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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
PASADENA, Calif. — Jeremiah Smith, a rose stem planted firmly in his mouth, glared confidently into the scarlet-coated section of the Rose Bowl stands Wednesday as he exited the field.
The Ohio State band was blaring the school fight song, and all around Smith, teammates, cheerleaders and fans were soaking up the sights and sounds of the Buckeyes‘ 41-21 battering of Oregon in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential. It was their second straight blowout win in the College Football Playoff, moving them two wins away from a national championship.
“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and that chip ain’t going away,” said Smith, managing to keep the rose stem in his mouth. “That’s who we are.”
That’s fitting, too, because the Buckeyes have managed to do just about anything they’ve wanted in this playoff, easing the sting of the 13-10 loss to bitter rival Michigan to end the regular season.
“As much pain as that caused a lot of people, I don’t know if we’d be here without that,” senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams said. “I know it sounds simple, but it gets back to executing the way we can, the way our talent says we should. When we do that, I’m not sure anybody can beat us, and you’ve seen that these last two games.”
Ohio State (12-2) never left any doubt in this game and surged ahead 34-0 in the second quarter against a previously unbeaten Oregon team that squeaked past Ohio State 32-31 on Oct. 12 the first time the teams played in Eugene.
How dominant was this quarterfinal beatdown? At the 10:28 mark of the second quarter, Smith had five catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns, and Ohio State led 24-0. Oregon as a team had 60 total yards.
“Can’t give them any life, no reason to believe they can win,” Smith said. “We knew there were no tomorrows for us when we came into this playoff. We got a second chance [after the loss to Michigan], and you see what we’re doing with it.”
Smith set an Ohio State single-game record for a freshman with 187 receiving yards, surpassing Cris Carter. He has caught four touchdown passes in his two playoff games and averaged 22.3 yards per catch. He caught six passes for 103 yards and two scores in the 42-17 win over Tennessee.
“Legendary,” senior receiver Emeka Egbuka beamed when asked to describe Smith’s performance.
Egbuka went on to compare it to former Buckeyes receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 347-yard, three-touchdown day in the 2022 Rose Bowl win over Utah.
“Even though the stats may not reflect it, I don’t think it was too far off Jaxon’s performance,” he said.
Egbuka added: “This is when you want to play your best football, and we are. We came together as a team and let everything go from the past. Our goal was and is to win a national championship.”
As the Buckeyes turn their attention to Texas in the CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10, they do so coming off their most complete performance of the season.
Counting Smith’s 187 receiving yards, Ohio State was close to having a 300-yard passer, two 100-yard rushers and a 100-yard receiver in the game. Quarterback Will Howard finished with 319 passing yards and three touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 96 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown, and Quinshon Judkins rushed for 85 yards.
On defense, Ohio State racked up a season-high eight sacks and held Oregon to minus-23 rushing yards. Only one Oregon player had a run that was longer than 10 yards.
“When you have great brotherhood, that pays dividends on the field,” said senior defensive end JT Tuimoloau, who had two of Ohio State’s eight sacks. “You should have seen the emotion coming out of our locker room after the game. We’re just so happy. I mean, we put in so much preparation, losing sleep, staying in after hours and sacrificing a lot of our free time just for these moments right here. It pays off. It pays off, man.”
Nobody felt the restlessness (and wrath) of the Ohio State fans more than coach Ryan Day following the loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes’ fourth in a row in the rivalry. Questions swirled around the college football world about what version of Ohio State would show up in the playoff.
Williams said the players themselves didn’t have those questions.
“All that noise was on the outside,” Williams said. “We believed in what kind of team we are. Coach [Day] believed in us. The players know. We go against each other every day. It’s just that we had to go out there, put it all together. We’re doing that, and I don’t see any reason that’s going to change.”
Howard said Ohio State has been an “angry football team” ever since the loss to Michigan, but the important thing was playing that way.
Day said the resiliency of Ohio State’s team has been what has set it apart.
“And when you surround yourself with great people, with great character, you find yourself working through difficult times,” said Day, who has won at least 11 games in each of his five full seasons (not counting the COVID-shortened season in 2020).
“At the end of the day, we wanted to win a national championship, and the way that we got here wasn’t what we expected. It wasn’t what we planned for. But, nonetheless, we had an opportunity to come back and play Oregon after we had already played them early in the season, and that’s the only thing that mattered.
“The winner gets to play together another week. The loser doesn’t.”