Oregon defeated James Madison 51-34 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday. 

The score looked like it would be more lopsided during the first three quarters, as Oregon held a 48-13 lead over JMU halfway through the third quarter. 

JMU managed to lessen the deficit toward the end by outscoring the Ducks 20-3 in the final quarter and a half.

The Ducks (12-1) advanced to face Texas Tech in a quarterfinal game at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. Oregon won a playoff game for the first time since 2014, when the Ducks beat Florida State in the Rose Bowl semifinal before losing to Ohio State.

James Madison (12-2) dropped Group of Five teams to 0-4 in CFP games following No. 17 Tulane’s 41-10 loss at No. 6 Mississippi on Saturday.

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jamari Johnson less than two minutes into the game to give Oregon a lead it would not relinquish. Johnson hauled in Moore’s pass with his right hand, and romped into the end zone while dragging a pair of defenders.

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James Madison responded with a 30-yard field goal from Morgan Suarez on its next drive, one which required 15 plays and burned 8:03 off the clock. The Ducks took over from there, rattling off four straight touchdowns before the Dukes snuck in another field goal from Suarez ahead of halftime, which brought the score to 34-6.

In falling behind by such a wide margin, James Madison went away from its rushing attack, which ranked fifth in the nation in average yards per game entering the evening. Sun Belt Player of the Year, Alonza Barnett III, completed 23 of 48 passes, including a 47-yard touchdown pass to Nick DeGennaro on James Madison’s first drive of the third quarter.

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Oregon promptly responded with two touchdowns, including wide receiver Malik Benson’s second TD and a blocked punt that Jayden Limar scooped and returned 15 yards for a score. James Madison scored the last three touchdowns.

The victory was the Ducks’ seventh straight since losing to No. 1 Indiana 30-20 on Oct. 11. James Madison had won 11 in a row.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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The Lakers have been assessed five technical fouls in the last two games because of conduct with officials as frustration over inconsistent calls is starting to boil over. After Doncic, Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart were all given technical fouls in the third quarter of Thursday’s win over Utah, Doncic and Smart were T’ed up again Saturday in the first and third quarters, respectively.

“I think if any coach, any player, what we ask for is consistency,” Redick said. “And that’s not to single any official out or any crew out, it’s not about that. We need to know what it is night to night.”

Smart also drew a technical foul against Utah after attempting to talk to an official at halftime. When Smart walked away frustrated, he raised his middle finger toward the official, a gesture that got him fined $35,000 Saturday, the NBA announced.

“Sometimes you got to take the hit to get your point across,” Smart said Saturday.

Redick expressed additional frustration with the lack of transparency in the replay system and murky communication with officials. He said he has not received any feedback when he requests it and the distinction between plays that can and can’t be challenged appears to change every night.

The lack of communication has been frustrating for players as well, Smart said, who met with referees before the Utah game as a team captain, but still had his questions dismissed.

“The captain should be able to come talk to them,” Smart said. “They still don’t want to hear it. So control what you can control. They don’t want to talk, you know, you try and you move on. But it definitely is frustrating when you pour your heart out to this game and the feedback is literally waving you off, telling you to get out your face, and then giving you a tech because you’re asking a simple question.”

An intense brawl broke out during the Eagles-Commanders game in the fourth quarter Saturday night, resulting in three ejections.

The fight began after Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley scored on a 2-point conversion to boost his team’s lead to 19 points with less than five minutes left. 

Washington’s Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin and Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen were disqualified after being flagged for unnecessary roughness.

There was some pushing and shoving and a lot of jawing, and officials threw six flags as the chaos ensued.

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Eventually, order was restored, and Barkley, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke to each other.

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The Eagles won the game, 29-18, to clinch their second straight division title, becoming the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles since the 2004 Eagles did it. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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