Peter Pietrangelo / Bulletin photo illustraion

Oregon’s road to the inaugural College Football Playoff was not necessarily easy, though at times the Ducks made it look that way.

The Ducks won 12 games by an average margin of 26.3 points, mostly blowing opponents away. One could argue that eight of those 12 victories were basically over by halftime.

Oregon’s path to Thursday’s Rose Bowl national semifinal in Pasadena, California, was in stark contrast to that of Florida State. The No. 3-seeded Seminoles (13-0) have won seven games by six points or fewer this season, and the average margin in their 13 wins is just 11.7 points.

The winner of the Rose Bowl will play the winner of Alabama-Ohio State in the national championship game on Jan. 12 in Texas. The Ducks, who are hoping to play in their second title game in five seasons, have won bowl games in three consecutive seasons since losing to Auburn in the 2010-11 championship game.

No. 2 seed Oregon (12-1) started the 2014 season with a forgettable blowout of South Dakota to get to the biggest matchup of the early season, a meeting with then-No. 7 Michigan State in Eugene.

The Spartans scored 24 points in the second quarter to take a 24-18 halftime lead, but quarterback Marcus Mariota, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, led the Ducks back with third-quarter touchdown passes to Devon Allen and Keanon Lowe.

Oregon would go on to win 46-27, the victory sealed by an incredible diving interception by cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, whom the Ducks will be without for the playoffs after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice two weeks ago.

After beating the Spartans, Oregon rolled over Wyoming at home, then traveled to Pullman, Washington, to take on Washington State.

Mariota was sacked five times in the first half as the Cougars fought to a 21-21 tie at halftime. But the Ducks improved in the second half, and Mariota found Lowe on a 6-yard pass for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 3:18 left.

After Oregon’s defense showed some weaknesses against Washington State, it looked downright confused at times in the Oct. 2 home game against Arizona, leaving Wildcat receivers wide open on several plays as Arizona took a 24-14 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Trailing 31-24, Oregon picked up three quick first downs on its final drive before Mariota was sacked and stripped of the ball at the Ducks’ 35-yard line with 2:11 to play.

At the time, the loss seemed to end Oregon’s playoff hopes. But as the Ducks continued winning and teams ranked ahead of them in the College Football Playoff standings lost, Oregon eventually moved back into position for a playoff berth just a few weeks later.

After the stunning loss to Arizona, the Ducks cruised to victories against UCLA, Washington, California and Stanford. Oregon crushed the Cardinal 45-16 at Autzen Stadium on Nov. 1 after losing to them the last two seasons.

The next week in Salt Lake City, one of the weirdest plays in recent UO football history sparked Oregon to a 51-27 win over Utah. Utes quarterback Travis Wilson threw a long pass to Kaelin Clay that appeared would put the Utes up by two touchdowns early — until Clay dropped the ball in a premature celebration before crossing the goal line. Oregon linebacker Joe Walker eventually ended up with the still-live ball, returning it 100 yards for a Ducks touchdown to tie the game 7-7.

After a bye week, the Ducks crushed Colorado and then Oregon State.

Oregon got its rematch with Arizona in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Santa Clara, California, on Dec. 5, and the Ducks rolled over the Wildcats 51-13 — the Oregon defense forcing Arizona to punt on all seven of its possessions in the first half — to set up the Rose Bowl matchup against Florida State, the reigning national champion.

The Pac-12 title game was yet another blowout win for Oregon — a resounding victory to be sure. But one has to wonder just how the Ducks might fare in the fourth quarter of a tightly contested, one-possession game?

Florida State certainly knows how to win close games. Can the Ducks, without one of their best defenders, come through in crunch time against a team led by 2013 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston, a team that has not lost in 29 games?

We will find out on Thursday.

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com