Oregon scores TDs on its first 5 possessions in 51-34 College Football Playoff win over James Madison

Well, a minimum of James Madison can say it made the College Football Playoff. Because, nicely, that’s about all of the Dukes wish to bear in mind from Saturday night time.

No. 5 Oregon had No. 12 James Madison beaten from the start in a 51-34 win. The Dukes’ protection was overmatched, overpowered and overrun. Oregon scored touchdowns on its first 5 drives of the sport. Those 5 drives totaled 34 factors. Those 5 drives totaled 21 performs.

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The scoring streak solely ended after Dante Moore threw an interception on a deflected go on the finish of the first half. But the dominance continued into the second half, the place JMU had a punt blocked and returned for a landing and Oregon had over 50 factors earlier than the third quarter was over.

By that time, it was time for the Ducks to drag each essential participant and put together to face No. 4 Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. But they didn’t — and JMU stored enjoying exhausting. The Dukes offense held its personal all night time and its level complete wasn’t an outlier.

Moore completed with 4 landing passes and two interceptions together with a dashing landing. Malik Benson caught two of these scores and Jeremiah McClellan and Jamari Johnson had the others.

Oregon made it clear from the beginning that the Ducks might management the road of scrimmage and had been a lot sooner sideline to sideline than JMU’s protection. As the third quarter ended, Oregon was averaging over 10 yards a carry as each Dierre Hill Jr. and Jordon Davison had over 60 yards with simply 5 carries apiece.

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Don’t blame James Madison

Let’s get this out of the way in which. The approach the Dukes — and Tulane — had been blown out on Saturday night time isn’t an indictment of the 12-team playoff format or an indication that groups from the Sun Belt or another Group of Five convention don’t belong in the College Football Playoff. College soccer’s leaders signed off on the format and each Tulane and James Madison earned berths in the postseason honest and sq..

If you wish to blame anybody, blame the ACC for being so dangerous in 2025 {that a} five-loss group gained the convention title. But that’s even silly.

Why? The College Football Playoff format is altering once more in 2026, even when the 12-team bracket stays intact.

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According to an settlement signed by convention commissioners and Notre Dame, the 4 energy convention champions are assured to be in the sector irrespective of the place they’re in the rankings in 2026. Two Group of Five groups should not going to make the playoff once more.

Notre Dame acquired a sweetener too. If Notre Dame is in the highest 12 in the ultimate rankings, the Irish are in too.

If these guidelines had been in impact in 2025, Notre Dame could be in the playoff as a substitute of Miami, and Duke could be in the playoff as a substitute of JMU.

But the Dukes did precisely what they wanted to do to make the playoff this season in a school soccer world that’s rising a wider and wider chasm between the haves and have-nots yearly. While faculties like Texas Tech and Ole Miss can reshape their rosters in a single offseason and make the CFP because of rich donors, groups outdoors the facility conferences are increasingly more serving like farm groups for energy convention faculties.

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Just have a look at JMU. When coach Curt Cignetti — the coach of No. 1 Indiana — took the job with the Hoosiers after the 2023 season, 13 gamers adopted him from Harrisonburg to Bloomington. As present coach Bob Chesney heads to UCLA for 2026, it’s probably that a number of the gamers on this JMU group will observe him to the West Coast.

If you want upsets and Cinderellas in the NCAA event, you must like the opportunity of that occuring in the College Football Playoff too. And giving groups outdoors the facility conferences a shot to drag an upset is value the price of a blowout or two in the first spherical.

After all, we’re not that far faraway from mass consternation about blowouts in the first spherical of the four-team playoff. Teams like Michigan State and Ohio State acquired shut out in the semifinals in the four-team format. And Oregon, which led 34-6 over the Dukes at halftime on Saturday night time, trailed 34-8 after two quarters of the Rose Bowl a season in the past because the No. 1 seed.

Blowouts occur. Not each sport is aggressive. The 12 years of the College Football Playoff have proven that. But these blowouts make the large upsets all of the extra particular. And so long as non-power convention groups get the possibility to play for the nationwide title, an upset will occur sooner moderately than later.