The Oregon Ducks washed out any lingering aftertaste from last year's unceremonious College Football Playoff exit with a historic Orange Bowl shutout
MIAMI GARDENS — The Oregon Ducks washed out any lingering aftertaste from last year's unceremonious College Football Playoff exit with a historic Orange Bowl shutout of Texas Tech on New Year's Day.
The Ducks defeated the Red Raiders 23-0 on Thursday, Jan. 1 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. It was the first Orange Bowl shutout since Miami beat Nebraska 22-0 in 1992.
Oregon (13-1) advances to play in the Peach Bowl in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Ducks will face the winner of the Rose Bowl between Indiana (13-0) and Alabama (11-3), which will start Jan. 1 at 4 p.m. ET.
Texas Tech (12-2), the Big 12 champion and one of the College Football Playoff's top four seeds who received a first-round bye, was held scoreless through three quarters as its offense struggled to complement a sound performance from the Red Raiders' defense.
Oregon true freshman defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. recovered a fumble and grabbed two interceptions, the last of which came in the Ducks' end zone in the fourth quarter to spoil Texas Tech's most promising offensive drive.
Finney was named Orange Bowl Defensive MVP. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who completed 26-of-33 passes for 234 yards and 1 interception, was named Orange Bowl Offensive MVP.
Behren Morton, Texas Tech offense struggles
Whether it was a hangover from New Year's Eve or the 26-day layoff between games, the Red Raiders' offense was certainly suffering on New Year's Day.
Quarterback Behren Morton endured a nightmarish performance, completing ... of ... passes for ... yards with no touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
In the first quarter, the Red Raiders were held to -2 yards of total offense and dominated 12:05 to 2:55 in possession. The offense improved in the second quarter, but only just so. J'Koby Williams' 50-yard rush, which came via an Oregon defensive bust, accounted for the bulk of Texas Tech's 89 total yards of offense in the half.
While Texas Tech's offense was more competitive in the second half and moved the ball into Oregon territory multiple times, a turnover-on-downs and bad Morton interception in the end zone kept the Red Raiders off the scoreboard.
Oregon's Brandon Finney Jr. grabs interception, fumble recovery
The Ducks' true freshman cornerback forced himself into the limelight of a national broadcast on New Year's Day.
Finney jumped a Morton pass on the second play of the second quarter for the game's first interception. Two drives later, he fell on a fumble by Texas Tech running back Cameron Dickey to set up the Ducks' second field goal.
His best play of the game in the fourth quarter, however. Finney intercepted a Morton pass in the end zone to spoil Texas Tech's most threatening offensive drive, which could've cut the Oregon advantage to a single possession.
Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Oregon smothers Texas Tech for first Orange Bowl shutout in 34 years
Category: General Sports
