Oregon’s 2024 season came to an end on Wednesday evening at the Rose Bowl.

After going 13-0 to begin the season, the Ducks were dismantled 41-21 by Ohio State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals on Wednesday. Oregon fell behind 34-0 and never was able to mount a serious comeback despite stringing together a couple of scores in the second half.

Here are 3 takeaways from Oregon’s defeat:

Oregon’s secondary failed

Oregon’s pass defense was a big strength coming into this matchup, but the Ducks were abused by Ohio State and Will Howard in the passing game on Wednesday night.

Howard threw for 319 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions on 26 pass attempts in the win. His top target was, unsurprisingly, freshman Jeremiah Smith. He ended the night with 187 receiving yards, which is the 5th-most by any receiver in a single CFP game all-time.

Emeka Egbuka also had a big night, catching 5 passes for 72 yards.

Oregon never established the run

Oregon had to go to a pass-heavy game plan after falling behind by such a big margin early on, but the Ducks were never able to get anything going on the ground.

Including sacks, the Ducks averaged -1 yards per carry on the night. Dillon Gabriel was tagged with -43 yards on 12 carries. That distorts reality slightly, but the Ducks couldn’t get anything going with Jordan James or Noah Whittington, either.

James rushed for just 14 yards on 7 carries before leaving the game with an injury. Whittington managed only 3 yards on 6 carries.

Back to the drawing board

Oregon had relatively few hiccups during a 13-0 start to the season, but the Ducks will fall short of even reaching the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

With Gabriel set to be out of collegiate eligibility and numerous other players expected to turn pro, Dan Lanning and his staff will have an interesting rebuild on their hands this offseason.

Regardless of what lies ahead, this is a massively disappointing end to what looked like could be a triumphant season for this Oregon program. Its pursuit of a national championship will extend into at least next season.