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College Football Playoff

Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game Recap

Wednesday, January 1, 2025 | 2 p.m. PT No. 8 Ohio State 41, No. 1 Seed Oregon 21 Rose Bowl Stadium | Pasadena, California
TV: ESPN
SCORE BY QUARTERS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINAL
OSU #8 Ohio State (12-2) 14 20 7 0 41
ORE #1 Oregon (13-1) 0 8 7 6 21



Attendance:
90,732
Kickoff Time:
2:12 p.m. PT
End of Game:
5:31 p.m. PT
Game Duration:
3:19



PASADENA, Calif. - Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon in the 111th Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday night.

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.

“You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.

After painful regular-season losses to Oregon and Michigan, Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP. Facing the tournament's No. 1 seed in the Granddaddy of Them All, the Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives to take a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team — and Henderson's second TD run late in the third essentially put it away.

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.

“I’m proud of the resilience of these guys,” Day said. “Still got a lot of football ahead of us.”

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. The Ohio State defense that couldn’t sack Gabriel in the teams’ first meeting dropped the Heisman Trophy finalist eight times in the rematch.

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.

Ohio State turned the CFP’s most anticipated quarterfinal matchup into a long celebration at the Rose Bowl, which has hosted several thrilling, close games in recent Januaries. This one pitted two powerhouse programs widely considered to have the top two teams left in the inaugural 12-team Playoff, but the Buckeyes scored early and often at the Rose Bowl.

The Big Ten champion Ducks couldn’t make any offensive headway until they trailed by 34 points, failing to create any of the big plays that carried the Ducks to victory in Eugene.

After the usual pregame pageantry in 70-degree sunshine at the venerable stadium in Arroyo Seco, Ohio State needed just three plays and 49 seconds to strike first. Howard threw a short play-action screen pass to Smith, who motored through Oregon’s secondary for a 45-yard score.

On the Buckeyes’ third drive, Howard feathered an exceptional long pass over three Ducks to the sprinting Egbuka for a 42-yard TD. Howard finished the first quarter with a career-best 212 yards passing, surpassing his 160 yards during Ohio State’s hot start against Tennessee.

Early in the second quarter, Smith got so open near the Ducks’ goal line that he had two seconds to settle under Howard’s long throw like an outfielder with a fly ball, scoring a 42-yard TD untouched.

When Henderson broke a 66-yard TD run down the Oregon sideline for a 31-0 lead, both sides of the Rose Bowl stands rippled with disbelief.

Oregon finally got moving on its final drive before halftime. Gabriel found Holden for a 5-yard TD pass at the gun, and the Ducks added a two-point conversion to salvage something from their horrific half.

The Ducks drove for Noah Whittington’s 2-yard TD run to open the second half, scoring the first touchdown allowed in the third quarter all season by Ohio State. Oregon even forced a punt moments later to stir faint hope in its fans, but the Ohio State defense drove the Buckeyes backward for a punt before Howard’s group methodically drove for Henderson’s second TD.



SCORING SUMMARY

QTR TIME SCORE
(V-H)
TEAM SCORING PLAY DRIVE
1st 14:00 7-0 Ohio State Jeremiah Smith 45 yd TD pass from Will Howard (PAT kick by Jayden Fielding good) 3-75
(1:00)
1st 07:31 14-0 Ohio State Emeka Egbuka 42 yd TD pass from Will Howard (PAT kick by Jayden Fielding good) 3-53
(1:05)
2nd 14:50 17-0 Ohio State Jayden Fielding 46 yd FG 10-63
(3:53)
2nd 10:28 24-0 Ohio State Jeremiah Smith 43 yd TD pass from Will Howard (PAT kick by Jayden Fielding good) 2-48
(0:43)
2nd 08:47 31-0 Ohio State TreVeyon Henderson 66 yd TD rush (PAT kick by Jayden Fielding good) 1-66
(0:10)
2nd 02:59 34-0 Ohio State Jayden Fielding 36 yd FG 10-43
(4:50)
2nd 00:00 34-8 Oregon Traeshon Holden 5 yd TD pass from Dillon Gabriel (PAT pass caught by Justius Lowe good) 10-75
(2:59)
3rd 08:55 34-15 Oregon Noah Whittington 2 yd TD rush (PAT kick by Atticus Sappington good) 11-75
(6:05)
3rd 02:19 41-15 Ohio State TreVeyon Henderson 8 yd TD rush (PAT kick by Jayden Fielding good) 6-56
(3:16)
4th 10:00 41-21 Oregon Traeshon Holden 27 yd TD pass from Dillon Gabriel (PAT rush by Kenyon Sadiq failed) 10-51
(3:36)



