5 Things To Watch: Peach Bowl

Friday, January 9

Atlanta, Ga.

4:30 PM

University of Oregon

Indiana

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Ian McFarland/UO Athletics

01/09/26 | Football

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

By: Rob Moseley

ATLANTA — Redemption day is at hand for the Oregon football team, and the reward would be much bigger than just that.

The No. 5 Ducks get a second shot at Indiana on Friday evening, and it's for a spot in the College Football Playoff Championship Game. Not only does the UO football team (13-1) have the chance to avenge its only loss of the season, but a win would send the Ducks back to Florida to face Miami in the CFP title game Jan. 19.

The Ducks and Hoosiers meet Friday in a CFP semifinal hosted by the Peach Bowl at 4:30 p.m. PT. It's a rematch of their regular-season meeting Oct. 11 in Autzen Stadium, where Indiana scored the last 10 points of the game in a 30-20 win.

Oregon advanced to the semfinals with an Orange Bowl win over Texas Tech in the CFP quarterfinals. That gave the Ducks their program record-tying 13th win of the season — they'll look to break that record Friday — and made them the only team in the country with 13 wins each of the last two years.

The Ducks are making their second all-time CFP semifinal appearance, and look to play for the national championship for the first time since winning a semifinal at the Rose Bowl in the 2014 season.

The Peach Bowl will be televised by ESPN, with Sean McDonough providing play-by-play, analysis from Greg McElroy, and reporting from the sidelines by Katie George and Molly McGrath.

Some storylines to watch once the game kicks off …

1. The two head coaches in the Peach Bowl, Oregon's Dan Lanning and Indiana's Curt Cignetti, have effusively praised each other's abilities in the lead-up to the game. Those abilities will be tested in the game.

How much will each staff lean on the strengths that got their respective teams to this point? How much will they tweak because this game is a rematch? The chess match will be fascinating.

"This game is going to be what college football is about," Lanning said. "I think you see two tough teams, two teams that are really complete. They play great on offense, defense and on special teams; they don't have a weakness."

Added Cignetti: "I can't say enough great things about Oregon. Really have a lot of respect for Coach Lanning, their team, what they've put on tape, what they've gotten done in their recent history. They're good in all three phases, and they're a great football team."

2. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has only failed to complete at least two-thirds of his passing attempts in three games this season — the two played in miserable weather against Wisconsin and Iowa, and the first meeting with Indiana.

Moore spoke in the aftermath of that game about how he made the moment bigger than it was. Today, Moore aims to be more grounded mentally, in order to air it out.

"This week, I kind of just attacked it like how I've been doing these past weeks," Moore said. "Making sure it's the same routine when it comes to watching film, preparing my body, just getting ready for this moment."

3. Moore might need to carry a bigger load on his shoulders — more specifically, his right shoulder — if Oregon feels the need to tweak its game plan due to some question marks at running back.

The Ducks have three backs listed on their injury report for the Peach Bowl, with Jordon Davison and Da'Jaun Riggs declared out and Noah Whittington newly listed as questionable Thursday. Two others, Jayden Limar and Makhi Hughes, left the team during the postseason to enter the transfer portal.

Still, Whittington said earlier this week before the Ducks left Eugene, Oregon will have to find a way to complement the passing game on the ground.

"They're gonna know what we're gonna run; we're gonna know what they're gonna run," he said. "It's about who's gonna out-physical the opponent."

4. Of course, the offense won't have as much pressure to perform if the defense can put together another effort like it did at the Orange Bowl.

Oregon's win over Texas Tech was the Ducks' first postseason shutout since the 1917 Rose Bowl. Indiana's offense is a different animal, but the UO defense will at least try to put a leash on it.

"We're just going to have to play our one-eleventh," UO outside linebacker Teitum Tuioti said. "It's a 'do your job' game."

5. For as dominant as Oregon played in the first half of the Orange Bowl, the Ducks only had a 6-0 lead at halftime. The momentum really changed on a strip-sack by Matayo Uiagalelei that set up the first UO touchdown of the day.

A turnover like that would be huge in the Peach Bowl. And turnovers, along with special teams, are Lanning's keys to the game.

"I think it always starts with the ball, the team that's able to take care of the ball," Lanning said Thursday. "Last time we played (Indiana), we didn't take care of the ball. We were able to create a takeaway, but we ended up having two (turnovers); I think that's a big piece of this. And special teams in big games always makes a big impact. I think we have to play well on special teams."