Oregon to Face Ohio State in a Different Kind of Rose Bowl

Top-ranked and undefeated Oregon will face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl Wednesday, with both teams seeking to move within two victories of a national championship instead of getting a memorable season- ending win.

The game is among four quarterfinals in the first season of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff with the winner facing the winner of Wednesday’s Peach Bowl between fourth-seeded Arizona State and fifth-seeded Texas in the Cotton Bowl Jan. 10.

Oregon earned the top seed in the playoff and a first-round bye with a 45-37 victory over Penn State in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 7, improving to 13-0 and remaining as the Football Bowl Subdivision’s lone undefeated team.

Eighth-seeded Ohio State (11-2) advanced to the game with a 42-17 victory over ninth-seeded Tennessee in a first-round game Dec. 21 in Columbus, Ohio.

The game will be a rematch; the Ducks scored a 32-31 victory over the Buckeyes Oct. 12 at Eugene, Oregon, when Atticus Sappington kicked the go-ahead field goal with one minute, 47 seconds to play in a game with eight lead changes.

Ohio State drove to Oregon’s 28-yard line on the ensuing possession, then was penalized 15 yards for pass interference. The game ended with quarterback Will Howard sliding at the Ducks’ 26-yard line  after a 12-yard gain trying to get into better field goal range.

Oregon had Ohio State opponent season highs in passing yards (341) and total offensive yards (496), the second-most rushing yards (155), and scored four of five times in the red zone.

Howard completed a career-high 28 passes in 35 attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a touchdown.

“We’re different teams at this point,” Ducks coach Dan Lanning said. “At Oregon we talk about trying to be the best version of ourselves toward the end of the season. That’s when you have to play your best ball.”

The Buckeyes are first among FBS teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 11.4 points per game, total defense, allowing 242.2 yards per game, passing defense, allowing 141.2 yards per game, and red zone defense, allowing opponents to score 59.4% of the time.

Oregon is the only FBS team in the top 15 for scoring offense (13th, averaging 35.9 points per game), total offense (13th, averaging 449.8 yards per game), scoring defense (12th, allowing 17.8 points per game) and total defense (ninth, allowing 301.8 yards per game).

Ducks quarterback Dillon Gabriel enters the game with two FBS records and is approaching a third. His 187 career total touchdowns are a record. His 63 starts are the most among FBS quarterbacks. His 153 touchdown passes are two behind Case Keenum’s record of 155.

Gabriel began his college career in 2019 at Central Florida, started each of the Knights’ final 12 games as a true freshman and was the MVP of their 48-25 victory over Marshall in the Gasparilla Bowl.

Gabriel led FBS with 357.0 passing yards per game as a sophomore in 2020.

He started the first three games of Central Florida’s 2021 season, and broke his left clavicle on the final play of a 42-35 loss to Louisville Sept. 17 and was sidelined for the rest of the season.

Gabriel transferred to Oklahoma following the 2021 season. He was selected as the Big 12’s Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2022 when he completed 230 of 367 passes for 3,168 yards and 25 touchdowns.

In 2023, Gabriel led the Big 12 in passing offense, total offense, points responsible for per game, completion percentage and passing touchdowns, then transferred to Oregon following the season.

Gabriel, who turned 24 Saturday, is in his sixth season in college football. Like all players who played in the COVID-19-affected 2020 season, he received an extra season of eligibility. He received a redshirt season for his injury-shortened 2021 season.

Howard and Gabriel share second place in completion percentage among qualified FBS passers at 73.2%, behind Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, who completed 74.0% of his passes.

Oregon will be making its ninth appearance in the Rose Bowl and fifth since 2010. The Ducks are 4-4 in the Rose Bowl and have won in each of their three most recent trips, most recently defeating Wisconsin, 28-27, on New Year’s Day, 2020.

Ohio State has made 16 Rose Bowl appearances, third-most all-time behind USC (34) and Michigan (21), and have a 9-7 record, winning in each of their last four most recent trips.

The Buckeyes lead the series, 9-2, but have lost both of the past two games.

Oddsmakers have made Ohio State a 2 1/2-point favorite. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives the Buckeyes a 53.7% chance of winning, the Ducks a 46.3% chance.

The 2 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN.

Much has changed in college football since the last time Ohio State played in the Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 2022, defeating Utah, 48-45. The Buckeyes then had not played five weeks. This time, it has been 11 days.

“It’s like being in routine of a game week, and usually when you prepare for a bowl there’s a whole month of preparation,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said at a news conference Tuesday. “This is more of a routine.”

In 2021, Ohio State arrived in Southern California Dec. 26 and visited Disneyland Dec. 27. The Buckeyes were scheduled to participate in Lawry’s Beef Bowl Dec. 28, but the visit by the Rose Bowl teams to the Beverly Hills prime rib restaurant was canceled “given the growing concerns around COVID-19 and the Omicron variant,” the restaurant announced.

This tine, the teams arrived Sunday because “with the potential (for) a team to play in as many as four games, the College Football Playoff worked closely with conference commissioners to implement a schedule that would work best for the participating teams,” Karen Linhart, the Rose Bowl Game’s director of marketing & media, told City News Service.

Neither team visited Disneyland or participated in the Beef Bowl.

“It’s not really a bowl game, quote/unquote, with events,” Day said. “It’s more about a playoff game.”

Another change — both teams are members of the Big Ten, but by luck, the Rose Bowl still gets its traditional Midwest versus Pacific Coast matchup.

“I think it makes it even more special,” Day said.