Video: What Oregon's Dan Lanning said about Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State
Oregon coach Dan Lanning praised Ohio State and his team after the Ducks' surprising scoring and loss in the Rose Bowl CFP quarterfinals.
An Oregon football season that delivered only promise and hope for a deep postseason run ended with a surprising loss at the hands of Big Ten rival Ohio State.
#1 and previously undefeated ducksOn Wednesday, the team lost to No. 8 after being overwhelmed by a strong defense and frustrated by an incompetent attack in the first half of the game. Buckeyes41-21, College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
With the win, Ohio State will face Texas in the CFP semifinals on Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas.
Celebrate Oregon's first Big Ten season with a new book
For the Ducks, who entered the game with a 13-0 record, including a win over Penn State in the conference championship game on Dec. 7, the offseason arrived earlier than many expected.
“Sometimes it’s not your day,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “I think that was us today. Today wasn’t our day.”
Quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 299 yards and two TDs for Oregon, while wide receiver Traeshon Holden had seven catches for 116 yards and two scores.
The Ducks were outscored on offense 500-276.
Let's take a closer look at how it went down in the Rose Bowl.
Oregon couldn't overcome a disastrous first half
The Ducks dominated most of the first two quarters.
Ohio State entered the game three plays later and continued to pile on the score until it was 34-0 with 2:59 left in the first half.
The Buckeyes had nine plays of 15 or more yards, five plays of 30 or more yards and scoring plays of 45, 42, 43 and 66 yards. Four drives ended in touchdowns, totaling nine plays.
The Ducks finally scored on their final drive of the half to make it 34-8, but were outscored 390-139 at halftime, including 121-13 rushing yards. Ohio State averaged 11.8 yards per play in the first half compared to 3.9 for Oregon.
“They clicked tonight, we didn’t click,” Lanning said. “I didn't prepare our team, and that's a great team. When you play a great team like Ohio State, you can't click on all cylinders. And they are. They were clicking on all cylinders. We really had them. “We didn’t have the ability to stop, we didn’t have the ability to get anything going on offense, and we didn’t have many of those moments all year.”
The Ducks were dominant in the trenches.
Oregon was outmatched on both sides of the ball, especially at the line of scrimmage.
Gabriel, a Heisman Trophy finalist making his FBS-record 63rd start, was sacked eight times and the Buckeyes totaled 13 tackles for loss.
Oregon's ground game was also stuffed as the Ducks were credited with minus-23 yards rushing, which increased to a total of 33 yards when adjusting for yards lost on sacks.
It didn't help that starting running back Jordan James left the game early in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury after seven carries for 14 yards and two catches for 7 yards. He still finished the game as the team's leading rusher.
In the Ducks' 32-31 win over Ohio State in October, Oregon was down 155 and 2 down. James also had 115 on 23 carries that day.
On the other hand, Oregon's pass rush, which has been so fierce in the second half of the season, had a sack on Wednesday. In total, the Ducks only had three TFLs.
Ohio State was able to rush for 181 yards on 31 carries, including TreVeyon Henderson's 66-yard touchdown.
Oregon secondary has no answer for Jeremiah Smith.
Ohio State's freshman wide receiver finished the game with seven catches for 187 yards and two scores.
Just 51 seconds into the game, Smith scored on a 45-yard catch and run.
He then had catches of 29, 12 and 32 yards in the first quarter and a 43-yard touchdown in the second to finish the first half with five catches for 161 yards.
“He’s strong and attacks the ball in the air like any receiver I’ve ever seen,” Lanning said. “The guy is ready for the NFL. He’s that talented and that special.”
Smith's pass-catching ability allowed quarterback Will Howard to throw for 319 yards and three touchdowns on 17-of-26 passing.
Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men's basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can contact him at chansen@registerguard.com and follow him at
2025-01-02 04:10:36
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