Ohio State throttles Oregon in one-sided first half at Rose Bowl: Bad news gets worse

Oregon’s first half in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal was a quack-tastrophe.After 30 minutes of play on New Year’s Day at the Rose Bowl, No.1 Oregon trailed No.

8 Ohio State 34-8 and was out-played in just about every category imaginable.Ohio State more than doubled Oregon’s yardage output (390 to 139) as Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns in what became a blowout quickly.On just two carries, TreVeyon Henderson had one touchdown — a 66-yard scamper — and 70 yards, a stark difference from counterpart Jordan James, who mustered just 14 yards on the ground on seven carries.As Henderson scooted down the near sideline on his score, ESPN play-by-play man Chris Fowler summed it up succinctly.

“And the bad news gets worse,” he said.“TreVeyon Henderson is loose down the sidelines.

All the way to the end zone.It’s a crimson avalanche here in Pasadena.The Buckeyes’ offense gashed the Ducks’ defense with brutal efficiency, with all four touchdown drives in the first half coming on three plays or fewer — with none of those series exceeding 1:05.

Whether it was not that Oregon had not played a game since Dec.7’s Big Ten title game, the Ducks failed to muster anything on offense until the final seconds of the second quarter when QB Dillon Gabriel connected on a touchdown and two-point conversion.

When all was said and done after the first half, though, Oregon had more punt yards (188) than total offense....