into the arms of Simon for a 6-yard sack forcing a Ducks 3-and-out. 

Tuimoloau also got in on the PBU train as he tipped a 2nd-and-8 pass for an incompletion contributing to a 3-and-out just before Egbuka's 42-yard touchdown grab made it 14-0 Buckeyes early. His 2-yard TFL on a Noah Whittington carry preceded a Sawyer PBU with both plays contributing to another first half 3-and-out. Jayden Fielding would kick a 36-yard field goal on the ensuing OSU possession pushing the score to 34-0 with 2:59 left in the half. 

Beyond the numbers, the pair stayed disciplined with their pass rushing lanes, effectively keeping Gabriel from burning Ohio State with his feet. Gabriel's four carries went for 5, 1, 2 and 5 yards respectively. 

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