MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — After coach Dan Lanning said his defense did not play up to its standard in its first playoff game, the Oregon Ducks unleashed a postseason performance that had not been seen in more than a century.

Oregon swarmed Texas Tech from start to finish in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday, forcing four turnovers while racking up four sacks and seven tackles for loss in a 23-0 win — the first bowl game shutout in school history since the 1917 Rose Bowl against Penn.

The Ducks held the Red Raiders to season lows in passing yards (215), rushing yards (78) and first downs (nine) in the first shutout of an AP top-5 team since 2018. Texas Tech was also one of the top teams in the nation in turnover margin coming into the game at plus-17 but finished the game minus-3.

“They’ve earned this opportunity,” Lanning said of his defense. “I told them go get their pound of flesh today. They did that today.”

The Ducks advance to the CFP semifinals at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, where they will face the winner between Indiana and Alabama on Jan. 9. According to ESPN Research, the two other teams that also shut out their opponents in the CFP both went on to win the national championship (Alabama in 2015 and Clemson in 2016).

It was indeed a stark contrast to the Ducks’ first-round win over James Madison on Dec. 20, when Oregon’s defense allowed 509 yards of total offense and 31 second-half points in a 51-34 victory.

“Our defense had a lot to prove,” said linebacker Teitum Tuioti, who had two sacks. “We all knew that that wasn’t the standard. We’re just glad that we could get a shutout. That means a lot, especially after that JMU game. People were looking down on us.”

Tuioti said the emphasis in practice between the games was on forcing turnovers, to not only get the ball back for the offense but to keep Texas Tech off the field. The Red Raiders came into the game with one of the most explosive offenses in the country, ranking No. 5 in the nation in scoring offense and total offense behind quarterback Behren Morton.

But from the very start, Oregon made its presence felt as Texas Tech ran just six plays in the first quarter. On the Red Raiders’ third drive, Oregon freshman Brandon Finney Jr. intercepted Morton for the first of his three takeaways (two interceptions and a fumble recovery). Texas Tech did not notch a first down until nearly 18 minutes into the game and had season lows with three first downs and 88 yards in the first half.

Still, Texas Tech only trailed 6-0 at halftime. The turning point came early in the third quarter, when after an Oregon turnover, Texas Tech had the ball at its own 31. That quickly changed, however, as Matayo Uiagalelei had a strip sack fumble of Morton that he returned to the 6-yard line.

The Ducks converted the turnover into a touchdown and Texas Tech never really had much of a chance after that.

“We’re always saying, ‘Get the ball back.’ That’s really going to change the game for our offense, for the whole team,” Uiagalelei said. “I had an opportunity, and I took my shot, and I got the ball out, and it happened to bounce right back to me.”

“The best defense that we had faced this year,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “They did a great job defending us. I thought they did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them, not giving up a lot of big plays. We’ve been a big play offense, explosive offense. They kept the ball in front of them. But you can’t turn the ball over four times.”

Texas Tech also came into the game as the more heralded defense, but it was Oregon that left the game with a defensive performance to remember — a change of pace for a team used to its offense grabbing the headlines. While the Oregon offense had its own issues, the defensive players felt good about carrying the load.

Especially after their last game.

“Not necessarily something to prove to anybody else, but more to ourselves,” Uiagalelei said. “We know that wasn’t the standard in that second half of last week. We didn’t finish how we wanted to. We knew coming into this game finishing was going to be very vital to the success of this game. So just having that in mind, there’s was definitely fuel.”

Before the 2025 season, Texas Tech’s megaboosters came together and decided to pull off a once-in-a-lifetime gamble. The Red Raiders invested heavily in a stacked transfer class, and by extension delivered the greatest season in program history. 

The magical campaign ended with a thud on Thursday in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. The Red Raiders lost a 23-0 slugfest against No. 5 Oregon in the Orange Bowl as their top-rated offense ground to a halt. 

Texas Tech made a calculated decision to stick with incumbent quarterback Behren Morton instead of paying top dollar for a transfer. Morton was a multi-year starter in the program and the staff opted to surround him with some better playmakers, including Miami (OH) transfer receiver Reggie Virgil. 

