The Ducks are on the ropes! In the first half of the Rose Bowl showdown between No. 1 Oregon and the Ohio State Buckeyes, Ryan Day and Co. have been putting on a show. More specifically, quarterback Will Howard is lighting up the Oregon defense.
After throwing a 45-yard touchdown to Jeremiah Smith, Howard followed that up by connecting with Emeka Egbuka on a filthy 42-yard score. This wasn't any old catch from Egbuka, though. He had an Oregon defender all over him, but his concentration to come down with the ball was out of this world. Take a look for yourself:
Incredible concentration from Emeka Egbuka to put the Buckeyes up 14-0 #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/XFS4CItqvf
— THE Bunch of Nuts Podcast (@bunch_nuts) January 1, 2025
Ohio State's Emeka Egbuka posted an unreal grab vs. Oregon in the Rose Bowl
The Buckeyes offense can't be stopped. Matter of fact, shortly after this article was originally published, Howard hit Smith for another long score. Chris Fowler is losing his mind with each TD call and the Ohio State faithful are loving it.
Oregon entered this game as a strong favorite, but Day is simply outcoaching Lanning. Who saw this coming? Well, a lot of us actually. Oregon was acting all high and mighty ahead of kickoff, but the Buckeyes have landed several haymakers on them, including the epic TD grab from Egbuka.
So far, things have been close to perfect for Ohio State, with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly calling an incredible game thus far. In the first round of the College Football Playoff, Ohio State had no issues at all taking down Tennessee. That 'Neyland North' narrative really didn't matter at all, did it?
Now, Oregon is seeing just how incredible this team can be on both sides of the ball. Day is all smiles on the sidelines and no one can blame him for that. We don't want to jinx Ohio State, but it sure feels like the team has one foot in the door for the CFP semifinals.