MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) \u2014 The first thing that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore did after winning the Orange Bowl was salute the thousands of fans who made the cross-country trip to South Florida.<\/p>\n
If the Ducks\u2019 defense keeps playing like this, those fans might be back in Miami before long.<\/p>\n
Oregon squeezed the win out of Texas Tech at the Capital One Orange Bowl \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n
23-0 DUCKS \ud83e\udd86 pic.twitter.com\/EbpUSM66xc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Matayo Uiagalelei\u00a0caused a fumble<\/a>\u00a0to set up an Oregon touchdown, freshman Brandon Finney Jr. had three takeaways \u2014 two interceptions and a fumble recovery \u2014 and the fifth-seeded Ducks silenced No. 4 Texas Tech\u2019s offense for a 23-0 win in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Orange Bowl on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve earned this opportunity,\u201d Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. \u201cI told them go get their pound of flesh today. They did that today.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordon Davison rushed for two scores, Moore threw for 234 yards and Atticus Sappington kicked three field goals for Oregon (13-1), which will play No. 1 Indiana (14-0) in the Peach Bowl \u2014 a CFP semifinal \u2014 on Jan. 9. It\u2019s a rematch of a game from Oct. 11, when the Hoosiers beat Oregon 30-20.<\/p>\n The Oregon-Indiana winner will be in Miami Gardens for the national title game on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe we have the best defense in the country,\u201d Finney said.<\/p>\n Texas Tech probably wouldn\u2019t argue with that.<\/p>\n Texas Tech \u2014 which finished at 12-2 \u2014 came into the day second nationally in points per game (42.5) and fifth nationally in yards per game (480.3) but\u00a0got absolutely nothing going<\/a>. The Red Raiders turned the ball over four times, were stopped on fourth downs three other times and had four three-and-outs.<\/p>\n Oregon shuts out Texas Tech and is heading to the CFP semifinals! \ud83d\ude24 pic.twitter.com\/X9D8GXtz4z<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTexas Tech fans, I\u2019m sorry that we let you down,\u201d coach Joey McGuire said. \u201cI hope you\u2019ve enjoyed every second of this year. Man, this was such a special team and I\u2019m so proud of them. Hats off to Dan Lanning. Hats off to the Oregon Ducks. Just an incredible football team \u2026 and I told Dan after the game I hope he wins the whole damn thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Tech quarterback Behren Morton \u2014 who finished 18 of 32 passing for just 137 yards \u2014 was stripped by Uiagalelei early in the third quarter in Red Raider territory. Uiagalelei rumbled deep into the red zone and Davison scored one play later to make it 13-0.<\/p>\n Morton threw a red-zone interception early in the fourth quarter and a fourth-down stop from their own 30 midway through the fourth quarter doomed whatever comeback chances existed for the Red Raiders. Davison plunged in from the 1 with 16 seconds left to cap the scoring.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a great game plan,\u201d Morton said. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t execute base plays.\u201d<\/p>\n And once again, a CFP bye meant a team went bye-bye.<\/p>\n It was the sixth quarterfinal under this 12-team tournament format that started last year and the sixth time that the team coming off an extended break lost to a team that played a first-round game. That odd streak ended later Thursday, when Indiana \u2014 which had a first-round bye \u2014 rolled past Alabama 38-3 in another quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n In 2024, Boise State (against Penn State), Arizona State (against Texas), Georgia (against Notre Dame) and Oregon (against Ohio State) all went out in the quarterfinals after first-round byes. Miami added to that list Wednesday night, beating Ohio State in a quarterfinal at the\u00a0Cotton Bowl<\/a>. In those six games, including Thursday, the team with the bye has held the lead for less than five minutes \u2014 combined \u2014 of regulation.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 and for the first time, allowed zero points.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this program you don\u2019t make excuses,\u201d McGuire said, \u201cand you don\u2019t let anybody make them for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon played James Madison in Round 1 this year, winning 51-34, and generally was unhappy afterward with how it played defensively.<\/p>\n There wasn\u2019t anything to not like from that side of the ball on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cLast week a lot of people talked about our defense,\u201d Lanning said. \u201cThey showed up today.\u201d<\/p>\n .@CFAPeachBowl<\/a> BOUND\u203c\ufe0f#CFBPlayoff<\/a> x #CFAPeachBowl<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kO6bHHnE8t<\/a><\/p>\n