Will Howard passed for 319 yards and three touchdowns and fast-starting No. 8 seed Ohio State delivered a convincing 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon on Wednesday in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Freshman 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) scored the first 34 points while outclassing their fellow Big Ten mates.
Ohio State will play No. 5 seed Texas (13-2) in the CFP semifinals on Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl at Arlington, Texas.
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.
The Buckeyes avenged the 32-31 regular-season loss on Oct. 12 to host Oregon in which Howard made a mental mistake by sliding to the turf after time ran out, preventing a possible game-winning field-goal attempt.
Howard completed 17 of 26 passes in the rematch as the Buckeyes outgained the Ducks 500-276.
Ohio State harassed Gabriel throughout the contest and recorded eight sacks. Cody Simon, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau had two apiece.
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, but Henderson’s 8-yard TD run with 2:19 left in the period restored order.
–Field Level Media
