No. 8 Ohio State dominate No. 1 Oregon at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday to secure a spot in the Cotton Bowl, where the Buckeyes will square up with Texas.
No. 5 Longhorns, who barely squeaked by Arizona State in double-overtime in the Peach Bowl, will be looking forward to what should feel like a home game at AT&T Stadium on Jan. 10.
The Cotton Bowl winner will secure a berth in the CFP Finals.
Fans looking to attend the Cotton Bowl in person have plenty of options and can shop around at StubHub, SeatGeek and *VividSeats. StubHub had the lowest seats as of Wednesday night at $346 each, while SeatGeek was offering tickets starting at $391. VividSeats seats were going for as low as $359.
*New customers who purchase tickets through VividSeats can get $20 off a $200+ ticket order by using the promo code MassLive20 at checkout.*
If you need to travel outside your local area to get to this game, head over to TripAdvisor, VRBO, Marriott or Booking.com for deals on everything from car rentals to airfare to hotels.
Who: Texas Longhorns vs Ohio State Buckeyes
When: 7:30 PM ET, January 10, 2025
Where: AT&T Stadium
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No. 6 Ohio State blasts top-ranked Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl, advances to CFP semifinals
By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon in the 111th Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday night.
Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution sometimes hasn’t matched their formidable talent this season.
Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP, emphatically blowing out the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives and took a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team in the Granddaddy of Them All.
Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.
Dillon Gabriel passed for 299 yards and hit Traeshon Holden for two touchdowns for the Ducks (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed), whose dreams of their first national title were flattened on the famed Rose Bowl turf. Oregon’s 14-game winning streak also ended.
Eleven days after routing Tennessee to open the Playoff, Ohio State dominated this rematch of these Big Ten teams’ regular-season thriller, won 32-31 by the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 12.
Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout freshman playmaker, had a remarkable bowl debut with seven receptions for 187 yards — including five catches for 161 yards in the first half alone, hauling in scoring passes of 45 and 43 yards.
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Texas avoids huge upset, beats Arizona State 39-31 in double overtime at Peach Bowl
By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — With Arizona State one play away from pulling off a comeback for the ages in the College Football Playoff, Quinn Ewers delivered a throw to Matthew Golden that saved the season for Texas.
Then it was left to Andrew Mukuba to finish off Cam Skattebo and the gritty Sun Devils.
If the Longhorns go on to win the national championship, they’ll long remember how they kept their hopes alive in this Peach Bowl quarterfinal classic.
Ewers passed 28 yards to Golden for a touchdown on fourth-and-13 to force a second overtime, and Mukuba’s interception clinched a 39-31 victory after Texas squandered a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter and missed two field goal attempts that could’ve won it in regulation.
“The 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,” coach Steve Sarkisian said. “The resiliency that these guys showed today was something that as a coach makes you really proud.”
Skattebo put No. 10 Arizona State ahead for the first time all day with a 3-yard touchdown run to start overtime against No. 4 Texas, the capper on a brilliant performance that wasn’t quite enough to knock off the Longhorns.
The Sun Devils — a two-touchdown underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook — had the game in their grasp before Ewers spotted Golden breaking free behind two defenders to haul in the tying score.
“That’s just a testament to how mature this team is and just taking advantage of every single opportunity that we have,” Ewers said.
After moving to the opposite end of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ewers threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gunnar Helm on the very next play, followed by a 2-point conversion pass to Golden.
The Longhorns (13-2) finally put Arizona State (11-3) away when Mukuba picked off Sam Leavitt’s pass at the 3 to end the game.
“We gave everything we had,” Skattebo said. “We never stopped.”
After a bunch of lopsided results through the first five games of the expanded 12-team playoff, the format finally produced the sort of thrilling game that supporters envisioned.
It sends Texas back to its home state for a Cotton Bowl semifinal against No. 6 Ohio State, which routed No. 1 Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl.
Despite being dominated on the stat sheet most of the game, the Longhorns had a seemingly comfortable 24-8 lead after scoring two early touchdowns and getting a 5-yard scoring run from Ewers with just over 10 minutes remaining.
But Skattebo and the Sun Devils were just getting warmed up.
The running back who calls himself the best in the nation, Skattebo backed up his bravado by displaying every facet of his all-around game.
First, he took a pitch on fourth-and-2 and heaved a 42-yard touchdown pass to Malik McClain that gave the Sun Devils a chance when they made the 2-point conversion.
Then, Skattebo broke loose down the sideline and hauled in a 62-yard throw from Leavitt — getting his helmet ripped off at the end of the play, which seemed like the only way to bring him down.
That set up a 2-yard touchdown run by the bowling ball of a back, and it was only appropriate that Skattebo also powered in for the 2-point conversion that tied the game at 24 with 5 minutes remaining.
Texas had a pair of chances to win in regulation, but Bert Auburn was wide right on a 48-yard field goal attempt and clanked one off the left upright from 38 yards away as time expired.
“We weren’t at our best and it felt like an NCAA March Madness basketball game with the swings of emotions and things,” Sarkisian said. “I’m just proud of these guys because not every game is going to be pretty and not every game is just going to go exactly how you want it to go.”
In the final minute of the third quarter, Texas led 17-8 even though Arizona State had a commanding 303-128 lead in total yards and had held the ball nearly three times longer than the Longhorns, 32:49 to 11:30.
Arizona State finished with 510 yards to 375 for the Longhorns.
Despite vomiting on the sideline before the start of the fourth quarter, Skattebo rushed for 143 yards, made eight catches for another 99 yards and, of course, had that one big completion.
It wasn’t quite enough.
Ewers threw for 322 yards, with Golden making seven receptions for 149 yards.
Early fireworks
After Arizona State drove for a field goal on the opening possession, Texas needed only two plays to claim the lead.
Ewers hooked up with Golden on a 54-yard play, then went to DeAndre Moore Jr. for a 23-yard scoring pass.
Both times, the Longhorns went after Montana Warren, starting in place of Shamari Simmons with the Sun Devils star forced to sit out the first half after being penalized for targeting in the Big 12 championship game.
Arizona State then went three-and-out and Silas Bolden returned the punt 75 yards for another Texas touchdown. Having taken just two snaps, the Longhorns had a 14-3 lead.
But any thoughts of another CFP blowout faded as Texas struggled to finish off the Sun Devils, one of the nation’s most surprising teams after going 3-9 a year ago and remaining largely unnoticed until late this season.
The takeaway
Texas: It wasn’t pretty, but Sarkisian was correct to give the Longhorns points for resiliency. This also provides the coaching staff with plenty of teaching tools, because it’s hard to see Texas winning two more games — and a national championship — without significant improvement.
Arizona State: The Sun Devils will regret all the chances they squandered before the fourth quarter. Three times, they were stopped on fourth down in Texas territory. The Longhorns also blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt just before the end of the first half. But this was a performance that is sure to boost ASU’s profile nationwide and give coach Kenny Dillingham’s program a sense that it does belong among the nation’s elite.
Up next
Texas: The Longhorns will face Ohio State for the first time since the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, when Texas prevailed 24-21. The Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 will make the fourth meeting overall between the powerhouse programs, with Texas holding a 2-1 lead in the series.
Arizona State: Will look to build on its remarkable turnaround, beginning with the 2025 season opener hosting Northern Arizona on Aug. 30.
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This story has been corrected. A previous version misspelled the last name of Texas’ Gunnar Helm.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article