Orange Bowl showdown: Texas Tech and Oregon are mirror images, set to face off in CFP quarterfinals

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The formula for getting to this season's Orange Bowl apparently went like this: Score a ton of points, allow very few points, have a big play on basically every possession, excel on third downs offensively, be stingy on third downs defensively.

That was Texas Tech's path.

That was also Oregon's path.

Numbers-wise, Texas Tech and Oregon have basically been mirroring images of one another this season. They're both 12-1, neither has lost since mid-October, both have top-10 scoring offenses, both have top-10 scoring defenses ... the similarities go on and on and on.

The Red Raiders ( No. 4 AP, No. 4 CFP) and Ducks (No. 5 AP, No. 5 CFP) will square off in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, with the winner headed to the national semifinals at the Peach Bowl next week against either Indiana or Alabama.

“Everybody knows the stakes,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “These are moments that you’re excited to get to go be a part of.”

There are no shortage of numbers that have one team looking a lot like the other. Points per game, it’s Texas Tech 42.5 and Oregon 39.2. Points allowed per game, it’s Texas Tech 10.9 and Oregon 16.3. Yards per game, it’s Texas Tech 480 and Oregon 469. Yards allowed per game, it’s Texas Tech 254 and Oregon 271. Yards allowed per play, it’s Texas Tech 3.96 and Oregon 4.36.

“How lucky are we? And that’s not a question, but man, a statement of gratitude,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “You know, if you had told my 13-year-old self that I’m getting ready to coach on January 1st in the Orange Bowl at 11 a.m. Central time, man, I would have probably never believed it. So, I’m just so fortunate and grateful that we get to do this and man, we’re excited.”

It could be argued that this is already the best season in Texas Tech history, with a school record for wins and a strong likelihood that the Red Raiders will finish the year 10th or better in the final AP Top 25 for the first time.

Clearly, they are aiming for much more.

"It's more of an internal thing for us to push through and try to be the best that we can no matter what the outside voices say," star Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez said. “If they say that we’re the best, we’ll try to play the best. If they say we're the worst, we'll try to play the best.”

Oregon quarterback Dante Moore said after the Ducks' win over James Madison in Round 1 of the CFP that this has been the longest season of his life — now 14 games and counting, with the potential of two more after this one.

And he's not complaining.

“I feel like with this team, we were very young at the beginning of the year, but we’ve had a lot of experience,” Moore said. “We’ve been pushing each other every day.”

Texas Tech will be playing for the sixth time this season in a game starting at noon Eastern, or 11 a.m. Central. The Red Raiders are 5-0 in those games this season.

“I started saying we're the best 11 o'clock team in the country,” McGuire said.

It's the second noon Eastern — or 9 a.m. Pacific — game for Oregon. The Ducks beat Northwestern 34-14 on Sept. 13 in the other early kick they had this season.

And obviously, both teams have been in South Florida for a few days — plenty of time to acclimate to time changes.

The game features some of college football's active career leaders in a few different statistical categories at the FBS level.

Oregon's Dillon Thieneman leads all active players in solo tackles per game over a career (4.78), while Texas Tech's 1-2 defensive punch of Rodriguez and David Bailey are also on the active leader lists.

Rodriguez is second in forced fumbles among active FBS players (13), while Bailey is third in forced fumbles (10) and third in sacks (28).

A good rule for the Orange Bowl: 35 points is typically enough. And these two teams make scoring 35 points look easy at times.

Teams that score 35 or more points in the Orange Bowl are 24-1 all-time. The exception was Jan. 3, 2014, when Clemson beat Ohio State 40-35.

The average score of an Orange Bowl to this point: 28-14.

This could have been the third consecutive season where Oregon and Texas Tech met on the field. They played in 2023 and were scheduled to again last season — but altered those plans so Oregon could continue its annual rivalry game with Oregon State.

The 2024 game was moved to the 2033 season.

Another numerical similarity: Big plays.

Oregon has 91 plays for 20 or more yards this season, the most in the country. The No. 2 team on that list? Texas Tech, with 90 such plays.

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FILE - Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire looks on during the Big 12 Conference championship NCAA college football game between Texas Tech and BYU Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their walking trek across much of the U.S. to promote peace, even after two of its members were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle.

After starting their walk in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, the group of about two dozen monks has made it to Georgia as they continue on a path to Washington, D.C., highlighting Buddhism's long tradition of activism for peace.

The group planned to walk its latest segment through Georgia on Tuesday from the town of Morrow to Decatur, on the eastern edge of Atlanta. Marking day 66 of the walk, the group invited the public to a Peace Gathering in Decatur Tuesday afternoon.

The monks and their loyal dog Aloka are traveling through 10 states en route to Washington, D.C. In coming days, they plan to pass through or very close to Athens, Georgia; the North Carolina cities of Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh; and Richmond, Virginia, on their way to the nation’s capital city.

The group has amassed a huge audience on social media, with more than 400,000 followers on Facebook. Aloka, who is named after a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment, has its own hashtag, #AlokathePeaceDog.

The group's Facebook page is frequently updated with progress reports, inspirational notes and poetry.

“We do not walk alone. We walk together with every person whose heart has opened to peace, whose spirit has chosen kindness, whose daily life has become a garden where understanding grows," the group posted recently.

The trek has not been without danger. Last month outside Houston, the monks were walking on the side of a highway near Dayton, Texas, when their escort vehicle, which had its hazard lights on, was hit by a truck, Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh said.

The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said at the time. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”

One of the monks had “substantial leg injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Houston, Burleigh said. The other monk with less serious injuries was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston. The monk who sustained the serious leg injuries was expected to have a series of surgeries to heal a broken bone, but his prognosis for recovery was good, a spokeswoman for the group said.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy that evolved from the teachings of Gautama Buddha, a prince turned teacher who is believed to have lived in northern India and attained enlightenment between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. The religion spread to other parts of Asia after his death and came to the West in the 20th century. The Buddha taught that the path to end suffering and become liberated from the cycle of birth, death and reincarnation, includes the practice of non-violence, mental discipline through meditation and showing compassion for all beings.

While Buddhism has branched into a number of sects over the centuries, its rich tradition of peace activism continues. Its social teaching was pioneered by figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, who have applied core principles of compassion and non-violence to political, environmental and social justice as well as peace-building efforts around the world.

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Associated Press Writers Jeff Martin in Atlanta and Deepa Bharath in Los Angeles contributed.

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk through Trilith in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Supporters watch Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

A woman reacts as Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk through Trilith in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Buddhist monks on a "Walk for Peace" walk on Veterans Parkway in Fayetteville, Ga., on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, from Texas to Washington, D.C. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)