MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Matayo Uiagalelei caused a fumble to set up an Oregon touchdown, Jordon Davison rushed for two scores and the fifth-seeded Ducks silenced No. 4 Texas Tech’s offense for a 23-0 win in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Orange Bowl on Thursday.
Dante Moore threw for 234 yards and Atticus Sappington kicked three field goals for Oregon (13-1), which will play either No. 1 Indiana or No. 9 Alabama in the Peach Bowl — a CFP semifinal — on Jan. 9.
The Peach Bowl winner will be back in Miami Gardens for the national title game on Jan. 19.
Behren Morton, who went 18-of-32 for just 137 yards, was stripped by Uiagalelei early in the third quarter in Red Raiders territory. Uiagalelei rumbled deep into the red zone, and Davison scored one play later to make it 13-0.
Oregon freshman Brandon Finney Jr. had three takeaways — two interceptions and a fumble recovery.
«They’ve earned this opportunity,» Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of his defense. «I told them go get their pound of flesh today. They did that today.»
Said Finney: «I believe we have the best defense in the country.»
Miami added to that list Wednesday night, beating Ohio State in a quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl. In those six games, including Thursday, the team with the bye has held the lead for less than five minutes — combined — of regulation.
Texas Tech thought it could avoid that fate. It could not, and Oregon finished off its first shutout of an AP-ranked opponent since 2012. Oregon was playing a top-10 team for the 113th time — and for the first time, the Ducks allowed zero points.
It simply was an uncharacteristic offensive showing from the Red Raiders, who had scored at least 10 points before halftime in 26 of their past 27 games going back to 2023 and hadn’t been shut out in the first two quarters of a game since Nov. 20, 2021.
Oregon played James Madison in Round 1 this year, winning 51-34, and generally was unhappy afterward with how it played defensively.
There wasn’t anything to not like from that side of the ball on Thursday.
«Last week a lot of people talked about our defense,» Lanning said. «They showed up today.»
