Ohio State’s Rose Bowl romp has the earmarks of a national champion

Only three letters are needed to describe Ohio State’s performance in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.

Wow.

The sixth-ranked Buckeyes hammered previously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Oregon 41-21 in a national quarterfinal game that featured a highlight-reel of breathtaking big plays.

(These photos are courtesy of The Ohio State University Athletics Department.)

This was the signature win that has eluded Ryan Day since beating second-ranked Clemson 49-28 in the 2021 Sugar Bowl.

Four consecutive losses to Michigan, and zero Big Ten championship game appearances has exacerbated the situation — and put the OSU coach on the hot seat.

But that stubborn narrative finally changed after a surprisingly lopsided rematch with the Ducks in Pasadena.

“We really didn’t have the ability to stop them, and we didn’t have the ability to get something going for us on offense,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “We haven’t faced a lot of moments like this all year.

“(Ohio State) is an unbelievable team.”

Indeed. The Buckeyes just might have engineered the most brilliant first half in school history, considering the strength of foe, setting and importance.

It began on the first possession with Rose Bowl MVP Jeremiah Smith taking a simple flip pass for a 45-yard touchdown to cap a three-play, 75-yard drive.

Later in the period, Emeka Egbuka hauled in a 42-yard, over-the-shoulder touchdown strike from Will Howard for a 14-0 first-quarter statement.

The blitz continued in the second period with Smith getting loose again on a 43-yard TD catch. For the game, the precocious freshman collected 7 catches for 187 yards and two scores.

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and that chip ain’t going away,” Smith said. “That’s who we are.”

With Oregon’s offense unable to respond, the Buckeyes put the peddle to the metal in the second quarter.

Smith got lonely behind the Oregon defense for a 43-yard touchdown catch, and tailback TreVeyon Henderson sprinted 66 yards down the Oregon sideline for another explosive score. Jayden Fielding added field goals of 46 and 36 yards to open a stunning, 34-0 bulge with 2:59 remaining in the half.

“They brought the fight, and we got hit in the mouth,” Oregon receiver Tez Johnson said. “They won the game from the first snap.”

The Big Ten champion Ducks, who won the first meeting between these two (32-31 in Euguene, Oregon), rallied briefly with touchdown drives to finish the half and to begin the third period.

But the Buckeyes kept them at bay with Henderson’s 8-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter effectively putting the game out of reach.

“You can see the potential of where we’re at when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Day said.

Most expected Ohio State to look like this all season with a vaunted $20 million payroll. But the Buckeyes struggled to find their form, and the season bottomed out in a 13-10 loss to arch-rival, and 23-point underdog Michigan in Columbus.

That left Ohio State fourth in the Big Ten, and Day’s future in question.

“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.”

A resounding 42-17 beating of overmatched Tennessee in the playoff opener seemed just the tonic this team needed.

Add in a second straight blowout performance in the Grandaddy of all bowl games and dreams of resurrecting the magical 2014 national championship run are suddenly alive in Columbus.

“I’m proud of the resilience of these guys,” Day said. “We’ve still got a lot of football ahead of us.”

The Buckeyes have now beaten back-to-back Top 10 teams by a combined 46 points, and both games were practically over in the second quarter.

The betting public has noticed.

Day’s squad will meet fifth-ranked Texas in what is a virtual home game for the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl on Friday Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Still, the oddsmakers opened the betting line with Ohio State as a 6 1/2-point favorite.

“This is when you want to play your best football, and we are,” Egbuka said. “We came together as a team and let everything go from the past.

“Our goal was and is to win a national championship.”