Oregon vs. Texas Tech CFP takeaways: Ducks stifle Big 12 champs for third shutout in CFP era
By Ralph D. Russo, Manny Navarro and Sam Khan Jr.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Oregon successfully completed the first of what it hopes will be three cross-country trips for the College Football Playoff, smothering fourth-seeded Texas Tech 23-0 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.
The fifth-seeded Ducks advance to play the winner of the Rose Bowl between No. 1 Indiana and Alabama on Jan. 9 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The national championship game is back here at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19.
That’s a lot of miles for the Ducks, but there were no body-clock or jet-lag issues on New Year’s Day.
Quarterback Dante Moore and the Ducks did have their hands full against a talented Texas Tech defense, led by All-America edge rusher David Bailey, but Oregon responded with four takeaways of its own in a dominant defensive performance. It was the third shutout pitched since the introduction of the College Football Playoff, joining Alabama’s 38-0 win over Michigan State in the 2015-16 semifinals and Clemson’s 31-0 win over Ohio State the following year.
Matayo Uiagalelei’s strip sack of Texas Tech’s Behren Morton set up the first touchdown of the game in the third quarter for the Ducks, and Atticus Sappington made three field goals.
Moore was solid, going 26 of 33 for 234 yards with one interception, while getting little help from Oregon’s running game, which averaged 1.4 yards per carry.
After being knocked out in the quarterfinals by Ohio State as the No. 1 seed in the first 12-team Playoff last season, the Ducks are now as close to a national title as they have been since reaching the championship game of the first four-team CFP after the 2014 season.
Oregon spent most of the first half in Texas Tech territory but came away with only six points to show for it.
Ducks head coach Dan Lanning took a typically aggressive approach, going for it five times on fourth down in the first half — including a fake punt from Oregon’s side of the field that worked.
Nothing worked to get into the end zone, though. Texas Tech stopped the Ducks on a fourth-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter, batting down Moore’s pass at the line of scrimmage.
The Ducks struggled to run it all day, and the Red Raiders had eight tackles for loss in the first half, a couple thanks to Oregon ballhandling miscues.
Sappington made a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 39-yarder in the second quarter, and the Ducks led 6-0 at the break, despite outgaining the Red Raiders 198-88 and coming up with two turnovers in Texas Tech territory. Bailey was a handful for Oregon’s tackles with two tackles for loss and two passes broken up.
On the other side, almost all of Tech’s offense came on a 50-yard run by J’Koby Williams in the second quarter. It was the one drive on which the Red Raiders crossed midfield, but it resulted in Stone Harrington missing a 54-yard field short and wide.
After another fourth-down stop by the Red Raiders in their own territory in the third quarter, Oregon got its third takeaway of the day on Texas Tech’s side of the 50. Uiagalelei swiped the ball from Morton’s hand while the quarterback was trying to throw and returned the fumble 16 yards to Texas Tech 6. Jordon Davison took a toss into the end zone on the next play to make it 13-0.
Cornerback Brandon Finney Jr. was the Ducks’ defensive star. He picked off Morton twice, the second time in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to protect the shutout.
World’s learning about @brandonfinneyjr today 👀
📺: @espn x @GoDucks x via @CFBPlayoffpic.twitter.com/vuOypN6HZE
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) January 1, 2026
Oregon gets aggressive on fourth down again
Lanning has never been afraid to go for it on fourth down, and it was clear from the get-go Thursday he was going to continue to be aggressive even against Texas Tech’s vaunted front four.
The Ducks converted three times on fourth down in the first half, including punter James Ferguson-Reynolds’ 11-yard pass to linebacker Teitum Tuioti, en route to a 4-of-8 performance on fourth down. None of those first-half conversions led to any points, but Lanning stayed aggressive in the second half. After a Malik Benson 28-yard punt return gave Oregon possession at the Texas Tech 41 on the Ducks’ first drive of the third quarter, Lanning went for it again at the Red Raiders 33. Quarterback Dante Moore, though, missed tight end Kenyon Sadiq wide open down the middle of the field and ended up scrambling a yard short of the first-down marker.
Luckily for Oregon, coordinator and future Cal head coach Tosh Lupoi’s defense forced its third turnover of the game on Texas Tech’s side of the field moments later. It led to Oregon’s first touchdown of the game and a 13-0 lead, but Lanning didn’t take his foot off the gas. With Oregon facing a fourth-and-2 at the Red Raiders 46, the Ducks went for it again, and Moore was intercepted by linebacker Ben Roberts.
Since Lanning’s arrival in Eugene four years ago, the Ducks have been one of the most successful teams on fourth down. Of the 11 teams to win at least 40 games since the start of the 2022 season, Oregon’s 66 percent conversion percentage on fourth downs ranked third-best heading into Thursday’s Playoff game, per TruMedia. Only Georgia (74.3 percent) and Ohio State (67.5 percent) had better conversion rates, but the Bulldogs and Buckeyes haven’t gone for it nearly as much as Oregon has over the same stretch.
The Ducks were 14 of 22 on fourth-down attempts during the regular season, including a season-best 5-of-7 performance in a 30-24 overtime win at Penn State. — Manny Navarro
Snubbed?
Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein said he was surprised the Ducks’ offensive line did not win the Joe Moore Award, which went to Iowa’s line.
The Ducks were a finalist and made a good case. Stein was especially effusive about how the interior of the line, led by center Iapani Laloulu and All-America guard Emmanuel Pregnon, has played.
The first half against Texas Tech might have been the line’s worst two quarters of the season. Moore was under constant pressure, and the Ducks running backs had nowhere to run. Even discounting the two sacks of Moore, Oregon backs managed only 31 yards rushing on 15 carries against Tech’s big and active front, led by 330-pound tackle Lee Hunter.
It didn’t get much better in the second half. Jordon Davison’s one-yard exclamation point of a fourth-down touchdown run in the final seconds brought the Ducks’ final totals to 64 yards on 47 carries.
With either a rematch against Indiana or a matchup against Alabama looming, the Ducks offensive line will need to regain its regular-season form for Oregon to advance further. — Ralph Russo
