Orange Bowl features explosive offenses, tough defenses, layoff problem

After Miami's 24-14 upset of No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, teams coming off the College Football Playoff bye are 0-5 in the quarterfinals.

Though it may be too early to draw broad conclusions, the Canes looked sharper and more energetic than OSU, taking a 14-0 lead into halftime on the strength of Keionte Scott's 72-yard interception return in the second quarter.

The most accurate quarterback in college football all season, the Buckeyes' Julian Sayin threw two interceptions while Miami sacked him five times. Mario Cristobal's Hurricane squad advances to the Fiesta Bowl opposite the winner of the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss versus Georgia at 5 p.m. PT Thursday night.

The U. lost to SMU and Louisville during the season, needing an at-large bid to get into the tournament. Their win shows the importance of peaking in the playoff over piling up regular season wins.

Ohio State finishes 12-2. Undefeated in the regular season at 12-0, the defending national champions lost the Big Ten Championship Game to Indiana, 13-10 before scoring just 14 points at the Cotton Bowl, 0-2 in the 2025 postseason, eliminated despite a high-priced, star-studded roster.

Ducks, Red Raiders a clash of explosiveness vs physicality

Attention now turns to the Orange Bowl, Oregon vs. Texas Tech at 9 a.m. PT on ESPN. The Ducks are a 2.5-point favorite after beating James Madison 51-34 in a first-round game in Eugene on December 20, but to advance they'll have to counter a fearsome Texas Tech defense that produced 39 sacks and 31 turnovers this season, led by Unanimous All-American linebacker Jake Rodriguez.

It's foolhardy to draw broad conclusions about the strength of conferences from bowl season. The Big Ten started 6-0 but on New Year's Eve the Buckeyes fell, Michigan lost 41-27 to Texas and USC let a win slip out of their hands at the Alamo Bowl, upset by TCU of the Big 12 30-27, the Horned Frogs completing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Payne on third and 20 on the last play of overtime.

Utah doubled up Nebraska 44-22 while Iowa trimmed Vanderbilt 34-27. Illinois held on for a 30-28 win over Tennessee. The Big 12 scored two more blows in minor bowls when Houston defeated coachless LSU 38-35 and BYU edged Georgia Tech 25-21 on Saturday.

The 12-1 Red Raiders have dominated everyone they've played this season outside of an upset loss to Arizona State, back in October when quarterback Behren Morton was injured. Other than that, they won every game by 20 points or more, combining explosive offense with their swarming Front 7 on defense.

“Our players have prepped really hard and there’s a ton of respect for Texas Tech and what they’ve been able to create this year,” Dan Lanning said at the pregame press conference Wednesday. “The way they play, I think that’s a true indication of the way Coach McGuire coaches. Our guys are really excited about this opportunity to share a field and it’s an awesome venue to get to be a part of."

The key question of the game remains how well Oregon's offensive line can match up with Rodiguez, David Bailey, Romello Height and Ben Roberts, the heart of a unit that's limited opponents to 2.3 yards a carry on the ground and 10.9 points a game. Duck quarterback Dante Moore has been guilty of making the occasional mistake under pressure-- he has to avoid throwing into the teeth of Tech's opportunistic underneath coverage, forcing throws that aren't there.