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.”

ATLANTA — Kenny Dillingham, Cam Skattebo and Sam Leavitt tried their best to hold back tears as they attempted to process what their Arizona State squad just endured. A day-long roller-coaster ride ended in heartbreak with a 39-31 loss in double overtime to Texas in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Wednesday, abruptly concluding their College Football Playoff run.

After coming up one play short of a stunning upset, Dillingham said he had plenty he’d like to change about how the Sun Devils’ New Year’s Day finale played out. But the second-year coach knows his players left no doubt they deserved to compete with the best.

“I think a lot of people were questioning that,” Dillingham said, “and I don’t think any person questions if we belonged on the field.”

The Sun Devils, predicted to finish last in the Big 12 in the league’s preseason poll in July, achieved a remarkable turnaround from 3-9 to 11-3 in 2024. They earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye as the Big 12 champion despite finishing No. 12 in the final CFP committee rankings.

They looked overmatched early in their first playoff game, quickly falling behind 14-3. But from that point forward, Arizona State did almost everything it needed to do to outplay and outlast the Longhorns.

The Sun Devils outgained their foe 510-375 in total offense. They wore down Texas’ defense, controlling the ball for nearly two-thirds of regulation. They shut down Texas’ powerful run game. They got a legendary performance from Skattebo in the final game of his college career. And in the end, they furiously rallied from a 16-point deficit in the game’s final seven minutes to force overtime.

“We gave everything we had,” Skattebo said.

They had their chance to win, leading 31-24 in the first overtime, but couldn’t get a game-clinching stop on fourth-and-13 and let Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden get wide open for a 28-yard score. Five plays later, the Sun Devils’ season was over. Texas safety Andrew Mukuba picked off Leavitt’s pass, and the No. 5 seed Longhorns survived.

“There are no moral victories when the season ends,” Dillingham said. “There’s no such thing. This should hurt and be painful. The locker room is dreadful right now, and it should be. If it wasn’t, something would be wrong. But at the same token, now that this is over, I really am going to challenge our guys to reflect on where it all started, because it really is remarkable.”

Skattebo, the Sun Devils’ relentless senior running back who finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting, led the way as he did all season with 143 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries. He threw a 42-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter to spark the late rally, then burned the Longhorns for a 62-yard reception on Arizona State’s next drive. He finished with eight catches for 99 yards. Despite the loss, Skattebo earned Peach Bowl offensive MVP honors.

“He’s a special player,” Dillingham said. “It’s just Cam. It’s exactly what I expected, bottom line. When you give him the ball, crazy things happen.”

Late in the third quarter, Skattebo was vomiting on the sideline between offensive possessions. He told reporters he drank too much water too fast and felt “sloshy,” then felt much better afterward.

“Puke and rally,” Dillingham said jokingly.

“That’s when it all started,” Skattebo said. “I had a rough first half, and I wasn’t feeling too good. That second half, it was a different ballgame.”

The Longhorns limited Skattebo to 45 rushing yards in the first half, but Arizona State still put together extended drives against one of the top defenses in FBS. Three drives into Texas territory were halted on fourth-down stops, and another ended on a missed field goal attempt.

“We moved the ball pretty effectively, actually,” Leavitt said. “We just needed to convert in the red zone. I take accountability for a lot of stuff that happened.”

But the redshirt freshman quarterback also kept the Sun Devils in the game throughout, throwing for 222 yards on 52% passing and repeatedly scrambling and running from Texas’ defense, gaining 60 yards on his 13 carries.

Leavitt’s team got hot when it mattered most, closing with a six-game win streak for the Big 12 championship. And Sun Devils did it again in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, starting with a safety midway through the third quarter that helped spark a run of three consecutive scoring drives to tie the score.

Dillingham said he regrets not putting his players in better positions to capitalize on their scoring opportunities, and he took the blame for the cover zero call that Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers beat for the 28-yard score to Golden. Dillingham knows his team fought hard enough to win.

“We played really, really good football for most plays,” Dillingham said. “The problem with football is some plays were worth a lot more than others. The plays that were worth a lot, they made more of them.”

Those regrets don’t detract from his appreciation for what Arizona State has achieved over his first two years in Tempe. The Sun Devils went 1-11 the season before he arrived. He and his coaches tried their best to rebuild a culture and a roster that could be competitive. In just 24 months, they constructed a contender.

After going toe-to-toe and two overtimes with a Texas team that’s one of the best in the game, Dillingham knows they have plenty of reasons to be proud.

“I hate to lose more than anybody,” Dillingham said, “but now that it’s over, you can reflect and where these guys have come is an incredible testament to the team. But, golly, that one sucks.”

After their final game together, Skattebo and Leavitt held hands during their postgame news conference. They helped each other push through the pain as they tried to put in perspective a special season that exceeded their wildest expectations.

