MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Fireworks are great on New Year’s Day.

For No. 5 Oregon (12-1), though, the focus will be on limiting them in its College Football Playoff Quarterfinal game against No. 4 Texas Tech University (12-1).

“They are who they are for a reason,” Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said at the Orange Bowl media day. “Explosive passes, explosive runs, and it’s going to be a heck of a challenge. I’m pumped for it.”

Oregon’s offense created nine explosive plays in its First Round game against James Madison University — but it gave up nine, too. It’s part of the reason that Lupoi was so frustrated in his postgame press conference after that game. 

On Thursday, the Ducks will face another team with big, talented outside receivers. They’ll face another team with multiple running backs who flash in the run and pass game. Their belief that their young cornerbacks are prepared comes from a season of experience dealing with exactly that.

Battling with big receivers

Last year’s secondary, which featured cornerbacks Jabbar Muhammad and Nikko Reed (both 5’10’’) couldn’t contain 6’4’’ true freshman Jeremiah Smith, who went for 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2025. The Ducks replaced all five starters from their 2024 secondary. This season, true freshman Brandon Finney Jr. (6’2’’) and Ify Obidegwu (6’1’’) have become first-year starters on the Ducks’ defense. 

This year’s edition has struggled too, though, with big outside receivers. Oregon limited Rutgers’ KJ Duff, who finished the year No. 16 nationally in yards per reception, to a three reception, 41-yard game, but allowed Indiana wideout Elijah Sarratt eight for 121 and a score, and USC star Ja’Kobi Lane six for 108. Washington’s Denzel Boston had just four receptions for 25 yards, but caught two touchdowns.

Oregon’s Orange Bowl opponent can hang its hat on one of the nation’s best defenses, but quarterback Behren Morton regularly combines with receivers Caleb Douglas (6’4’’), Reggie Virgil (6’3’’) and Coy Eakin (6’2’’) — the three have combined for 2148 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.

“(Texas Tech is the) number one explosive offense in the country,” Finney said Dec. 27. “They’re able to move around their guys and do screens and shot plays, so a lot of stuff on film stands out for us. We know we’ve got to limit their explosives and knock out their explosives.”

What shows up on tape?

In the Red Raiders’ Big 12 Championship Game win over No. 11 BYU, Virgil caught eight balls for 86 yards — the longest of which came on a 30-yard connection that jumpstarted a second-quarter drive. 

In that game, Eakin stood out. The junior had three receptions for 66 yards; two were 28-yard-plus touchdown receptions, including a 33-yard score where he skirted wide around his man and faded away with the ball. He said at the Orange Bowl media day that Oregon’s length was something they’d noticed.

How does a receiver combat that?

“Really you look at — as a defensive back, if you’re a corner and you play press, we look at what kind of hands you shoot, if you like to shoot hands,” Eakin said. “Those long arms, they can reach your chest a little bit easier. In the safety position, if they can collision you, we’re going to try to limit that as much as possible.”

That receiver core is who Finney and Obidegwu will be focused on handling Thursday. It’s not a question of inexperience in their eyes.

“As a freshman, it really comes with experience,” Finney said. “Just playing these games throughout the season, whether it’s the Northwestern game or a long game like Penn State, (it’s) just having been in those moments, which we actually try to recreate throughout practice — whether that’s a third down period or a move the field period.”

That experience has come in waves — against USC, Finney was called for multiple pass interference penalties. Obidegwu intercepted Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava in that game, too. Oregon is expected to return cornerback Theran Johnson, who was seen at open practice Tuesday after going off the field with medical staff during Oregon’s win over JMU.

The Red Raiders’ short game is explosive, too

Multiple talented running backs aren’t something Oregon is unfamiliar with — the Ducks’ stable of backs is one of their offensive keys to this game. Texas Tech has a duo to rival the Ducks, though, in Cameron Dickey and J’Koby Williams.

Oregon hasn’t seen too many teams with multiple solid options in the backfield this year. It limited Penn State’s Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen to 96 combined yards in September, but the only teams to have two backs rush for more than 50 yards each against Oregon were Northwestern and Rutgers. Dickey (198 carries, 1,095 yards, 14 touchdowns in 2025) pairs with Williams (142 carries, 787 yards, six touchdowns) to complement the big-play offense that the Red Raiders lean on.

Williams picked out Oregon defensive tackles Bear Alexander and A’Mauri Washington from his film study, and highlighted safety Dillon Thieneman and linebacker Bryce Boettcher. In Williams’ mind, those explosive plays — if they can create them — play an important role.

“Explosive plays just create energy,” Williams said. “It brings good energy to the team. It brings momentum to the team, so that we can have more momentum and finish the job.”

There’s an element to the quarterback run game that Lupoi identified, mostly in the context of opportunities from spread looks. Those four-wide formations give Red Raiders signal-caller Behren Morton the opportunity to run against lighter boxes, or look to a screen game that Lupoi called “lethal.”

Morton has been getting healthier since missing the team’s only loss, a game against Arizona State on Oct. 16, with a hairline fracture in his right fibula. He was off Texas Tech’s availability report as of Monday night.

“Within this offense there’s plenty of quarterback run activity, and that’s something that you see that has been a little less in these last few weeks,” Lupoi said. “But he’s certainly effective and can run the ball, and we know that. I think you certainly don’t want to play the game of being unsound and accounting for him.”

Oregon faces Texas Tech on Jan. 1 in the Orange Bowl. Kickoff is set for 9:00 AM Pacific Time.