No. 5 Oregon Ducks defense stifles No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders in Orange Bowl shutout

Oregon's defense was roundly criticized when the unit allowed four second-half touchdowns in a first-round playoff win over No. 12 James Madison.

The unit engineered a strong turnaround on Thursday in the Orange Bowl when it had a ferocious nature and forced four turnovers while delivering the program's first bowl shutout victory in 109 years.

Orange Bowl defensive MVP Brandon Finney Jr. intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble and Matayo Uiagalelei had a key strip-sack as the No. 5 Ducks (13-1) advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 23-0 victory over No. 4 Texas Tech at Miami Gardens, Fla.

Oregon will face No. 1 Indiana -- which walloped No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl -- on Jan. 9 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Hoosiers handed the Ducks their only loss, 30-20 on Oct. 11 at Oregon.

"Last week, a lot of people talked about our defense," Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. "They showed up today and held them to zero. It's a really good offense, it's a really good team we got to play. But our guys went out there and they played the next play, and they played the next play and they played the next play."

The Ducks limited Texas Tech to 215 yards and nine first downs while winning their eighth consecutive game and becoming just the third Oregon team to win 13 games in a season (2014, 2024).

"I'm proud of our players," Lanning said. "The resiliency that they showed and the ability to stay calm, poised and collected under pressure. That is not easy in those big moments."

Finney, a true freshman cornerback, was one of the many standouts on the defensive side of the ball as Oregon blanked the Red Raiders to join the 1916 team's 14-0 win over Penn in the Rose Bowl as the lone shutouts the Ducks -- who were the Webfoots in 1916 -- have pitched in a bowl game.

"We come to games to dominate, we come to games to make plays," said Finney, "and it's easy to make plays when we have a great front (seven) like we do, the best front in the nation."

Jordon Davison rushed for two touchdowns, Atticus Sappington kicked three field goals and Bryce Boettcher racked up 12 tackles and a forced fumble for Oregon. Game offensive MVP Dante Moore completed 26 of 33 passes for 234 yards and one interception for the Ducks.

"Hats off to the Oregon Ducks, just an incredible football team," Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said. "They played at a really high level today. I will be rooting for them."

Ben Roberts had 16 tackles and an interception for Texas Tech (12-2), which had a six-game winning streak halted.

An offensive averaging 42.5 points -- all 12 Red Raiders' wins were by more than 20 points -- was largely absent as the program took its first shutout loss since losing to Oklahoma State on Nov. 20, 2021.

The Red Raiders never got their offense untracked and Behren Morton completed 18 of 32 passes for 137 yards and two interceptions.

"Obviously not the outcome we wanted," Morton said. "But really proud of this team for how we fought through adversity this year."

Morton made a huge mistake when Texas Tech, trailing by 13, reached the Oregon 9-yard line early in the fourth quarter. He made an ill-advised throw into double coverage into the left corner of the end zone and Finney easily made the grab for his second pick and a touchback with 13:48 left in the game.

The Ducks cashed in with Sappington's 43-yard field goal with 7:53 left to make it 16-0, and Davison added a 1-yard scoring run with 16 seconds left.

Oregon had 309 yards, converted 16 first downs and controlled the ball for nearly 37 1/2 minutes while silencing the Red Raiders.

"It's no fun being in this locker room right now," McGuire said. "... One thing I told them is when you've done something that no one else has done wearing this uniform, that's when the standard is set and that's where you start building something special."

Texas Tech trailed by six when it faced third-and-11 from its own 31 early in the third quarter. Uiagalelei then sacked Morton, stripped and grabbed the ball and returned it 16 yards to the Red Raiders' 6.

On the next play, Davison ran for a score to give the Ducks a 13-0 lead with 11:20 left in the third quarter.

Oregon controlled the first half and had a 49-23 edge in plays but still led just 6-0 at halftime on two field goals by Sappington.

Sappington booted a 50-yard field goal to cap the Ducks' game-opening possession.

The Red Raiders didn't get their initial first down until J'Koby Williams broke loose on a 50-yard run nearly 18 minutes into the game. That set up Texas Tech with a chance to tie the score but Stone Harrington's 54-yard attempt was wide left with 10:53 remaining in the first half.

Later in the half, Boettcher forced Texas Tech's Cameron Dickey to fumble and Finney recovered at the Red Raiders' 29. The takeaway led to Sappington's 39-yard field goal with 1:33 left.

Finney's other interception came in the opening minute of the second quarter.