PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during Ohio State’s sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 6 Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory over No. 1 Oregon in the 111th Rose Bowl Game on Wednesday night.

Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed), whose big-game execution sometimes hasn’t matched their formidable talent this season.

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

After painful regular-season losses to Oregon and Michigan, Ohio State has seized the second chances created by the first 12-team CFP. Facing the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the Granddaddy of Them All, the Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives to take a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team — and Henderson’s second TD run late in the third essentially put it away.

Ohio State is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 4 Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.

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

Dillon Gabriel passed for 299 yards and hit Traeshon Holden for two touchdowns for the Ducks (13-1, CFP No. 1 seed), whose dreams of their first national title were flattened on the famed Rose Bowl turf. Oregon’s 14-game winning streak also ended.

Eleven days after routing Tennessee to open the Playoff, Ohio State dominated this rematch of these Big Ten teams’ regular-season thriller, won 32-31 by the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 12. The Ohio State defense that couldn’t sack Gabriel in the teams’ first meeting dropped the Heisman Trophy finalist eight times in the rematch.

Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout freshman playmaker, had a remarkable bowl debut with seven receptions for 187 yards — including five catches for 161 yards in the first half alone, hauling in scoring passes of 45 and 43 yards.

Ohio State turned the CFP’s most anticipated quarterfinal matchup into a long celebration at the Rose Bowl, which has hosted several thrilling, close games in recent Januaries. This one pitted two powerhouse programs widely considered to have the top two teams left in the inaugural 12-team Playoff, but the Buckeyes scored early and often at the Rose Bowl.

The Big Ten champion Ducks couldn’t make any offensive headway until they trailed by 34 points, failing to create any of the big plays that carried the Ducks to victory in Eugene.

After the usual pregame pageantry in 70-degree sunshine at the venerable stadium in Arroyo Seco, Ohio State needed just three plays and 49 seconds to strike first. Howard threw a short play-action screen pass to Smith, who motored through Oregon’s secondary for a 45-yard score.

On the Buckeyes’ third drive, Howard feathered an exceptional long pass over three Ducks to the sprinting Egbuka for a 42-yard TD. Howard finished the first quarter with a career-best 212 yards passing, surpassing his 160 yards during Ohio State’s hot start against Tennessee.

Early in the second quarter, Smith got so open near the Ducks’ goal line that he had two seconds to settle under Howard’s long throw like an outfielder with a fly ball, scoring a 42-yard TD untouched.

When Henderson broke a 66-yard TD run down the Oregon sideline for a 31-0 lead, both sides of the Rose Bowl stands rippled with disbelief.

Oregon finally got moving on its final drive before halftime. Gabriel found Holden for a 5-yard TD pass at the gun, and the Ducks added a two-point conversion to salvage something from their horrific half.

The Ducks drove for Noah Whittington’s 2-yard TD run to open the second half, scoring the first touchdown allowed in the third quarter all season by Ohio State. Oregon even forced a punt moments later to stir faint hope in its fans, but the Ohio State defense drove the Buckeyes backward for a punt before Howard’s group methodically drove for Henderson’s second TD.

Takeaways

Ohio State: The full force of the Buckeyes’ talent has been on display for the past two weeks after it fell short twice in the regular season. The 12-team playoff opened the chance for redemption. This group is seizing it, and it’s awfully fun to watch.

Oregon: Having 3 1/2 weeks off with their first-round bye proved to be dangerous for the Ducks. This disconcerting flop doesn’t completely ruin a breakthrough Big Ten debut, but the season will always loom as a missed opportunity in Oregon history.

Up next

Ohio State: The Cotton Bowl will be a preview of both teams’ 2025 season opener, since Texas visits Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30.

Oregon: The 2025 season opener is at home against Montana State, which faces North Dakota State in the FCS title game Monday night.

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Three suspected migrants were arrested Monday for allegedly killing a Mexican immigration agent who had asked to see their identification documents, Mexican officials say. 

