Ohio State pummeled Oregon 41-21 to win the Rose Bowl and advance to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. The dominance by the Buckeyes goes deeper than it showed on the scoreboard. The Bucks began the destruction of the Ducks with their offensive attack and maintained the resounding victory with their elite defense.
The Ohio State offense had a tough foe to fight in the Oregon defense. The Ducks defense was 10th in the nation in yards allowed, allowing only 301.9 yards per game in their first 13 games. The Buckeyes hot start allowed them to put up 500 total yards on Oregon. Oregon was only giving up about 17 points per game (17.8), the Buckeyes essentially doubled that in the first half with 34 and totaled 41 points.
Ohio State took their foot off the gas in the second half, too. Credit needs to be given to the Ohio State offensive line as well Oregon ranked 13th in the nation with 40 sacks of the quarterback this season. Ohio State didn’t give up a single one! Ohio State put up over double the number of points that Oregon usually gives up and almost 200 more yards in total offense!
As impressive as the Buckeyes lighting up the Ducks' defense was, the Ohio State defense shutting Oregon’s offense down was even more impressive. Oregon averaged 449.8 yards per game, good enough for 13th in the nation, and Ohio State held them to 173 yards less than their average, giving up only 276 yards, and many of them after the game was already decided.
Oregon was also 13th in the nation in points per game with 35.9. Ohio State held them to two touchdowns below their average giving up only 21. The biggest defense number for the Buckeyes though is how they stuff the Ducks rushing attack. Oregon was averaging 171.8 yards per game on the ground and Ohio State made them leave the Rose Bowl with fewer yards than they came in with. Oregon had -23 yards rushing on 28 carries!
Ohio State was led by six star players who have red-hot in the Playoff, three on offense and three on defense. No one is having a better postseason than Jeremiah Smith, Will Howard, TreVeyon Henderson, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, and Cody Simon.
Jeremiah Smith has been the catalyst and leading offensive weapon for Ohio State. That got away from them against the Wolverines, but the Buckeyes learned their lesson and have gone to him early and often in the Playoff. His hot starts opened the offense against both Tennessee and Oregon.
Against Oregon, he had seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns. This put his playoff total at 13 catches for 290 yards and four touchdowns. He’s taken the top off of two good defenses and opened everything up for the rest of the Buckeye offense. Ohio State will need to go to him again against Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
Will Howard has been great at getting the ball to the superstar in Smith and attacking the opposing defenses elsewhere when teams scramble to try and stop #4. Howard was 17 of 26 for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the Rose Bowl win over Oregon. His Playoff totals are now 41 of 55 for 630 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also kept turnovers to a minimum and will need to continue to take care of the ball if the Buckeyes continue to advance.
TreVeyon Henderson has been a beast out of the backfield. He had only eight carries against Oregon but got 94 yards and a touchdown out of them. He also has been an important threat in the passing game and added another three catches for 20 yards in the Rose Bowl. He has 25 touches for 248 total yards and three touchdowns in the CFP.
On the defensive side of the ball it has started with the pass rush and Sawyer, Simon, and Tuimoloau have brought the fireworks. Sawyer had only two tackles against Oregon but they were both sacks of the quarterback. He also deflected three passes all while being terribly held at the line of scrimmage. Captain Ohio Jack’s playoff total is seven tackles, 3.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for a loss, and five pass deflections!
Just as good at defensive end has been J.T. Tuimoloau. He had three tackles in the Rose Bowl, all behind the line of scrimmage, and two of them were sacks. His playoff total is 11 tackles, four sacks, and 5.5 tackles for a loss and a pass deflection.
At linebacker Cody Simon has been a tackling machine and when Tuimoloau and Sawyer haven’t gotten to the quarterback they’ve eaten up so many blockers that Simon has gotten the sacks when they didn’t. The defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl had 11 tackles, three tackles for a loss, two sacks, and a pass deflection. In his two playoff games, he’s got 23 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for a loss and two pass deflections.
These stars will need to keep putting up these kinds of numbers in production if Ohio State hopes to keep their playoff run alive and do to a very talented Texas team what they did to Tennessee and to Oregon.
Texas is just as talented, so these Buckeyes will be just as challenged to once again dig deep and find a way to win. Credit to the embattled Buckeye coaches for getting their team to reach the heights they and we all knew they were capable of! Go Buckeyes!