COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio State will escape the bitter cold of Columbus for the sunny warmth of Pasadena, California, for college football's greatest bowl game.
Ohio State is set to face Big Ten champion Oregon in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. Wednesday. This former Big Ten-Pac-12 game is now an intraconference matchup between programs that have played in plenty of Rose Bowls.
The Buckeyes are making their 17th trip and hope to win for a fifth straight time. Ohio State, however, is on a two-game losing streak to Oregon, a former Pac-12 member in its first Big Ten season, with the most recent loss coming in October.
Here is a look back at the Buckeyes' previous games against the Ducks and their recent Rose Bowl victories.
The Buckeyes' first game of 2025 will mark the 11th time they play the Ducks, with the teams playing twice in the Rose Bowl and once for a national championship.
1958 was the first meeting in the Rose Bowl, with the Buckeyes winning 10-7 before winning six straight regular-season games over Oregon. The two played in the Rose Bowl again in 2010 to begin what has become a budding rivalry.
Ohio State won the 2010 Rose Bowl 26-17 behind 338 yards of total offense from quarterback Terrelle Pryor and 101 receiving yards and a touchdown from DeVier Posey. The next game came in 2015 in the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game in Arlington, Texas. The underdog Buckeyes steamrolled to a 42-20 win to claim their most recent national championship.
Oregon came to Ohio Stadium in 2021 for a nonconference game it won 35-28, marking its first victory over the Buckeyes. The Ducks' next victory came less than three months ago when Oregon won 32-31 on Oct. 12 in Eugene. That victory caused an NCAA rule change after Oregon staged an intentional penalty to run down the clock.
The Buckeyes' last trip to the Rose Bowl was three years ago and was by far the most entertaining bowl game of the season.
Regular season losses to Oregon and Michigan sent Ohio State to Pasadena to face Pac-12 champion Utah. After the Utes jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the Buckeyes began traded touchdowns with them in the second quarter, with each scoring three.
Ohio State scored 17 straight points to take a 45-38 lead going into the last two minutes. Tight end Dalton Kincaid scored a Utah touchdown with 1:54 to go to tie the score before Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles hit the winning 19-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining.
Numerous Rose Bowl records were set. Quarterback C.J. Stroud had records for passing yards (583) and touchdown passes (6), and receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba set the receptions (15) and receiving yards (347) records. Freshman wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. became the fourth player to catch three TDs passes in a Rose Bowl.
The 2019 Rose Bowl marked the end of an era for Ohio State football. Despite a Big Ten title and a 12-1 record, the Buckeyes were left out of the playoff after a midseason loss to Purdue.
Instead, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes faced Pac-12 champion Washington in what became his last game as coach. Ohio State dominated through the first half and led 21-3 at the break behind three TD passes from Dwayne Haskins.
After a J.K. Dobbins touchdown run in the third quarter, Washington scored 20 points in the fourth quarter but still lost. The victory concluded Meyer's Ohio State tenure with an 83-9 record, four Big Ten titles, four bowl game wins and a national championship.
The Buckeyes broke a four-game Rose Bowl losing streak in 1997 in front of over 100,000 fans.
The John Cooper-coached Ohio State team came into the Rose Bowl after its national title hopes ended with a loss to Michigan, setting up a game against Cooper's former team, Arizona State, which was 11-0 and ranked second.
Tied 7-7 at halftime in the rain, the Buckeyes took a 14-10 lead with a 72-yard touchdown pass from Joe Germaine to Dimitrious Stanley. After Sun Devils quarterback Jake Plummer ran in for a go-ahead touchdown with 1:40 remaining, Germaine led a last-ditch drive and threw the winning touchdown pass to David Boston with nine seconds left.
This victory was Cooper's lone Rose Bowl appearance with the Buckeyes and ended Arizona State's title hopes. Along with Boston, Germaine, and Plummer, other notable stars that took the field included Hall of Fame lineman Orlando Pace for OSU and College Hall of Fame linebacker Pat Tillman for ASU.
