![\"Oregon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F22VNGRT5ZGQPI222TKN6QMOLE.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe formula for getting to this season\u2019s Orange Bowl apparently went like this: Score a ton of points, allow very few points, have a big play on basically every possession, excel on third downs offensively, be stingy on third downs defensively.<\/p>\n
That was Texas Tech\u2019s path.<\/p>\n
That was also Oregon\u2019s path.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oregon running back Dierre Hill Jr. (23) celebrates his touchdown during the first half of the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff against James Madison, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Eugene, Ore.<\/p>\n
Lydia Ely \/ AP<\/p>\n
Numbers-wise, Texas Tech and Oregon have basically been mirroring images of one another this season. They\u2019re both 12-1, neither has lost since mid-October, both have top-10 scoring offenses, both have top-10 scoring defenses … the similarities go on and on and on.<\/p>\n
The Red Raiders ( No. 4 AP<\/a>, No. 4 CFP) and Ducks (No. 5 AP, No. 5 CFP) will square off in the Orange Bowl on New Year\u2019s Day in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, with the winner headed to the national semifinals at the Peach Bowl next week against either Indiana or Alabama<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows the stakes,\u201d Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. \u201cThese are moments that you\u2019re excited to get to go be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n There are no shortage of numbers that have one team looking a lot like the other. Points per game, it\u2019s Texas Tech 42.5 and Oregon 39.2. Points allowed per game, it\u2019s Texas Tech 10.9 and Oregon 16.3. Yards per game, it\u2019s Texas Tech 480 and Oregon 469. Yards allowed per game, it\u2019s Texas Tech 254 and Oregon 271. Yards allowed per play, it\u2019s Texas Tech 3.96 and Oregon 4.36.<\/p>\n \u201cHow lucky are we? And that\u2019s not a question, but man, a statement of gratitude,\u201d Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. \u201cYou know, if you had told my 13-year-old self that I\u2019m getting ready to coach on January 1st in the Orange Bowl at 11 a.m. Central time, man, I would have probably never believed it. So, I\u2019m just so fortunate and grateful that we get to do this and man, we\u2019re excited.\u201d<\/p>\n It could be argued that this is already the best season in Texas Tech history, with a school record for wins and a strong likelihood that the Red Raiders will finish the year 10th or better in the final AP Top 25 for the first time.<\/p>\n Clearly, they are aiming for much more.<\/p>\n Texas Tech linebacker David Bailey (31) gives chase as BYU running back LJ Martin (4) runs the ball in the second half of a Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n Julio Cortez \/ AP<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more of an internal thing for us to push through and try to be the best that we can no matter what the outside voices say,\u201d star Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez<\/a> said. \u201cIf they say that we\u2019re the best, we\u2019ll try to play the best. If they say we\u2019re the worst, we\u2019ll try to play the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon quarterback Dante Moore said after the Ducks\u2019 win over James Madison in Round 1 of the CFP that this has been the longest season of his life \u2014 now 14 games and counting, with the potential of two more after this one.<\/p>\n And he\u2019s not complaining.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like with this team, we were very young at the beginning of the year, but we\u2019ve had a lot of experience,\u201d Moore said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been pushing each other every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Playing early<\/p>\n Texas Tech will be playing for the sixth time this season in a game starting at noon Eastern, or 11 a.m. Central. The Red Raiders are 5-0 in those games this season.<\/p>\n \u201cI started saying we\u2019re the best 11 o\u2019clock team in the country,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second noon Eastern \u2014 or 9 a.m. Pacific \u2014 game for Oregon. The Ducks beat Northwestern 34-14 on Sept. 13 in the other early kick they had this season.<\/p>\n And obviously, both teams have been in South Florida for a few days \u2014 plenty of time to acclimate to time changes.<\/p>\n Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (5) runs off of the field after Oregon’s win over James Madison in the first round of the NCAA College Football Playoff, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Eugene, Ore.<\/p>\n Lydia Ely \/ AP<\/p>\n Among the best<\/p>\n The game features some of college football\u2019s active career leaders in a few different statistical categories at the FBS level.<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s Dillon Thieneman leads all active players in solo tackles per game over a career (4.78), while Texas Tech\u2019s 1-2 defensive punch of Rodriguez and David Bailey are also on the active leader lists.<\/p>\n Rodriguez is second in forced fumbles among active FBS players (13), while Bailey is third in forced fumbles (10) and third in sacks (28).<\/p>\n Something will give?<\/p>\n A good rule for the Orange Bowl: 35 points is typically enough. And these two teams make scoring 35 points look easy at times.<\/p>\n Teams that score 35 or more points in the Orange Bowl are 24-1 all-time. The exception was Jan. 3, 2014, when Clemson beat Ohio State 40-35.<\/p>\n The average score of an Orange Bowl to this point: 28-14.<\/p>\n The series<\/p>\n This could have been the third consecutive season where Oregon and Texas Tech met on the field. They played in 2023 and were scheduled to again last season \u2014 but altered those plans so Oregon could continue its annual rivalry game with Oregon State.<\/p>\n The 2024 game was moved to the 2033 season.<\/p>\n Explosive plays<\/p>\n Another numerical similarity: Big plays.<\/p>\n Oregon has 91 plays for 20 or more yards this season, the most in the country. The No. 2 team on that list? Texas Tech, with 90 such plays.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The formula for getting to this season\u2019s Orange Bowl apparently went like this: Score a ton of points,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[154,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-106370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-texas","10":"tag-texas-headlines","11":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/WGHP6F6QM5CKPMVHHUC222TQTQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Oregon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/PHOBLIJI7BH4RLXEY7JFBRZMJ4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n