The migrants — two from Venezuela and one from Colombia — were arrested hours after an alleged attack on the agent, who was found earlier in the day with no signs of life, state security and migration officials said. The attack took place around 30 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border.

State investigators confirmed that the immigration agent suffered a head injury and was found with no vital signs. His body also showed “signs of violence,” according to a statement from public security officials with northern Chihuahua state.

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The agent was identified as Luis Alberto Olivas García, who had worked for the immigration agency for 30 years.

The slain agent was attacked at a checkpoint just south of Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, when he asked an unspecified number of foreign nationals for their identification documents, according to the National Migration Institute.

Preliminary reports indicated that the agent had sustained several wounds possibly caused by a sharp weapon and a head injury most likely caused by a rock, the New York Times reported, citing the Chihuahua security ministry, Jorge Armendáriz. 

Authorities escort two suspects after the death of a Mexican immigration agent. (REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

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Olivas García had been recognized earlier on Monday for his 30 years of service, Armendáriz added.

The death of the agent marked a rare case of deadly violence against agents and comes as migrants try to cross into the U.S. ahead of an impending crackdown on illegal crossings when President-elect Trump is sworn into office. 

Members of Mexico’s National Guard stand near an ambulance after state police in Mexico detained migrants suspected of killing a Mexican federal migration officer near the U.S. border. (REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

Hundreds of U.S.-bound migrants waited in long lines outside an immigration office in southern Mexico on Monday, hoping to secure safe passage north and enter the U.S., according to Reuters.

The U.S. recorded an unprecedented number of illegal migrants flowing across its borders under the Biden-Harris administration.

A cornerstone of Trump’s second term in office is to secure the border and carry out the largest mass deportation program the U.S. has ever seen.

Reuters contributed to this report. 

Suspected gunman in shooting rampage in town of Cetinje shoots himself in the head after being surrounded by police.

Two children were among at least 10 people killed in a mass shooting that started at a restaurant in the small town of Cetinje in Montenegro and continued at three different locations, authorities said.

A local man suspected of carrying out the shootings, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, was confirmed to have died early on Thursday morning after turning the gun on himself and dying from his injuries while being transported to hospital.

Police had surrounded the suspect near his home in Cetinje. When police commanded him “to lay down his weapon, he shot himself in the head”, the country’s police chief, Lazar Scepanovic, told reporters.

“An attempt was made to transport him to a clinical centre, but he succumbed to his injuries in the meantime,” he said.

In a post on social media confirming that the suspected gunman had died, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said the mass killing had “shrouded our country in black”.

“This senseless act has caused immeasurable sadness and bitterness in each of us. There are no words of comfort,” Spajic said.

Montenegro’s national security council will now consider “all options” in the aftermath of the attack, including a complete ban on the possession of weapons, the prime minister said, adding the country will observe three days of national mourning.

Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic told journalists that the two minors killed in the attacks, which started on Wednesday night, were children of the owner of the restaurant where the shooting spree began. The owner was also killed, he said.

The shooter had “killed members of his own family”, the minister said, adding that the suspect was thought to have been drinking heavily before the rampage.

Four people seriously wounded in the attack were reported to be fighting for their lives in a hospital in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

The suspect, who media reports said had a history of illegal weapons possession and received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behaviour, had fled after the shootings and was at large in Cetinje, a small valley town surrounded by rugged hills some 38km (23.6 miles) west of Podgorica.

All the roads in and out of the town had been blocked as police swarmed the streets before surrounding the suspect near his home.

The mass shooting was the second gun rampage over the past three years in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital. An attacker also killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before he was shot and killed by a passerby, The Associated Press news agency reports.

Montenegro, which has a population of just over 620,000 people, is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally have weapons.

Organised crime and corruption are two major issues also plaguing Montenegro, which authorities have pledged to tackle under pressure from the European Union that the tiny nation aspires to join.