However, Morton was putrid in the Red Raiders’ final game against Oregon. From the opening snap, Morton looked out of sorts. He threw two terrible interceptions and ran into multiple sacks, ultimately finishing with only 137 yards passing, one of the worst games of his career. 

The Red Raiders’ strategy was aided by their confidence in backup quarterback Will Hammond, who they see as a future star in Lubbock. However, Hammond tore his ACL in the second half of the season, leaving Wake Forest transfer Mitch Griffis as the only scholarship quarterback on the roster behind Morton. 

With a quarterback like Duke’s Darian Mensah in the program instead of Morton, could it have swung a title shot? 

However, it was a historic moment from the Red Raiders. The program had not won an outright conference championship since 1955, or posted 10 wins in a year since 2008. They had not won a Big 12 title of any type since the league was formed in 1996. 

The defense held its own as one of the best units in college football. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez finished top-five in Heisman Trophy voting, and edge rusher David Bailey put incredible production on tape in the loss to Oregon. Regardless of the outcome, the unit will go down in the Red Raiders record books. 

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire told CBS Sports before the season that the goal was to reach the Big 12 Championship Game for the first time. Anything from there was a bonus. The season ends as a success, but now a pivotal offseason begins with major questions circling around the Red Raiders. 

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Focus shifts to offense

Texas Tech is expected to turn to the transfer portal once more to discover and develop a new generation of defensive playmakers. But with the level of talent going out the door, there’s almost no pathway for the defense to replicate its historic season. Instead, the offense becomes the new priority. 

Morton graduates after three years leading the program, leaving a vacancy at the position. The staff has been incredibly high on redshirt freshman Will Hammond, who came off the bench to lead a second-half run in the win against Utah, but Hammond tore his ACL and could miss the start of the 2026 season. 

With Hammond sidelined for a while, the Red Raiders are expected to look to the transfer portal for a quarterback. Some early reports have connected Texas Tech to Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby, rated the No. 1 transfer in college football. However, Sorsby is receiving significant interest. Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola and Iowa State’s Rocco Becht are other potential targets. 

Offensive lines are perhaps the toughest players to revamp in the portal, and the Red Raiders tried. Left tackle Howard Sampson led a group of four offensive line transfers, many of whom started games. However, it was ultimately not enough to build a serious bully-ball unit against the best teams in the sport. Four out of five offensive linemen could be gone in 2026. 

Easily the biggest reason for offensive optimism comes at running back. Both Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams are back for another year, and the Red Raiders will benefit greatly from the return of former USC transfer Quinten Joyner from injury. 

Replacing a generation

Texas Tech invested heavily in the portal for the 2025 season and the vast majority of those players are gone to the NFL. The Red Raiders will lose irreplaceable pieces like linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, edge rusher David Bailey and defensive tackle Lee Hunter. 

The first focus will shift to the returners, especially in the secondary. Cornerbacks Brice Pollock and Amier Boyd could both come back. Linebackers John Curry and Ben Roberts, too. Defensive tackle A.J. Holmes has a decision to make after a strong finish to the year. 

However, nearly the entire top-rated pass rush will be off to the NFL. Holmes is the only player with multiple sacks who could be back. Four of the five defensive ends on the depth chart are seniors. There aren’t obvious answers coming for the front. 

That said, the Red Raiders had an incredible hit rate on defensive transfers in 2025, even compared to other big-spending programs. Getting production out of Bailey, Hunter, Rodriguez and many more will make Lubbock an attractive landing spot for defenders hoping to take the next step. 

The final prognosis

Texas Tech’s wild gamble paid off as an unabashed success, and one that will echo through the future years of Red Raiders football. When players tour the Womble Football Center, there will be a Big 12 championship trophy greeting them at the entrance, and College Football Playoff logos across the walls. 

The first step is done. The second step will be much more difficult. The 2026 season will be about proving that the Red Raiders have legitimate staying power. 

If the recruiting class is any indication, Texas Tech is off to a solid start. The program signed six players rated in the Top247, including five-star recruits offensive tackle Felix Ojo and defensive end LaDamion Guyton. 

There won’t be a fully opened checkbook in 2026 as the rule changes make such spending sprees more complicated. But if this year is any indication, megabooster Cody Campbell, general manager James Blanchard and the Red Raiders will find a way.