Ohio State Bludgeons Oregon, 41-21, in College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl

By Dan Hope on January 1, 2025 at 8:30 am
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After losing to Oregon in the regular season, Ohio State quickly made sure it wouldn’t suffer the same result against the Ducks in the Rose Bowl.

Ohio State made up for its 32-31 loss in Eugene and then some as the Buckeyes dominated the Ducks in their College Football Playoff quarterfinals rematch, scoring the first 34 points of the game en route to a 41-21 win in the Rose Bowl.

Will Howard threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns while Jeremiah Smith continued his spectacular freshman season with seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns to lead Ohio State to victory.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#8 Ohio State 14 20 0 7 41
#1 OREGON 0 8 7 6 21
JaN. 1, 2025 • Ohio STADIUM • COLUMBUS, OHIO

The game got off to a roaring start for the Buckeyes as Gee Scott Jr. gained 30 yards on a catch out of the backfield on the first play from scrimmage and Smith walked into the end zone after making a defender miss on a 45-yard touchdown two plays later.

Ohio State got right back into Oregon territory on its second possession as its defense forced a 3-and-out and Smith caught a 29-yard pass over two defenders, but the drive ended with an OSU punt after pressure by Oregon’s defensive front led to two straight busted plays for the Buckeyes. 

The Buckeyes’ defense forced another 3-and-out on Oregon’s second possession and got the ball back at Oregon’s 47-yard line after a 31-yard punt by the Ducks. Ohio State took advantage of the advantageous field position that time as Howard connected with Egbuka on a beautiful 42-yard deep-ball touchdown, giving the Buckeyes a 14-0 lead less than halfway through the first quarter.

After Ohio State’s defense forced another punt, Jayden Fielding made a 46-yard field goal – tying his season-long – to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 17-0 just 10 seconds into the second quarter.

Following a turnover on downs by Oregon that gave the Buckeyes the ball back at midfield again, Howard connected with Smith for a 43-yard touchdown that made it 24-0 less than 20 minutes into the game.

Ohio State needed just one play to make it a 31-0 ballgame following another Oregon 3-and-out as TreVeyon Henderson raced away from the Ducks’ defense for a 66-yard touchdown.

Oregon followed that by going 3-and-out for the fourth time in six possessions and Ohio State followed that with another drive into the Ducks’ red zone that ended with a 36-yard Fielding field goal that made it 34-0.

The Ducks finally ended the Buckeyes’ shutout by scoring a touchdown on the final play of the first half, driving 75 yards in 10 plays and getting on the board for the first time with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Gabriel to Traeshon Holden, which it followed with a 2-point conversion pass from Gabriel to Justius Lowe to make it 34-8 at halftime.

Oregon followed that with another touchdown drive to start the second half, cutting Ohio State’s lead to 19 with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that Noah Whittington capped with a 2-yard run into the end zone.

The Ducks kept their momentum going for their first defensive series of the second half as they forced a 3-and-out, but the Buckeyes seized the momentum back by forcing their fifth 3-and-out of the game on Oregon’s second possession of the half. The Buckeyes made it a four-score game on their subsequent drive as they went 56 yards in six plays with Henderson scoring his second touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run.

After both teams traded punts, Oregon drove for its third touchdown of the game, which came on a 27-yard pass from Gabriel to Holden. Ohio State maintained a 20-point lead with just 10 minutes to play as Sonny Styles and Jermaine Mathews Jr. shut down a 2-point conversion rush attempt by Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.

The Buckeyes held on to secure a 20-point win from there, earning the largest margin of victory over a No. 1-ranked team in school history. Previously, Ohio State’s largest win over a No. 1-ranked team was a 13-0 victory over Purdue in 1968.

Ohio State now advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where the Buckeyes will face No. 5 seed Texas in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10.

Team Stats

OHIO STATE       OREGON
500 TOTAL YARDS 276
181 RUSHING YARDS -23
31 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 28
5.8 AVERAGE PER RUSH -0.8
2 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 1
319 PASSING YARDS 299
17-26 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 29-42
18.8 YARDS PER COMPLETION 10.3
3 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2
20 1st DOWNS 15
57 TOTAL PLAYS 70
8.8 YARDS PER PLAY 3.9
4-11 3RD DOWNS 8-19
2-14 PENALTIES 3-13
29:05 POSSESSION 30:55
0 TURNOVERS 0

Game Notes

  • Jeremiah Smith broke Ohio State’s single-game receiving record for a freshman, surpassing the record previously held by Cris Carter, who had 172 receiving yards on nine catches in the 1985 Rose Bowl and was in attendance to watch Smith’s performance.
  • Many of Ohio State’s incoming freshmen were with the Buckeyes for the game including Tavien St. Clair, Devin Sanchez, Faheem Delane, Jake Cook, Cody Haddad, Bo Jackson, Eli Lee, Carter Lowe, Jayvon McFadden, Bodpegn Miller, Riley Pettijohn, Nate Roberts, Deshawn Stewart and Isaiah West.
  • Ohio State now has a 10-2 all-time record vs. Oregon.
  • Ohio State now has a 10-7 all-time record in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes have won their last five Rose Bowl appearances.
  • Ohio State is now 5-4 all-time in College Football Playoff games.
  • Ohio State is now 2-2 when facing the No. 1 seed in the CFP, with its previous win coming against Alabama in the semifinals of its 2014 national championship season.
  • 90,732 fans attended the game.

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