Rematch At Hand In Peach Bowl

Friday, January 9

Atlanta, Ga.

4:30 PM

University of Oregon

Indiana

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Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

01/03/26 | Football

Oregon CFP Central

Oregon will face Indiana in a College Football Playoff semifinal game Friday (4:30 p.m., ESPN).

By: Rob Moseley

To be the best, you've got to beat the best, or so the saying goes. The Big Ten has won each of the last two national championships, and if Oregon is going to have a shot at this year's title, the Ducks will have to knock off the 2025 Big Ten champs to earn it.

The UO football team, Big Ten champs themselves a year ago, will face the most recent conference titlists from Indiana in the Peach Bowl on Friday. The game is also a College Football Playoff semifinal; the winner will play in Miami for the national title on Jan. 19.

The Hoosiers bring a perfect 14-0 record into the Peach Bowl, including a win Oct. 11 at Oregon and a victory over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. That earned Indiana the No. 1 seed in the playoff, and last week against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, the Hoosiers became the only team in the last two years to have a first-round playoff bye and then win in the quarterfinals.

"You watch this team on film — and obviously we got to experience it first-hand — this is one of, if not the best coached teams in college football," Oregon head coach Dan Lanning said.

Lanning and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti participated in a teleconference Sunday to preview the Peach Bowl, each fresh off a CFP quarterfinal win — in Lanning's case, for the Ducks over Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. That the Peach Bowl will be a rematch from the regular season was a popular topic.

"It's hard to beat a great team twice — very difficult," Cignetti said. "So, edge to Oregon there."

Indiana's win at Autzen Stadium in October remains Oregon's only Big Ten loss in two seasons since joining the conference. The Ducks took an early 7-3 lead on a long Malik Benson touchdown reception from Dante Moore, and a pick-six by Orange Bowl standout Brandon Finney Jr. tied it in the fourth quarter, 20-20, before Indiana came out ahead 30-20.

Finney_IND_EE

Both coaches were asked Sunday how much game plans in the Peach Bowl might look different the second time around.

"Both teams will have some wrinkles," Cignetti said. "… but at the end of the day, it's which team executes best."

At this point in the second, neither team figures to stray far from its established identity.

"You always have to ride the horse that got you here, and do what you do well," Lanning said.

Oregon and Indiana are two of just four teams left in the playoffs, and all four head coaches have ties to former Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Lanning was a graduate assistant for the Crimson Tide in 2015, and Cignetti coached receivers under Saban from 2007-10. Former UO head coach Mario Cristobal led Miami (Fla.) into this year's other CFP semifinal, at the Fiesta Bowl; he coached the offensive line under Saban at Alabama from 2013-16 before joining Willie Taggart's staff at Oregon. Miami's opponent at the Fiesta Bowl, Ole Miss, is led by former Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

Lanning said Sunday he took a pay cut to join Alabama's staff, after being a full-time assistant at San Houston State in 2014.

Lanning

"When anybody asked me why, I said I'm going to get my doctorate in football," Lanning said. "Things I thought I knew, I realized I didn't know anything about."

Cignetti added: "After one year with coach Saban, I'd learned more about how to run a program than in the previous 20 years as an assistant coach."

Both coaching staffs this week are having to juggle preparing for the Peach Bowl with taking steps to bolster their 2026 rosters.

The NCAA this year has just one transfer portal window, which opened Friday and closes Jan. 16. Cignetti said Sunday he had 13 transfer candidates taking campus visits to Indiana that day.

"We're going through the same thing; I already did breakfast with recruits this morning," Lanning said. "It is what it is."

A handful of Ducks have announced their intention to transfer since the Orange Bowl, including receiver Kyler Kasper, defensive back Daylen Austin and running back Makhi Hughes.