🌰 Ohio State routs Oregon
🤘 Texas beats Arizona State in 2OT
Georgia, Notre Dame will play Thurs. | 4 ET
Ohio State defeated Oregon 41-21 to win the 2025 Rose Bowl in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 34-0 lead in the second quarter and never looked back. Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith broke the Ohio State single-game freshman receiving yardage record with 187 yards. He also added seven receptions and two receiving touchdowns as he earned the Rose Bowl Offensive MVP.
The guy throwing Smith the ball, quarterback Will Howard, completed 65 percent of his passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. However, it was only the air attack where Ohio State dominated; running back TreVeyon Henderson ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries (11.8 ypc) and running back Quinshon Judkins ran for 85 yards. In total it was a 500 yard performance for the Buckeye offense.
Ohio State’s defense was dominant in its own right, only allowing three drives to cross the 50-yard line. The Buckeyes harassed Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to the tune of eight sacks, and the run game wasn’t any help with negative 23 yards and only 20 yards without Gabriel’s negative total. Linebacker Cody Simon earned Rose Bowl Defensive MVP honors after leading Ohio State with 11 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss.
In the loss, Gabriel tied Case Keenum for the FBS career all-time passing touchdown record at 155.
With the win, 8-seed and No. 6 ranked Ohio State advances to play 5-seed and No. 3 ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. It’ll be the fourth time the historic programs have met on the gridiron.
Click or tap here for complete stats from the game. Scroll down to see more from the game.
Oregon wide receiver Traeshon Holden found the end zone for the second time today, this time from 27 yards out. Oregon failed on its two-point conversion and the Ducks are down 20 points.
With the touchdown, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel ties Case Keenum for the all-time career passing touchdown lead at 155.
Traeshon Holden with his second TD of the game 🦆
pic.twitter.com/CcIlpPGHLV
Ohio State leads Oregon by 26 points entering the fourth quarter of the Rose Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals.
Each team scored a touchdown during the third quarter, keeping the spread the same. Oregon scored on its first drive of the quarter, but sacks from Jack Sawyer, Cody Simon and Lathan Ransom on its ensuing drives stalled momentum.
When play resumes, Ohio State will have the ball facing second-and 15 at its own 10-yard line.
See stats through three quarters below
Running back TreVeyon Henderson scored his second touchdown of the day on the ground, this time from a toss from eight years out. It’s his 47th total touchdown of his career, putting him in front of Eddie George for No. 3 all-time. For the game, Henderson has four carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
NO. 8 OHIO STATE HAS NOW DROPPED 40 POINTS ON NO. 1 OREGON 😳 pic.twitter.com/Ch9rXvTUIP
Ohio State had another quick scoring drive — albeit not as quick as in the first half — taking just six plays to go 56 yards. Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith moved to 187 receiving yards on the drive, surpassing Cris Carter’s 172-yard outing in the 1985 Rose Bowl for the Buckeye single-game record.
Jeremiah Smith is UNSTOPPABLE #PMSCFPESPN2 https://t.co/4ZOf8gTG17 pic.twitter.com/tnJ18yHiJC
Oregon has momentum after opening the bookending halftime with a pair of touchdowns. The Ducks opened the second half with an 11-play 75-yard drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from running back Noah Whittington.
Ducks find pay dirt#CFBPlayoff • #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Dl0ejOa8q3
The highlight of the drive came when quarterback Dillon Gabriel evaded pressure to throw a 21-yard pass on a third-and-22. The next play Gabriel pulled a read option to convert the first down and keep the drive alive.
It’s the first touchdown Ohio State’s defense has allowed in the third quarter all season.
Ohio State leads Oregon 34-8 after the Ducks scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion as time expired. Heisman finalist quarterback Dillon Gabriel evaded pressure before finding wide receiver Traeshon Holden in the back of the end zone for the touchdown and wide receiver Justius Lowe for the conversion.
Oregon scores a touchdown and cuts the lead to 34-8 pic.twitter.com/uxeoYZQOG2
Oregon didn’t get into Ohio State territory until 30 seconds remaining in the first half. Before that, the Buckeye defense forced four three-and-outs, adding a punt and turnover on downs on two additional possessions. Ohio State has also limited the Ducks to just 13 rushing yards — it’s hard to run the ball down multiple possessions — and starting Oregon running back Jordan James left the first half with an injury.
