Ohio State puts on a Rose Bowl show

The Ohio State Buckeyes knocked out top-ranked Oregon from the College Football Playoff with a 41-21 win in the Rose Bowl, avenging the loss they suffered to the Ducks earlier in the season.

Ohio State jumped out to an early 31-0 lead thanks to four quick touchdowns, all from over forty yards out. The Buckeyes had gained 347 yards before the halfway mark of the second quarter, including 161 and two scores from Jeremiah Smith.

Smith set an Ohio State freshman record for receiving yards in a game, surpassing Chris Carter, who had 172 in the 1995 Rose Bowl. The star true freshman ended the game with seven receptions for 187 yards, taking home the Offense Player of the Game honors.

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard (18) completed 17 of 26 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Buckeyes to a 41-21 win against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl Game played in Pasadena, California on Jan. 1, 2025. Photo credit: Sammy Saludo/News4usonline

“After (the Michigan) game, we had a bad taste in our mouth. We had to come in the next day and see what the issue was, fix the issues, and then get on the field and work on it. Offensively, we knew we had to get the ball to the perimeter and take shots and win our one-on-one matchups, and that is what we did,” said Smith.

The Buckeyes have now followed up the bad loss to rival Michigan with two dominant wins over tough College Football Playoff opponents.

Oregon did not get on the board until zero seconds remained on the clock in the first half. Dillon Gabriel found Traeshon Holden in the endzone for a five-yard score as time expired, and the Ducks converted a two-point conversion to make the score 34-8 at halftime.

Despite being gashed by massive plays on defense, Oregon seemed to settle repeatedly for short gains behind the sticks on offense. Up until the scoring drive, Gabriel had only thrown for 54 yards.

“You plan to create explosive plays, be really good with situational football, and move the chains. We just didn’t do that on third down. They had a great plan, but if you don’t go get it on third down, you can’t move forward,” said Gabriel.

Ohio State University wide receiver Jeremiah Snith (4) caught seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s 41-21 win against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl Game played in Pasadena, California on Jan. 1, 2025. Photo credit: Sammy Saludo/News4usonline

The Ducks attempted to make a comeback, but it was too late. They put together long scoring drives to begin the third and fourth quarter but failed to do much else.

Gabriel finished the day with solid numbers, completing 70 percent of his passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns, but Oregon was unable to get anything going on the ground. In fact, they moved the ball in the opposite direction, with negative 23 rushing yards.

Will Howard is playing with a lot of confidence under center for Ohio State during the postseason, and he has thrown for over 300 yards in back-to-back games. The senior quarterback has plenty of playmakers to make his job easy, and he is delivering the football to them.

“We tell him just throw the ball out there, and we will make a play for you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bad ball or not; we are going to make our quarterback look good. When Will is playing with that confidence that he has, being a leader out there, I feed off his energy,” said Smith.

Texas is the next team standing in Ohio State’s way. The Longhorns won an overtime thriller against Arizona State in the Peach Bowl to advance to the semifinals. Texas will have its hands full trying to slow down the Buckeyes’ offense, and if it fails to get its ground attack going, it could make for a long night at AT&T Stadium in the Cotton Bowl.

Lead Image Photo: Ohio State running back Treveyon Henderson (32) rushed for 94 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ 41-21 win against the University of Oregon in the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California on Jan. 1, 2025. Photo credit: Sammy Saludo/News4usonline


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