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The fifth-seeded Oregon Ducks needed to score 51 points to get past James Madison in their first-round College Football Playoff game.
Field goals were enough to get the job done in the Orange Bowl on Thursday against 4-seed Texas Tech. The Red Raiders averaged only 3.5 yards per play and the Ducks won 23-0 to advance to the CFP semifinal round.
Oregon will face either 1-seed Indiana or 9-seed Alabama in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN). A game against Indiana would set up a rematch of the only defeat the Ducks (13-1) have suffered all season.
The Ducks sacked Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton 4 times. They produced 7 tackles for loss. They forced 4 turnovers. They limited Morton to just 137 passing yards on 32 attempts.
Red Raider tailback J’Koby Williams popped a 50-yard run in the second quarter on a busted play — 2 Oregon defenders had a shot at a tackle in the backfield before Williams reversed course and raced down the opposite sideline — but the offense was limited to just 2.7 yards per play on its other 61 snaps.
Oregon’s offense wasn’t clean. Penalties and miscues colored a day that saw Oregon average under 4 yards a play itself. Aggressiveness from coach Dan Lanning led to multiple scoreless possessions that crossed the Tech 40. Oregon managed just 2 field goals in the first half. It turned down field goal tries and came away with 2 first-half turnovers on downs inside the Tech 25.
But the defense’s ability to constrict the Tech offense had to give Lanning the confidence to stay aggressive on the other side. Tech finished the day with 4 3-and-outs, 2 fumbles, 2 interceptions, and 3 turnovers on downs.
The game-breaking play came in the third quarter, when Matayo Uiagalelei got to Morton for a strip-sack. He recovered the fumble, returned it 16 yards, and gave the Ducks the ball at the Tech 6-yard line.
Oregon scored the game’s first touchdown on the very next play — a 6-yard run from Jordon Davison — to go up 13-0.
Teitum Tuioti contributed 2 sacks. Brandon Finney had 2 interceptions. Jerry Mixon broke up 2 more passes. Bryce Boettcher and Dillon Thieneman each produced 12 tackles. The unit pitched the first shutout of a Texas Tech offense since Nov. 20, 2021.
A victory on Thursday also earned Oregon its 13th win of the campaign, tying the program record for the most in a single season. A semifinal win would break the record and push Oregon 1 step closer to its first-ever national championship.
Oregon 23, Texas Tech 0
Here’s the Orange Bowl Playoff quarterfinal box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.