PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Royce Freeman scored a 1-yard touchdown and Taylor Alie threw for a 2-point conversion, giving the second-seeded Oregon Ducks an 8-3 lead over No. 3 seed Florida State after one quarter Thursday in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl.
The Ducks were forced to punt on their opening possession on a sunny and unusually cool 57-degree day. But after the Seminoles struck first on a 28-yard field goal by Roberto Aguayo, Oregon bounced right back.
With Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota leading the drive, Freeman ran in for the score one play after a wall of Seminoles had stopped him at the goal line.
The Ducks’ quick-trigger offense went for the two-point conversion, with Alie hitting Torrodney Prevot in the end zone at 6:55.
That score ended a sequence in which officials reviewed Charles Nelson’s somersault into the Oregon end zone before resetting the clock.