The Ohio State Buckeyes weren’t about to let a Massive 10 convention newcomer steal all of the highlight this season.
With a powerful 41-21 victory over top-ranked Oregon within the Rose Bowl on Wednesday, the Buckeyes are headed to the CFP semifinal.
Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three lengthy landing passes throughout Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half. Howard handed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka additionally caught a protracted TD cross, and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard landing run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution typically hasn’t matched their formidable expertise this season.
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Ohio State Buckeyes tight finish Gee Scott Jr. leaps for a primary down throughout the first half of the School Soccer Playoff quarterfinal towards the Oregon Geese on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Pictures)
Ohio State has seized the second probabilities created by the primary 12-team CFP, emphatically blowing out the event’s No. 1 seed. The Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives and took a 34-0 lead late within the second quarter on the nation’s solely remaining unbeaten workforce within the Granddaddy of Them All.
Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth within the nationwide title sport. The Longhorns barely superior earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.
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Ohio State Buckeyes working again TreVeyon Henderson (32) runs for a landing throughout the first half of the School Soccer Playoff quarterfinal towards the Oregon Geese on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Pictures)
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel handed for 299 yards and hit Traeshon Holden for 2 touchdowns for the Geese (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed), whose desires of their first nationwide title had been flattened on the famed Rose Bowl turf. Oregon’s 14-game profitable streak additionally ended.
Eleven days after routing Tennessee to open the Playoff, Ohio State dominated this rematch of those Massive Ten groups’ regular-season thriller, received 32-31 by the Geese in Eugene on Oct. 12.
Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout freshman playmaker, had a outstanding bowl debut with seven receptions for 187 yards — together with 5 catches for 161 yards within the first half alone, hauling in scoring passes of 45 and 43 yards.
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Ohio State Buckeyes vast receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) catches a cross in entrance of Oregon Geese quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) throughout the first half of the School Soccer Playoff quarterfinal on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Pictures)
For Oregon, a sensational inaugural season within the Massive 10 will finish in a blowout defeat. It additionally marks the top of Gabriel’s six-year faculty profession.
Gabriel has been the most effective quarterbacks this season. He was named a first-team All-American, Massive 10 MVP and Massive 10 Offensive Participant of the 12 months in 2024. He additionally led the Massive 10 in each passing yards, with 3,558, and completions, with 297, this yr.
The quarterback started his profession beginning for the College of Central Florida, the place he performed for 3 years earlier than heading to Norman to play for the Sooners in Oklahoma. In December, with one yr of eligibility remaining, Gabriel determined to move to the Pacific Northwest to play with the Oregon Geese.
Now, Gabriel will look to the NFL Draft, the place he’s projected to be a second-tier quarterback prospect.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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