OHIO STATE STARTERS

POS. NO. OFFENSE
RB 1 Quinshon Judkins
WR 2 Emeka Egbuka
WR 4 Jeremiah Smith
QB 18 Will Howard
OL 67 Austin Siereveld
OL 70 Josh Fryar
OL 74 Donovan Jackson
OL 75 Carson Hinzman
OL 77 Tegra Tshabola
TE 88 Gee Scott Jr.
TE 89 Will Kacmarek
POS. NO. DEFENSE
LB 0 Cody Simon
CB 1 Davison Igbinosun
DB 2 Caleb Downs
LB 6 Sonny Styles
CB 7 Jordan Hancock
S 8 Lathan Ransom
DB 10 Denzel Burke
DE 33 Jack Sawyer
DL 44 JT Tuimoloau
DL 58 Ty Hamilton
DL 91 Tyleik Williams

OHIO STATE RESERVES

15 - Jelani Thurman, 16 - Keenan Nelson Jr., 17 - Mitchell Melton, 17 - Carnell Tate, 18 - Jaylen McClain, 20 - Arvell Reese, 24 - Jermaine Mathews Jr., 26 - Payton Pierce, 32 - TreVeyon Henderson, 38 - Jayden Fielding, 42 - Joe McGuire, 49 - Patrick Gurd, 51 - Luke Montgomery, 62 - Joshua Padilla, 68 - George Fitzpatrick, 82 - David Adolph, 85 - Bennett Christian, 92 - Caden Curry, 93 - Hero Kanu, 95 - Casey Magyar, 96 - Eddrick Houston, 97 - Kenyatta Jackson Jr., 98 - Kayden McDonald.

OREGON STARTERS

POS. NO. OFFENSE
WR 1 Traeshon Holden
TE 3 Terrance Ferguson
QB 8 Dillon Gabriel
WR 15 Tez Johnson
RB 20 Jordan James
OL 50 Nisahd Strother
OL 55 Marcus Harper II
OL 65 Ajani Cornelius
OL 72 Iapani Laloulu
OL 76 Josh Conerly Jr.
TE 88 Patrick Herbert
POS. NO. DEFENSE
DB 0 Tysheem Johnson
DE 1 Jordan Burch
LB 2 Jeffrey Bassa
S 5 Kobe Savage
CB 7 Jabbar Muhammad
DB 9 Nikko Reed
DE 10 Matayo Uiagalelei
LB 28 Bryce Boettcher
LB 44 Teitum Tuioti
DL 55 Derrick Harmon
DL 90 Jamaree Caldwell

OREGON RESERVES

2 - Gary Bryant Jr., 3 - Brandon Johnson, 5 - Dante Moore, 6 - Noah Whittington, 8 - Dontae Manning, 11 - Kam Alexander, 12 - Peyton Woodyard, 13 - Jurrion Dickey, 14 - Justius Lowe, 15 - Solomon Davis, 17 - Blake Purchase, 18 - Kenyon Sadiq, 20 - Dylan Williams, 21 - Aaron Flowers, 22 - Connor Soelle, 24 - Kingston Lopa, 26 - Devon Jackson, 27 - Daylen Austin, 27 - Jayden Limar, 36 - Atticus Sappington, 42 - Aydin Breland, 45 - Luke Dunne, 52 - A'Mauri Washington, 54 - Jerry Mixon, 70 - Charlie Pickard, 73 - Kawika Rogers, 74 - Dave Iuli, 92 - Ross James, 95 - Keyon Ware-Hudson, 98 - A.Boyle.