“This is just the beginning for us,” Skattebo said. “No matter what, these guys will be in my life forever. It’s awesome that I was able to play football for and with them.”

ATLANTA — Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers sat at his locker long after a thrilling 39-31 double-overtime win over Arizona State had ended Wednesday, his heart rate back to normal.

“We had them right where we wanted them,” Ewers told ESPN with a sly smile when asked about his season-saving touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 in the first overtime.

Ewers then delivered another touchdown pass in the second overtime, and safety Andrew Mukuba sealed the victory with an interception, helping the Longhorns win the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and advance to the semifinals at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, where they’ll face Ohio State.

For Texas, it was two players, often underappreciated at various times in their careers, who came up big with the game on the line. Coach Steve Sarkisian praised his team for its resilience afterward, finding a way to win despite blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead.

“One thing that I know about our group is when our backs are against the wall and when our best is needed, our best shows up time and time again,” Sarkisian said. “There’s going to be plenty of stuff that we’re going to look at and say, ‘We got to do better,’ but our toughness and fight doesn’t need to be better. If there’s one thing that you want as a calling card for your team, [it’s] just that.”

That resilience starts with Ewers. The Texas offense struggled for much of the game, unable to get its ground game going and forced into far too many third-and-longs. After a quick 77 yards in two plays on the first drive of the game, Texas slogged through the next two quarters with 64 total yards.

At one point, up 17-3 in the third quarter, Ewers was sacked in the end zone after recovering a fumble. It was the first safety in CFP history and cracked the door open for Arizona State to regain its confidence and get back in the game.

But Ewers bounced back from that and showed plenty of grit, leading Texas on two fourth-quarter drives that ended in missed field goal attempts, including one from 38 yards that would have won it in regulation. He had to show that determination again for Texas to win.

Arizona State had already scored to go up 31-24 in the first overtime. Texas faced fourth-and-13 from the Arizona State 28, one play to determine its season. Ewers saw Arizona State had planned to blitz and changed the protection at the line. When offensive coordinator Kyle Flood saw that, he knew the Longhorns would have a one-on-one opportunity to get the ball to Matthew Golden.

Sure enough, Texas handled the pressure. Golden streaked down the sideline and Ewers delivered a perfect ball for a 28-yard touchdown pass, the same way the Longhorns practiced it days before the game. The job was not done.

Yet.

Texas got the ball to start the second overtime. The first-down play was a pass play called for tight end Gunnar Helm. Ewers said it was a play the Longhorns like to run in the spring and fall camp during a portion of practice called “red zone lockout,” when the offense goes against the defense in simulated overtime situations. The last time they ran it in a game was last year against Iowa State. Helm scored.

Ewers threaded the ball perfectly for Helm again. Touchdown. The 2-point conversion to Golden? Successful. Now, it was time for the defense, which had carried Texas while the offense struggled. Through three quarters, Texas had shut down one red zone opportunity after another for Arizona State, including a crucial fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line late in the third quarter.

But the Sun Devils had the ball for nearly 13 minutes in the third quarter, which began to wear down the defense, and Cam Skattebo started to find his groove.

By the time Skattebo helped the Sun Devils tie the score with five minutes left in regulation, the energy was gone from the Texas defense. Mukuba, a transfer from Clemson, went to veteran leader Jahdae Barron and told him something had to be done. The defense had to get its energy back.

After Texas tied the score in the first overtime, Barron gathered the defensive players and said, “The offense is going to go score. The game is on us.'”

Mukuba, who grew up in Austin, decided to transfer to the Longhorns after not reaching what he believed was his full potential with the Tigers. He came into a veteran group led by Barron, one of the best defensive players in college football. But this time, Mukuba believed, the moment was made for him.

Arizona State faced third-and-8 from the Texas 10-yard line in the second overtime, trailing by eight points. As quarterback Sam Leavitt dropped back to pass, Mukuba saw the play was coming toward him. He said he thought, “I have to make the play. Obviously, we want to win. We want to get to the next round. In that moment, I felt it was on me.”

Mukuba hauled in the interception. Game over. The Longhorns ran onto the field in celebration, fully aware they had not played the most complete game but found a way to win. It was a far different feeling than one year ago today, when Ewers threw incomplete on the final play of the Sugar Bowl to lose to Washington in the CFP semifinals and end what had seemed to be a storybook season.

Now, the Longhorns have another semifinal chance, with the hope they can return to Atlanta in 19 days to play for a national championship. They opened as five-point underdogs to the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl, according to ESPN BET.

“It sure does feel a whole lot better to be on this side of things,” Ewers said. “That really showed through today. With all the momentum swings that were going on, we all just stayed confident in our own game. The resiliency of all these guys is unreal.”