The Challenge of Rematches in College Football

Dan Lanning and Curt Cignetti have both faced the reality that it’s incredibly difficult to beat a team twice in a single season. As head coaches, they’ve each experienced the frustration of losing postseason games against teams they had previously defeated during the regular season. Now, one of them will have a chance to break this trend when No. 5-seeded Oregon faces No. 1 Indiana in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl on Friday.

The top-ranked Hoosiers defeated the Ducks 30-20 at Autzen Stadium on October 11, and they’ll need to win again to advance to the national championship game.

“We were fortunate to win the game out in Eugene,” said Cignetti. “It’s hard to beat a great team twice — very difficult. Edge to Oregon there.”

For Oregon, the challenge is clear: they must avenge their only loss of the season to move forward. Quarterback Dante Moore admitted that he made the regular season matchup more significant than it needed to be and didn’t play with enough joy in the moment.

“I think when games don’t go your way you’re always trying to look for answers and reasons why,” said Lanning. “It’s really simple: they blocked better, they tackled better, they moved the ball and controlled the clock, they converted third downs. It was all relatively close going into the fourth quarter and then we turned the ball over. Every play added up and every play mattered. When you’re playing a team with great technique, that has great scheme like Indiana, that’s the edge.”

Cignetti has not yet coached in a regular season rematch during his time at IU, but he did so twice earlier in his career at Elon and IUP. In 2017, Elon beat Furman during the regular season but lost in a rematch in the first round of the FCS playoffs. In 2016, IUP lost to California (Pa.) during the regular season and during the Division II playoffs.

Cignetti believes there is “more of a psychological edge” for the team that lost the first meeting entering a rematch.

“It’ll be a tremendous challenge because Oregon, they’re very well coached and they’ve got good players,” said Cignetti. “Both teams will have some wrinkles and both teams have morphed since that game because it was a while back.”

Lanning and the Ducks beat Ohio State during the regular season last year but were crushed in the rematch at the Rose Bowl — the only instance of a regular season rematch in CFP history. In 2023, Oregon lost to Washington during the regular season and in the Pac-12 Championship game.

However, Lanning was on the winning side of a rematch as defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2021, when the Bulldogs lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game but avenged the loss in the CFP national title game.

In facing this next rematch, Lanning cited Oregon’s motto for the season: double down.

“It’s all about making sure you don’t go into a game when you’re sitting in the position that Indiana’s sitting in or that we’re sitting in and say, ‘OK, all of a sudden we’re going to change a lot of the things that we do,’” said Lanning. “You’ve got to buy into what you’ve done the whole year to get you where you’re at and really double down. Double down on our process.”

Key Details About the Matchup

No. 1 Indiana (14-0) vs. No. 5 Oregon (13-1)

• When: Friday, January 9
• Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
• Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.