The matchup in Miami was statistically about as even as you could get. The Oregon Ducks, a team that has established themselves as deep and efficient, were set to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders, who were bringing a defense few teams could find success against. Both game plans were expected to rely on the long ball, but instead, fans got a relentless battle.
“They're good. We thought it'd be about explosive plays,” head coach Dan Lanning said. “There weren't a ton of explosive plays in this game, right? Really, for either side, but the physicality showed up for our guys down the stretch.”
The first quarter was a battle of the defenses, though Oregon was able to find some momentum in its pass game. Quarterback Dante Moore started 11-for-13 with 93 yards and looked comfortable in the pocket with a 26-yard pass to tight end Jamari Johnson. This was the highlight of the Ducks’ long game for the first quarter, and quite possibly the first half. Moore was met with a sack right after an incomplete pass to the end zone that resulted in Oregon’s kicker Atticus Sappington putting the team’s first three points on the board.
The second drive was not much different, although the Ducks started to find some momentum. Moore bounced back after being met with an immediate sack, completing a 13-yard pass to wide receiver Dakorien Moore after running backs Noah Whittington and Dierre Hill added 13 rushing yards. Soon after, a failed wildcat formation on fourth down turned the ball over into the hands of the Red Raiders.
Oregon’s defense showed out for the first half, a light in the game early on. They forced the Behren Morton-led offense into two three-and-outs, and freshman cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. started the second quarter by picking him off.
Oregon’s defensive momentum still couldn’t translate into offense, though. Right after the interception, the Ducks punted after a failed third-and-20 that led to Moore nearly losing the ball on a poor snap.
Even after a 50-yard run from J’Koby Williams led to a missed Texas Tech field goal, the Ducks still couldn’t manage to put points on the board. A fake punt on fourth down put Oregon in the red zone for the first time all game with five minutes left in the first half, but a failed fourth down on an attempt to score ended that run. Despite finishing 3-of-7in fourth-down conversions, Lanning didn’t seem to have regrets about his team’s efforts.
“Well, it works sometimes, it didn't work sometimes, right?” he said. “So, I assume all the times it didn't work, I'm stupid, and the times it worked, I'm smart. That's kind of how it works, right? And I feel like we talked about it at halftime. We made some adjustments. They were playing really good fourth-down defense. We decided, hey, let's take the points in the second half. But I think that's our mindset. We make those decisions early in the week, and I certainly trust our offense.”
Finney was back for more the next drive, this time with help from Bryce Boettcher, who punched the ball out from RB Cameron Dickey for Finney to recover. Sappington finished the drive with another field goal, which would be the last points Oregon scored before half.
Texas Tech proved how dangerous its rush defense could be. Up until a Whittington carry for nine yards at the end of the first quarter, the Ducks had totaled just five yards in the wrong direction on the ground. They were able to turn that into a positive five yards before halftime. When the rush offense wasn’t working, the game plan became to use other outlets to create momentum.
“You walk into halftime at 6-0, it's a great indicator of them being a good defense,” Lanning said. “They had some guys that played some really good ball. We just felt like [at halftime] it was going to be about chipping away and eventually it was going to break, and it kind of broke open with us creating some extra opportunities there with takeaways.”
A bright spot was Moore, who was able to get the offense going in the air. He finished the first 30 minutes going 22-of-27 with 170 yards. WR Malik Benson was his favorite target, with five receptions for 51 yards.
Oregon didn’t lose its defensive spark after the break. Linebacker Jerry Mixon had a tackle in the backfield that forced a punt, one of the many for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech walked away from this matchup with 137 receiving yards, but the Ducks’ defense continually negated its passing offense’s ability to make consistent advances, something that Lanning credited to Finney and the 10 guys supporting him.
“It definitely starts with players like Brandon. I think Brandon would tell you the same thing,” he said. “It's about 11 guys executing. That's how you get an opportunity to create plays like that… You know, we knew their tempo would be an issue. Ultimately, we want to be able to get the call in fast and let our guys line up. I thought we did a really good job of that. I feel like it was probably faster in practice than it was in the game, which is ultimately what we wanted.”
Benson, who finished the game with his 51 yards from the first half, had an explosive 28-yard return, setting up the Ducks on the Raiders’ 41-yard line. Yet still, Oregon’s offense could not carry the momentum. An attempt to convert on fourth-and-short turned into a broken play off a run fake that ended with a LB Jacob Rodriguez denial and the third failed conversion in six attempts for the Ducks.
The defense showed out again, MAJORLY, on the next Texas Tech possession as well. Almost like magic, Edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei stripped the ball from Morton without even letting it touch the ground. He set up the Ducks in scoring position, and RB Jordon Davison was able to run it in on the next play. Coming into the last quarter of the game, Oregon had a 13-0 advantage.
Texas Tech had a nice drive to advance to the red zone for the first time all game to end the third quarter, but Finney had other plans to start the fourth. For the third time in the game and just the fourth time in his career, the freshman cornerback picked off the ball from the hands of Coy Eakin in the endzone, something Tech later said they were not expecting at all.
“I feel like our defense is the best at preparing in the nation,” Finney said in credit to his interception. “So, what Coach Tosh Lupoi and what Coach Lanning do throughout the week, just preparing us as players [and] getting ready for the game plan, [it] just helps us as players be ready to execute. That's our job.”
What would’ve been a three-and-out for the Ducks turned into another set of opportunities with an offsides penalty committed during their punt. What was a rare mistake turned into something familiar for Oregon — unable to use this momentum to put up six.
On a positive note: Atticus Sappington was as accurate as ever, setting up a perfect 43-yard field goal and a 16-0 point lead that the Ducks would only run with.
There were many, but arguably the biggest sack of the game came with just under seven minutes to play on a Texas Tech third down. Teitum Tuioti, who has been disruptive all day, brought down Morton for a loss of five, his second sack of the game.
After taking a couple of minutes off the clock, Sappington couldn’t convert on his last field goal attempt of the day, giving Texas Tech a chance to make a run with 4:42 left on the clock. This also gave the Ducks’ defense another chance to come after Morton, and that they did. Sophomore linebacker Blake Purchase put his name on the stat sheet with a sack to end it all for Texas Tech’s playoff hopes. The offensive line would finish with four sacks to their names, one other from Uiagalelei.
Oregon wasn’t finished yet, adding a punch into the endzone from Davison, his second of the day and the last of the game. The offense left 20 seconds on the board, 23 points to their name, and a trip to Atlanta on the way.
Finney was named Defensive MVP, contributing to three of the four takeaways the Ducks had on the day. Moore took home Offensive MVP, finishing 26-for-33 with 234 yards.
Oregon will find itself back in the South next Friday to face off against Indiana in the Peach Bowl after the Hoosiers defeated Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl. Kickoff is set for 4:30 PST.