Caleb Downs pass break up pic.twitter.com/J2I56mPsCg
Offensively, Ohio State was dominant, only punting the ball once. The Buckeyes scored on two three-play drives, one two-play drive and a one-play drive. Ohio State has seven plays of 29-yards or more, highlighting the explosive offense under the Southern California sunset.
To put some first half Ohio State stats in perspective, Will Howard has completed 61 percent of his passes for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns; he had 326 yards and two touchdowns in the first meeting with Oregon in October. Jeremiah Smith has 5 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns; the Rose Bowl records are 347 yards and three touchdowns.
Oregon will have a chance to build momentum from its late touchdown as the Ducks will receive the ball in the second half down 26 points.
See first half stats below.
Three plays, Three plays, Two plays, One play. That’s how Ohio State has scored touchdowns today. The latest Buckeye score came on a one-play touchdown run from TreyVeyon Henderson who took a counter 66-yards to the house. The touchdown is the longest run in the history of the Rose Bowl.
TREVEYON HENDERSON TOOK IT 66 YARDS TO THE HOUSE 🏠
BUCKEYES UP 31-0 👀 pic.twitter.com/Vv0qMxUQ7i
Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith scored his second touchdown of the Rose Bowl, this time from 43 yards out. Quarterback Will Howard has found Smith for scores of 43 yards and 45 yards today (he connected with Emeka Egbuka for a 42 yard pass too).
This Buckeye touchdown drive took just two plays, following two touchdown drives of three plays.
JEREMIAH SMITH IS UNREAL‼️
HE FINDS THE END ZONE AGAIN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/N8J1f9giQF
After a third-down pass breakup from Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad on the first play of the second quarter, Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding made a 46-yard field goal to put the Buckeyes up 17-0.
Ohio State leads Oregon 14-0 in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Rose Bowl. The Buckeye offense is rolling in the first quarter scoring on a pair of three-play drives. Across two CFP games, the Buckeyes are outscoring opponents 35-0 in first quarter.
However, the OSU rushing attack only has 21 yards despite the offense’s success. It’s similar to Oregon’s offense with only seven rushing yards in the first quarter. The Ducks have been forced to punt on each of their first three possesions.
The star of the first quarter was freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who has four catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. To put those numbers in perspective, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had two catches for eight yards in the first quarter of his Rose Bowl record-setting game where he had 15 catches for 347 yards and three touchdowns in 2022.
When play resumes, Ohio State will be facing third-and-five from the Oregon 28-yard line.
See first quarter stats below
Will Howard threw his second touchdown of the day as he found wide receiver Emeka Egbuka splitting Oregon’s two-high safeties in the end zone on a 42-yard pass. Both of Ohio State’s touchdown drives came in three plays, with the score being a 40+ yard pass.
The Buckeye offense is rolling in the first quarter with four plays of 30 or more yards. Howard is 6-9 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns so far.
Will Howard could not have placed this throw to Emega Egbuka any better
pic.twitter.com/13FjlYSkrI
It took less than one minute for Ohio State to score the first points of the Rose Bowl. Will Howard found Jeremiah Smith as he motioned behind the line of scrimmage into the flat and the freshman wide receiver did the rest, running 45 yards to the end zone.
The Buckeyes scored three plays as Howard took advantage of finding his receivers in space going 2-3 passing for 75 yards on the drive.
JEREMIAH SMITH TD 🔥
OHIO STATE SCORES ON THEIR OPENING DRIVE‼️ pic.twitter.com/UC7BQAzReT
The 2025 Rose Bowl is underway as Ohio State and Oregon battle in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
The Ducks won the coin toss and the Buckeyes will receive the opening kick.
You can watch the game on ESPN2 before the broadcast moves to ESPN after the Texas-Arizona State game concludes in the Peach Bowl
We’re minutes away from the start of the 2025 Rose Bowl. Ohio State and Oregon are warming up and getting ready for a kickoff shortly after 5 p.m.
Ohio State will be wearing white jerseys with gray bottoms while Oregon will be wearing green jerseys and white bottoms
Ohio State
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗹. 𝟭𝟰 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗦 🌹🍿🔥🎥 pic.twitter.com/08iEYC74T1
Oregon
Ready to flourish. #GoDucks x @rosebowlgame pic.twitter.com/HbFJQPRKyH
