Rose Bowl: Early offensive explosion leads Ohio State to lopsided win over Oregon

Against Oregon, Ohio State opened up a 34-0 lead by scoring on six of its seven possessions in the first half.

That started with sneaking star freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith out into the flat for a short pass from Will Howard that he took 45 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game.

Smith picked up two blocks, dodged the Oregon safety then jogged the last 12 yards to the end zone to give Ohio State a 7-0 lead one minute into the game.

The Buckeyes struck again midway through the first quarter when Howard launchd one over the middle for Emeka Egbuka, who hauled it in just behind a pair of Oregon defenders as he crossed the goal line for a 42-yard score.

That made it 14-0 with 7:31 left in the first quarter, and the Buckeyes added three more on a 46-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding with 14:50 left in the second quarter.

After forcing a turnover on downs near midfield on the following possession, Ohio State wasted no time putting its foot on the Oregon throat.

Quinshon Judkins ran for five yards on first down, then Howard dropped back on play-action and found Smith wide open for a 43-yard touchdown. He had lined up in the slot, and the Ducks never appeared to locate him, leading to an easy score that pushed the lead to 24-0 with 10:28 left in the second quarter.

The Buckeyes kept pouring it on a possession later when TreVeyon Henderson took a handoff to the right, followed a pair of pulling linemen and sprinted down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown to give Ohio State a 31-0 lead with more than eight minutes left in the second quarter.

They added three more on a 36-yard field goal by Fielding with 2:59 to go.

Top-ranked Oregon rallied on its final possession of the half, getting a 44-yard pass from Dillon Gabriel to Traeshon Holden to convert a third-and-long to move the ball into Ohio State territory for the first time.

The Ducks capitalized four plays later when Gabriel found Holden in the back of the end zone for a touchdown as time expired. Gabriel then hit Justius Love in the back of the end zone for two more points to set the halftime score.

Oregon got the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 75 yards in 11 plays. Although Noah Whittington’s 2-yard touchdown run and a PAT kick by Atticus Sappington cut Ohio State’s lead to 34-15, the drive took more than six minutes off the clock.

Like the previous Oregon scoring drive, a big third down pass kept the Ducks alive. This time Gabriel found Lowe for 21 yards to set up a fourth-and-1 they were able to convert.

The Oregon defense also got out to a strong start to the second half, forcing its first three-and-out of the game and just the second Ohio State punt.

That drive took only 1:34 off the clock, but Oregon wasn’t able to do anything on the ensuing drive as Jack Sawyer and Cody Simon both had sacks to force the Ducks to punt.

The Ohio State offense took it from there, driving 56 yards in six plays for a momentum-halting score that restored the lead to 26 points.

Henderson finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run, but passes of 10 and 16 yards from Howard to Smith on consecutive plays got the drive going.

Oregon found the end zone early in the fourth quarter when Gabriel hit Holden for a 27-yard touchdown, but the Ducks only cut the lead to 41-21 when their two-point attempt was unsuccessful.