Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was distraught in the aftermath of the Buckeyes’ 32-31 loss at Oregon on Oct. 12.
Howard made a mental mistake by sliding to the turf as time ran out, preventing a possible game-winning field-goal attempt.
All he could think about was getting another opportunity to play the Ducks.
Howard received his second chance and his No. 8 seed Buckeyes were more than ready on Wednesday. Ohio State scored the game’s first 34 points and delivered a convincing 41-21 victory over No. 1 seed Oregon on Wednesday in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Howard passed for 319 yards and three touchdowns to put those pesky demons to rest.
“We came out and we played angry and it showed,” said Howard, again expressing how badly he wanted redemption. “We jumped out to an early lead and it was hard for them to come back.”
Offensive MVP Jeremiah Smith had two long touchdowns while catching seven passes for a career-high 187 yards, and TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 94 yards and two scores on eight carries as the Buckeyes (12-2) outclassed their Big Ten rival.
Ohio State will play No. 5 seed Texas (13-2) in the CFP semifinals on Jan. 10 in the Cotton Bowl at Arlington, Texas. The Longhorns beat Arizona State 39-31 in double overtime earlier Wednesday.
“We have two more (games). We’re not done yet,” Howard said. “We have unfinished business.”
Dillon Gabriel completed 29 of 41 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns for Oregon (13-1). Gabriel finished his career with 155 touchdown passes, tying Houston’s Case Keenum (2007-11) for the all-time FBS record. Miami’s Cam Ward set the Division I mark (FBS and FCS) of 158 last week.
Traeshon Holden caught seven passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks. Oregon star Jordan James was injured in the first half and sat out the second. He had 14 yards on seven rushes in the Ducks’ first game since Dec. 7.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning didn’t want to hear any chatter about the long layoff affecting his troops.
“That’s an excuse,” Lanning said. “I thought our guys prepared well going in. An opportunity that we had to recharge. I thought our guys did practice well. I thought they had a great focus. I just don’t think our plan was good enough.”
Howard completed 17 of 26 passes in the rematch as the Buckeyes outgained the Ducks 500-276.
The Buckeyes also routed No. 9 seed Tennessee 42-17 in their CFP opener on Dec. 21. They have won their two playoff games by an average of 22.5 points.
“You can see the potential of where we’re at,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We played with all three phases the way we did. I’m proud of the players and the resilience of these guys. We have a lot of football still ahead of us.”
Ohio State harassed Gabriel throughout the contest and recorded eight sacks. Defensive MVP Cody Simon, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau had two apiece.
“Anytime you get eight sacks, that’s huge,” Day said. “… I have a lot of respect for Oregon and the season they’ve had. We knew we had to be at our best today in order to win this game.”
The Buckeyes scored their four first-half touchdowns on drives totaling nine plays.
The opening drive took three plays to go 75 yards, with Smith catching a short pass from Howard and turning it into a 45-yard touchdown just one minute into the game.
Later in the quarter, a three-play drive was completed by Howard’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Emeka Egbuka.
Jayden Fielding kicked a 46-yard field goal to give Ohio State a 17-0 lead just 10 seconds into the second quarter. Four-plus minutes later, the Buckeyes needed just two plays with Howard connecting with Smith on a 43-yard touchdown.
Henderson then ripped off a 66-yard scoring run down the right sideline on the first play of a possession to make it 31-0 with 8:47 left in the half.
Fielding tacked on a 36-yard field goal with 2:59 left in the half to make it a 34-point margin.
Oregon finally got on the board as time expired in the half. Gabriel threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Holden, which was followed by a two-point conversion pass to Justius Lowe.
The Ducks also scored on Noah Whittington’s 2-yard run to start the third quarter to move within 34-15. However, Henderson’s 8-yard TD run with 2:19 left in the period restored order and continued a long afternoon beneath the San Gabriel Mountains for Oregon.
“Sometimes it’s not your day,” Lanning said. “I think that was us today.”
–Up next: vs. No. 5 seed Texas (13-2), Cotton Bowl, Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m. (College Football Playoff semifinal)
–About Texas: The Longhorns led a 16-point lead slip away before recovering to post a 39-31 double-overtime win over Arizona State on Wednesday. Texas also defeated Clemson 38-24 in the first round of the CFP and now gets to play roughly 200 miles away from its Austin campus.
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has passed for 3,189 yards and 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. The Longhorns also feature a strong running back, Quintrevion Wisner (1,018 rushing yards). Jahdae Barron and Andrew Mukuba each have five interceptions, and Anthony Hill Jr. (16 tackles for loss) and Colin Simmons (14) spend lots of time in opponents’ backfields.
–Field Level Media
