Ryan Day offers initial thoughts on Ohio State's Cotton Bowl matchup with Texas

Ohio State wasted little time rolling over top-seeded Oregon in the Rose Bowl, a College Football Playoff quarterfinal contest.

The Buckeyes cruised 41-21, securing a matchup with Texas in the Cotton Bowl in a little more than a week. Coach Ryan Day wasn’t quite ready to move on to that one just yet, though.

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“I know what a great program (Steve Sarkisian) runs and got a lot of respect for him,” Day offered to ESPN after the game. “I think we’ve got a lot of time to talk about that next week. We’re going to enjoy this one right here.”

Ohio State certainly earned the right to enjoy it. The Buckeyes were dominant from the onset, racing out to a 34-0 lead in the first half and then holding on to win comfortably.

Freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith broke Cris Carter‘s school record for most receiving yardage in a game, logging seven catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Quarterback Will Howard was sharp, and he wasn’t asked to do a whole lot other than hand off in the final 20 minutes or so of the contest. Day opened up on the chemistry between his quarterback and his star freshman receiver.

“I think that they both have been practicing very well, but I think we all believe in them,” Day said. “I thought the defense played strong throughout the game, so we got some rhythm. And I thought the run game popped too, early in the first half. You can see the potential of where we’re at when we play with all three phases the way we did. Kind of hung on here at the end, but I’m proud of the players. I’m proud of the resilience of these guys. Still got a lot of football ahead of us.”

Ohio State finished with 500 total yards of offense in the contest, including 181 on the ground. Oregon was limited to just 276 total, including a loss of 23 on the ground.

With the win, Ohio State advanced to the Cotton Bowl, where it will face Texas for the right to move on to the national championship.