PASADENA, Calif. — Second chances don’t come around often in life, Ohio State coach Ryan Day told his players in a team meeting before the Rose Bowl.

After a season in which they fell short at too many key moments, the Buckeyes all knew they had one of those second chances when they stepped onto this famous turf for another shot at the top-ranked, unbeaten Oregon Ducks.

Ohio State seized it with a vengeance.

Jeremiah Smith caught two of Will Howard’s three long touchdown passes during a sensational 34-point first half, and the No. 8 seed (No. 6 CFP) Buckeyes roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 41-21 victory in the 111th Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.

“You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did,” Day said.

Howard passed for 319 yards, Emeka Egbuka also caught a long TD pass and TreVeyon Henderson made a 66-yard touchdown run in a redemptive Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes (12-2), who lost a 32-31 heartbreaker to the Ducks in Eugene in October. Ohio State then lost to archrival Michigan in humiliating fashion to conclude a regular season in which its performances didn’t always measure up to its formidable talent.

The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff created a way for the Buckeyes to erase their mistakes — and from the opening minute in Pasadena, they took out every frustration on the outclassed Ducks.

“I think nobody has gone through more scrutiny than probably the team here,” Egbuka said. “Five weeks ago, you know, people on the scene getting death threats, our head coach getting cussed out, people saying he should never come to Ohio again, all that type of stuff. And I’m sure by the end of (tonight), when you scroll Twitter, Instagram, everyone’s going to be singing our praises. We just know what to say true to in our building.”

Facing the tournament’s No. 1 seed in the Granddaddy of Them All, the Buckeyes scored on six of their first seven drives — with four scoring plays longer than 40 yards — to take a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter on the nation’s only remaining unbeaten team.

Henderson’s second TD run late in the third essentially put it away for Ohio State, which is headed to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10 to face No. 5 seed (No. 3) Texas for a berth in the national title game. The Longhorns barely advanced earlier Wednesday, holding off No. 4 seed (No. 12) Arizona State 39-31 in a double-overtime Peach Bowl.

“I’m proud of the resilience of these guys,” Day said. “Still got a lot of football ahead of us.”

TODAY’S bowl GAMEs

first responder bowl

North Texas (6-6, AAC) vs. Texas State (7-5, Sun Belt) 3 p.m. CST (ESPN) LOCATION: Dallas NOTABLE: T North Texas offense ranks third in the nation at 488.7 yards per game, while Texas State is fifth (474.3). Mean Green QB Chandler Morris is sixth nationally with 3,774 ypg and fifth with 31 TD passes. QB Jordan McCloud and RB Ismail Mahdi key the Bobcats.

duke’s mayo bowl

Minnesota (7-5, Big Ten) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6, ACC) 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) LOCATION: Charlotte, North Carolina NOTABLE: Minnesota struggles to run the ball, ranking 19th-worst at 111.3 ypg. But the Gophers excel on the other side of the ball with the 20th-ranked rushing defense (112.6 ypg). VaTech los its games vs. teams ranked at the time (Miami, Clemson), while Minnesota went 2-2 (wins vs. USC, Illinois, losses vs. Michighan, Penn State).