The Background
At long last the Peach Bowl finally arrived. Two B1G foes battled it out in a rematch of Oregon’s only defeat back in October at Autzen stadium. This time a little more was on the line than the B1G regular season standing. A chance to play in the national championship.
For Oregon an opportunity to get to their 3rd national championship game in school history and an opportunity to secure that elusive first national championship. For Indiana the Peach Bowl represented their first ever
college football playoff semi-final appearance. A win would punch the Hoosiers ticket to their first ever national championship game.
Here is how it all went down
The Leadup
Leading up to the game the biggest story from an Oregon perspective was the health of their depleted RB room, specifically Noah Whittington who did make a surprise appearance on the Thursday injury report.
He did suit up for warm-ups and was named a captain for the game however early in the game he was only used sparingly and it was Jay Harris getting the bulk of early carries.
Indiana won the toss and elected to defer their choice to the 2nd half meaning the Ducks offence would get the ball to start the game.
1st Quarter
Things could not start worse as the very first play of the game Dante Moore was targeting Malik Benson on a quick out. He was late and behind which is the worst possible combination for a quick out. DeAngelo Ponds jumped the route secured the ball and ran it back for a pick 6 on the very first play of the game. 7-0 Indiana
The next series Stein kept it nice and simple for Moore to settle him down after the pick. Jay Harris, a man embodying next man up, put together 2 nice runs and took a screen pass for two Duck first downs. The Ducks were facing their first 3rd down of the game and Moore found Benson on a wide open drag route to keep the drive going into Indiana territory.
The Ducks continued to methodically march down the field all the way into Hoosier red zone were on a 3rd and long Dante Moore had a clean pocket and was able to hit Jamari Johnson up the seam to draw the Ducks even. 7-7
Half way through the first quarter Indiana finally got the opportunity to get the ball with their own offence. On an early 3rd and short Mendoza threw a one on one ball to Elijah Sarrat who made a contested catch for potentially the first time ever in his career for an explosive passing play to move the Hoosiers into Oregon territory. Indiana was able to effectively run the ball from their all the way inside the Oregon 10 yard line. On 2nd and goal Fernando Mendoza was able to find Omar Cooper Jr. for the go-ahead TD to restore the Indiana lead. 14-7 Indiana.
2nd Quarter
Oregon’s 3rd possession seemed promising but on 3rd and short the Indiana D-Line absolutely mauled the right side of Oregon’s O-Line to stuff the run and force a 3 and out. James Ferguson Reynolds was able to get a good punt off to at least back Indiana up on their 3rd possession where Oregon would need to hold the Hoosiers off the board.
The Duck defense did well to force a 3rd and long. To get off the field the Ducks sent a blitz but didn’t cover the front door and Mendoza was able to scramble for a big gain to convert. The very next play Oregon got a personal foul for being blocked and Indiana had quickly moved inside the Duck 40. The defense was not disturbed though as two run stuffs and Naz Wyatt on 3rd and Naz off the edge forced a fumble that Mendoza somehow recovered himself but was then sacked anyways for a huge loss. That forced Indiana to punt the ball back to Oregon and the Ducks would have another chance to tie the game.
Disaster struck again though as on Dante Moore’s wind-up he collided with Dierre Hill and the ball was free. Indiana recovered it at the Duck 3 yard line where they would punch it on 3rd down to make it 21-7 Indiana
The Ducks next drive they would need to get points to swing back momentum and get some points. Jay Harris, who was having a great game and answering the bell, got things started by taking a check down and turning it into an explosive play to get things started. On 2nd and short though Oregon was trying to utilize the money-down but Indiana played it perfectly, forcing Moore to hold onto the ball and get the sack to stop the Duck drive in it’s tracks and give it back to Mendoza and the Indiana offence.
The game was quickly slipping away from Oregon and the defense would need to get a stop to keep the Ducks in it. The defense could not deliver as Indiana quickly hit Sarrat for another contested catch and then Mendoza hit Charlie Becker for another Indiana touchdown to make the game 28-7 Indiana.
Things went from awful to even worse than awful on the Ducks next possession as it was another sack fumble and Indiana recovered the ball in Oregon territory up 21 points. With hardly any field to defend Indiana was able to move the ball and punch it in for their 5th first half touchdown and make it 35-7 Indiana with 59 seconds left in the half.
The Ducks were able to drive into Indiana territory to at least give Atticus Sappington a shot to make a career long field goal but he’s attempt came up short and into the half it was 35-7 Indiana, with the Hoosiers getting the ball.
At the half Indiana had gained 54 more yards than Oregon and Oregon had a Net YPP of -1.61 Yards. Indiana was clearly the better team in the first half, but the lop-sided lead of +28 points was largely due to Indiana winning the turnover battle 3-0, with 1 of those Duck turnovers being unforced, another being a bad mistake from Dante, and the 3rd due to the O-line not protecting Dante. Indiana had done a good job to force some Oregon mistakes but some of Oregon’s woes were self-inflicted.
To have any hope of making this a game Oregon would need to get a stop to start the 3rd quarter
3rd Quarter
The duck defense was winning some plays but they didn’t have an answer for Indiana’s down field passing attack as the Hoosiers were able to move the ball all the way to the Oregon 40 thanks to a big passes to Elijah Sarrat and Charlie Becker. On yet another 3rd and long conversion by Indiana Oregon did force a fumble… …that landed right into the arms of an Indiana linemen trailing the play. Indiana would finish the drive off with a pass to EJ Williams. 42-7 Indiana
While most people watching this game probably had shut it off at this point, I a dedicated writer at Addicted to Quack, was obligated to keep believing and never give up. The Ducks would temporarily reward my obligation with a speed option pitch to Dierre Hill who would beat an Indiana defender with his speed and get all the way inside the Indiana 5 yard line.
After a PI on an Indiana DB Jay Harris would plunge into the end zone to give the Ducks their second score of the game. A one on one ball to Jamari Johnson on the 2 point conversion and the Ducks at least started to make the score start to look respectable. 42-15 Indiana
After converting their 165873 3rd down of the night Oregon would get a stop on the next series of downs to force Indiana’s 2nd punt of the night that would bounce perfectly at the 5 yard line.
On 3rd and long deep in their own territory Dante unloaded a long bomb rail shot to J-Mac for a huge gain were he was being interfered with but made the catch anyways to get the Ducks moving. Oregon was starting to put a little bit of pressure on Indiana but on 4th and 1 Oregon decided to pitch it around the edge. Indiana snuffed it out and just as Oregon had a small shred of hope it was gone.
Indiana would immediately go 3 and out on the next drive. Perhaps thanks to a pity non-call from the refs, but nonetheless Oregon would be getting the ball back down 27 with nearly a full quarter to play. The odds were long but there was still time left on the clock… for the ducks to do nothing go 3 and out and just punt the ball back to Indiana which would get blocked anyways and end the game with 13 minutes left in the game.
There was more football played after this but none of it matters. Nothing matters. Football season is over.
National Championship 2026 here we come.
