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Buckeyes at full strength for Rose Bowl quarterfinal vs. Oregon

Spencer-Holbrookby:Spencer Holbrook•01/01/25•

SpencerHolbrook

Rose

PASADENA, Calif. — The stage is set for the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl. Ohio State will take on No. 1 seed Oregon with a trip to the Cotton Bowl semifinal on the line.

The Buckeyes will face the Ducks with as clean of a bill of health as they can have. Left tackle Josh Simmons is out, of course, with the knee injury he suffered on Oct. 12 in the loss to Oregon. Center Seth McLaughlin, the Rimington Trophy winner as college football’s top center, suffered an achilles injury in November. He’s out, of course.

Ohio State is fully healthy otherwise.

And the Buckeyes are going to take their best swing against Oregon, because it’s now win or go home in the first 12-team College Football Playoff.

“I’ve been on [bowl] trips before; this one’s probably the most high profile, most at stake,” Howard said. “We’re trying to treat it like a business trip. … This isn’t a normal bull trip, right? 

“We’re not here to necessarily go sightseeing or check out the city or anything. We’re here to win a football game. … We’re going to be hunkered down, doing everything we can to get this win.”

The full availability report is below, noting that Ohio State doesn’t differentiate between injuries and disciplinary matter on the report.

Questionable

No Buckeyes are listed as questionable for the College Football Playoff second-round Rose Bowl game against Oregon.

Out for Ohio State

RB TC Caffey (Season)
QB/RB Mason Maggs
C Seth McLaughlin (Season)
LT Josh Simmons (Season)
DB Brenten “Inky” Jones

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