Oregon Ducks vs Texas Tech Red Raiders score: Oregon Ducks defeat Texas Tech Red Raiders, advance to semifinals. Check score, college football SF dates, teams
The Ducks allowed just nine first downs and 215 yards against the Red Raiders, eliminating their only real threat with Brandon Finney’s interception in the end zone — one of three turnovers he produced of his own.
But the offense that scored 51 points against James Madison in the opening round wasn’t much of a challenge against Tech.
The Ducks got the ball into Tech territory on 12 of 13 possessions, but their touchdown was a six-yard play set up by Matayo Uiagalelei’s strip sack with 16 seconds left and the game all but over.
“There are some growth moments for sure,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We’ll look at the tapes and see what we did well and what didn’t go well, and then we’ll look at what we’ve been looking at all year: growth.”
Oregon makes up half the field in the Jan. 8-9 semifinals, joining Miami, which defeated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes will face the winner of the Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Mississippi on Thursday night with the prospect of playing against the Bulldogs, the team that ‘Canes QB Carson Beck left after last season. The loss of fourth-ranked Texas Tech dropped the teams, which had won in the first round of the 2-year-old 12-team tournament, to 0-6 in the quarterfinal round.
No. 1 Indiana’s win over No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Thursday would mark a rematch of the Hoosiers’ 30-20 victory over Oregon on Oct. 11. It was Oregon’s only loss of the season, and it was also the game that removed any doubt about Indiana’s staying power, which almost no one saw coming after the 2024 playoff run.
Regardless of the opponent, Oregon will be in Atlanta next Friday, playing for the right to return to South Florida for the championship game on Jan. 19. If the Ducks travel back to Eugene after each game, that would mean traveling 17,500 miles.
This will also delay the departures of Oregon coordinators Tosh Lupoi and Will Stein, who will leave for new jobs once the Ducks’ season ends. California must have liked what they saw from Lupoi’s defense, which had 10 tackles for loss in addition to four turnovers.
Kentucky, which hired Stein, may want to watch the James Madison game again.
Against a much stronger Texas Tech defense, Oregon found itself in scoring range on all but two of its drives. But three resulted in fumbles and four resulted in field goal attempts, but none of them cost the Ducks much.
