MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — If the offense from Week 1 of the playoff and the defense from Week 2 show up for Oregon in the national semifinals, these Ducks could be dangerous.
Fifth-seeded Oregon posted
the first shutout since 2016 in the College Football Playoff — a 23-0 blanking of Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl on Thursday — to move to the semifinals for a matchup against Indiana or Alabama.
The Ducks allowed only nine first downs and 215 yards against the Red Raiders and snuffed out their only true threat with Brandon Finney's interception in the end zone — one of three turnovers he produced on his own.
But an offense that scored 51 points against overmatched James Madison in the opening round was anything but overwhelming against Tech.
The Ducks took the ball into Tech territory on 12 of their 13 possessions, but their touchdowns came on a drive of one play covering six yards that was set up by Matayo Uiagalelei's strip sack and another with 16 seconds left and the game all but over.
“Some growth moments, for sure,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We'll look at tape and see what we did well and what didn’t do well, and then we'll look at the same thing we’ve looked at all year. Growth.”
Oregon joined Miami — a winner over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday — to make up half the field for the semifinals on Jan. 8-9.
The Hurricanes will play Thursday night's winner of the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Mississippi, with the tantalizing prospect of 'Canes QB Carson Beck going against the team he left after last season, the Bulldogs.
Fourth-seeded Texas Tech's loss dropped teams with first-round byes in the 2-year-old 12-team tournament to 0-6 in the quarterfinal round.
A win for No. 1 Indiana over No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl later Thursday would set up a rematch of the Hoosiers' 30-20 win over Oregon on Oct. 11. It was Oregon's only loss of the season and was also the game that eliminated any doubt about Indiana's staying power after a trip to the playoff in 2024 that hardly anyone saw coming.
Regardless of opponent, Oregon will be in Atlanta next Friday, playing for the right to return to South Florida for the title game on Jan. 19. That would be 17,500 miles in travel if the Ducks head back to Eugene after each game.
It also will delay the departures of Oregon coordinators Tosh Lupoi and Will Stein, who are off to new jobs when the Ducks' season ends. California must have loved what it saw in Lupoi's defense, which had 10 tackles for loss in addition to the four turnovers.
Kentucky, which hired Stein, might want to rewatch the James Madison game.
Against a much more stout Texas Tech defense, Oregon found itself in scoring range on all but two of its drives. But three ended on downs and four more with field-goal attempts, though none of that really cost the Ducks much.
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