College Football Playoff Quarterfinal - Capital One Orange Bowl: Oregon v Texas Tech
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MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — The smell of sweat and cigar smoke permeated through the Oregon locker room and there was a feeling of satisfaction for a Ducks team that had just punched its first ticket to the College Football Playoff semifinals in more than a decade. Though the 23-0 shutout win against Texas Tech was far from perfect, it was a statement victory that answered some concerns and affirmed some of the programs core principles under Dan Lanning. 

Junior linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei was a little bit frustrated he hadn't been able to score on his strip sack of Behren Morton in the third quarter, one of four turnovers forced by Oregon's defense that led to 13 of the Ducks' points, but as he sat in his locker after the game he was happy to have set up the offense with an easy touchdown on the next play. Those forced turnovers are part of an aggressiveness that the defense, and the team in general, carry into every single game. 

"We talk about it all the time, one of the deciding factors in the game is the turnover margin," Uiagalelei said, reflecting on the play. "So getting the ball and keeping the ball when you have it is one of the keys to the game." 

The aggressiveness to attack the ball and make plays on defense is matched by an aggressiveness on offense that includes the strategic use of tempo but also some risk-taking when it comes to fourth downs. Dan Lanning has had fourth down decision-making as a storyline throughout his young coaching career, and in one of the biggest games since he took over the Ducks' program he chose to go for it on fourth down eight times. 

Prior to Thursday's showdown with Texas Tech, Oregon had gone for it on fourth down just 22 times in 13 games. Now that doesn't suggest that the Ducks were not aggressive before, because as one of the top offenses in the country there isn't always a decision to be made when it comes to fourth downs. 

But against the Red Raiders and their ferocious defensive front, Oregon failed to convert on third down as often as they usually do and therefore faced more tough decisions. The successful conversions didn't always lead to points, but they extended drives to keep the ball out of the hands of Texas Tech's offense while also adding snaps of wear and tear for the opposing defense. 

One of those successful conversions came on a fake punt near midfield, where a unique formation spread out Texas Tech's punt return unit and allowed linebacker Teitum Tuioti to get free as a pass catcher. Tuioti said after the game he thinks it was his reception in a game since high school, but clearly he was prepared for the moment to pull in the toss from James Ferguson-Reynolds. 

"I think that's our mindset," Lanning said of the decisions to go for it on fourth down. "We make those decisions early in the week, and I certainly trust our offense. And [we] just felt like ultimately, if you limit the opportunities for their offense to be on the field, you were going to increase the opportunities for us to go score and them not to, and that showed up today."

For Lanning and Oregon, the commitment to aggressiveness allows his players to play free. If the messaging was mixed or if the decisions were not consistent, there would be a human nature to allow doubt to creep in when plays like the fake punt or key fourth decisions are called. Because while Oregon went for it on fourth down on eight different occasions the Ducks also failed to convert four times, including a fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line. But instead of letting those failures deflate the team, the defense jumped right back on the field with the intention to attack and get the ball right back. 

"I'm grateful that Coach Lanning is aggressive and that he takes his shots," Tuioti said after the game. "But we understand that if it doesn't go that way we are ready to put out the fire. That's what we do, we've got to get the ball back to our offense and that's our main job." 

That's how four turnovers lead to 13 points and Oregon was able to bury Texas Tech in its biggest deficit of the season before the end of the third quarter. 

This was an Oregon defense that had something to prove after allowing James Madison to score 34 points and amass 509 yards in the College Football Playoff's first round. The Ducks were never in danger of losing the game thanks to an outstanding offensive start, but the leaders of the defense knew that wasn't their standard. Linebacker Bryce Boettcher acknowledged in a conversation on CBS Sports HQ after the game that all the hype and buzz around Texas Tech's defense did create a little bit of an edge for the Ducks as they looked to not only right their wrongs from the opening round but prove that they were just as much of a group that could win the game as their opponents from Lubbock. 

So now Oregon advances to the College Football Playoff semifinals and the Peach Bowl, set to face either Indiana or Alabama. It's the first time the Ducks have been in the CFP semifinals since finishing as national runner-up in 2014-15 and now in this year's tournament have logged two wins against conference champions. Beating Texas Tech was arguably the biggest win for the program since last year's Big Ten Championship Game against Penn State (another win that warranted firing up postgame cigars), but there is so much more work to be done for this Oregon team to accomplish its ultimate goal of a national championship. 

That game, by the way, would be back here in Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19. And the fact that Oregon pitched a shutout win on the same field where the Ducks could ultimately claim the school's first national championship was not lost on some. 

"This place was amazing, and we want to be back," Tuioti said. "So we have to make sure we handle business and win."