 
 
Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential
 

OFFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jeremiah Smith
Jeremiah Smith
Fr., WR, Ohio State

DEFENSIVE
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Cody Simon
Cody Simon
Sr., LB, Ohio State


TEAM STATISTICS OSU ORE
First downs 20 15
Rushing 7 2
Passing 12 13
Penalty 1 0
Rushes-Yards 31-181 28- -23
Passing Yards 319 299
Passes Comp-Att-Int 17-26-0 29-42-3
Total Offense
(Plays-Yards)
57-500 70-276
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 1-3 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 5-40.4 8-39.9
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Sacks By
(Number-Yards)
8-56 0-0
Penalties-Yards 2-14 3-13
3rd Down Conversions 4-of-11 8-of-19
4th Down Conversions 0-of-0 2-of-3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Ohio State - TreVeyon Henderson 8-94, 2 TD; Quinshon Judkins 17-85; Jeremiah Smith 1-5; Will Howard 5- -3.

Oregon - Jordan James 7-14; Jayden Limar 2-4; Noah Whittington 6-3, 1 TD; Tez Johnson 1 - -1; Dillon Gabriel 12 - -43.
Passing: Ohio State - Will Howard, 17-26-0, 319, 3 TD.

Oregon - Dante Moore, 0-1-0; Dillion Gabriel, 29-41-0, 299, 2 TD.
Receiving: Ohio State - Jeremiah Smith 7-187, 2 TD; Emeka Egbuka 5-72, 1 TD; TreVeyon Henderson 3-20; Gee Scott Jr. 1-30; Carnell Tate 1-10.

Oregon - Traeshon Holden 7-116, 2 TD; Noah Whittington 6-30; Trent Ferguson 5-71; Tez Johnson 5-32; Justius Lowe 2-27; Jordan James 2-7; Kenyon Sadiq 1-10; Gary Bryant Jr. 1-6; Dillon Gabriel 0-0; Patrick Herbert 0-0.
Punting: Ohio State - Joe McGuire, 5-202, 40.4.

Oregon - Luke Dunne, 4-171, 42.8; Ross James, 4-148, 37.0.
Returns: Ohio State - Punt: None; Kickoff: TreVeyon Henderson 1-3; Intercept: None.

Oregon - Punt: None; Kickoff: None; Intercept: None.
Field Goals: Ohio State - Jayden Fielding, 2-2 (46 Good, 36 Good).

Oregon - None.
Tackles:
(Solo-Assist-Total, Sacks-Yds, TFL-Yds)
Ohio State - Cody Simon (7-4-11, 2-13, 3-14); Lathan Ransom (5-2-7, 1-2, 1-2); Jordan Hancock (2-3-5, 0, 0); Davison Igbinosun (4-0-4, 0, 0); Sonny Styles (3-1-4, 0, 0); Caleb Downs (2-1-3, 0, 0); JT Tuimoloau (3-0-3, 2-14, 3-16); Ty Hamilton (2-1-3, 0, 1-2); Tyleik Williams (3-0-3, 0, 1-1); Denzel Burke (1-1-2, 0, 1-1); Jermaine Mathews Jr. (1-1-2, 0, 0); Jack Sawyer (2-0-2, 2-19, 2-19); Caden Curry (1-0-1, 1-8, 1-8); Hero Kanu (1-0-1, 0, 0); Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (1-0-1, 0, 0).

Oregon - Bryce Boettcher (5-2-7, 0, 0); Jeffrey Bassa (3-2-5, 0, 0); Jabbar Muhammad (3-2-5, 0, 0); Nikko Reed (5-0-5, 0, 0); Teitum Tuioti (3-1-4, 0, 1-1); Tysheem Johnson (2-1-3, 0, 0); Kobe Savage (2-1-3, 0, 0); Derrick Harmon (3-0-3, 0, 2-7); Devon Jackson (3-0-3, 0, 0); Brandon Johnson (2-0-2, 0, 0); Jordan Burch (1-0-1, 0, 0); Matayo Uiagalelei (1-0-1, 0, 0); Jamaree Caldwell (0-1-1, 0, 0); Dontae Manning (1-0-1, 0, 0).