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No. 17 Alabama aims to rediscover 3-point touch vs. Oregon

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2 years ago

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No. 17 Alabama aims to rediscover 3-point touch vs. Oregon


November 25 – Playing for third place in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., isn’t what No. 17 Alabama envisioned before the tournament began.

However, that’s the situation for the Crimson Tide (4-1), who were upset 92-81 by Ohio State on Friday. Alabama will face Oregon on Saturday afternoon in a matchup of the two Friday losing teams.

Oregon (4-1) fell 88-82 to Santa Clara in the second opening-round game.

The Crimson Tide entered their contest leading the nation in scoring (101.8 points per game) and 3-point shooting (48.9 percent). On Friday, however, they made just 9 of 30 (30 percent) from long range.

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Alabama was held to 33 points before halftime while giving up 38 to Ohio State. The first number was a season low and the second was a season high.

Forward Grant Nelson led Alabama across the board with 20 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Former Ducks player Aaron Estrada added 19 points, and Mark Sears had 17 to go with four assists, four rebounds and three steals.

“We’ve been saying for the four regular-season games and both scrimmages that our defense isn’t where it needs to be,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “This certainly was not a good defensive game for us, but (the Buckeyes are) a good team and played us tough.

“They had two players combine for 52 points and go 19 of 20 from the foul line. They had 30 foul shots as a team. You can’t put teams on the free throw line as much as we did, so there is a lot to learn from. We have to be better on defense at this level.”

Ohio State hit 54 percent of its field-goal attempts and 10 of 18 shots from 3-point range.

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Oregon trailed by 11 points with 2:04 to play in its Friday game but cut the deficit to four with 49 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Brennan Rigsby. It wasn’t enough, as the Ducks were playing short-handed without their best player, center N’Faly Dante, and another big man, Nate Bittle.

This week it was revealed that Bittle had wrist surgery and will be re-evaluated in eight weeks. Dante, who made the All-Pac-12 squad last season, had knee surgery and will miss at least four weeks. In his lone game this season, Dante amassed 16 points and 21 rebounds in a win over Georgia.

Keeshawn Barthelemy led Oregon with 17 points against Santa Clara, and Kwame Evans Jr. added 16. Oregon missed 9 of 21 free throws and was outrebounded 39-36.

Friday marked Alabama’s first game not played in Tuscaloosa. The Ducks have played just twice at home in Eugene, Ore., as their season opener was in Las Vegas (the victory over Georgia) and their past two games were in Florida.

Oregon and Alabama have met four previous times, each game in a different location. The Ducks have won three straight meetings — at home in Eugene in 2016; in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2015, and at the Maui Invitational in Hawaii in 2008. The Crimson Tide won in Las Vegas in 2003.

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–Field Level Media

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Oregon

David Pollack reveals pick, score prediction for Oregon-Penn State showdown

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1 week ago

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September 24, 2025

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David Pollack reveals pick, score prediction for Oregon-Penn State showdown


Ahead of a massive Week 5 showdown between two of the Big Ten’s primary contenders, Oregon visiting Penn State, college football analyst David Pollack broke down the game and explained which side he’s giving the edge to on Saturday evening.

An episode of Pollack’s podcast, See Ball Get Ball, dropped on Wednesday and featured the former All-American’s picks for the top games of the week, which he paired with some in-depth commentary behind why he’s selected the teams and final scores that he has. For the big one, Oregon at Penn State, he explained why the Nittany Lions could have a few aces hiding up their sleeve.

“Penn State ain’t hasn’t had show nothing yet, and they haven’t showed nothing yet,” Pollack said of PSU’s soft open to their 2025 schedule. “Listen, (Andy) Kotelnecki, with a preseason tune-up, he knows exactly who he is, he knows what he is, like, they’re going to score some points,” he added.

Penn State ran off wins against Nevada, FIU and Villanova before taking their bye week ahead of Oregon. En route to outscoring those poor souls by a 132-17 total score, Pollack’s right, Penn State didn’t have to dive deep into their bag. He referenced Georgia’s performance vs. Tennessee from a couple weeks ago, noting that the Nittany Lions have an established ground game to pair with whatever new tricks are introduced in the passing game.

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“The run game beat up Oregon a year ago,” Pollack commented. “The run game can be exactly the same as it was, if not better. The receiving corps cannot be worse, and I just think, with all of that, I’m betting on Penn State and I’m betting on who they have, their experience.”

The heads of that strong ground game are senior running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, contributors since the day they stepped on campus, while quarterback Drew Allar is a veteran returning starter with NFL aspirations. That’s a lot of experience for PSU, whereas Oregon has a younger transfer leading the charge in former UCLA QB Dante Moore.

“I think Jim Knowles will have something for Dante Moore that he’s absolutely never seen before in an atmosphere that’s going to be absolutely ballistic,” Pollack emphasized. “I think Dante Moore is going to look more human than he’s looked, and because of that, they could struggle a little bit. They’re not going to get to 45 like they did a year ago in the Big Ten championship game.”

With the experience edge and having the Ducks migrate across all three time zones to touch down in a “ballistic” Beaver Stadium, Pollack sees too much evidence going in Penn State’s direction for the victory.

“I got the Nittany Lions, man,” he stated. “I got 30-24 Penn State, they take care of business. All of the guys on the front who can make plays, they can get to the quarterback, they can get TFLs. They can rattle Dante Moore and I think they take care of business.”

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Why Dante Moore plans to reach out to Bo Nix before Oregon’s trip to Penn State

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1 week ago

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September 23, 2025

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Why Dante Moore plans to reach out to Bo Nix before Oregon’s trip to Penn State


EUGENE — Oregon’s current starting quarterback could reach out to one of his predecessors ahead of the biggest road game of his career.

Dante Moore visited Penn State as a recruit on Sept. 18, 2021, when the Nittany Lions hosted Auburn and then-Tigers quarterback Bo Nix for a White Out game at Beaver Stadium.

“At the time I didn’t know much of Bo as a person and of course as a player,” Moore said. “He was there throwing a lot of great passes … he was a competitor. The stadium was really loud of course.”

Nix was 21 of 37 for 185 yards and had six carries for 29 yards in a 28-20 loss to Penn State, which has extended its win streak in White Out game to six entering Saturday’s game with No. 6 Oregon.

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“It was one of those that once you play in you know why everybody talks about it and speaks so highly of it,” Nix said in an interview with The Next Round days following that game. “It was fun. It was loud and it was exactly what an away game should feel like.”

Moore was reminded of the experience of visiting Happy Valley and seeing his high school teammate, former Penn State safety Jaylen Reed, play against Nix four years ago. He plans to talk to Nix this week about what it was like to play in what is widely considered the toughest road environment in the Big Ten and one of the toughest in college football.

“The stadium was really loud,” Moore said. “Understanding how Bo, how composed he was. Of course, I hope I have the chance to talk to him and hear his thoughts. It’s going to be a great week; it’s going to be a great game. It’s going to be a hostile environment. But I’m going to reach out to Bo for sure to see what things he has to tell me.”

Moore is completing 74.7% of his passes this season for 962 yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception and added 87 yards rushing. But Penn State is the best opposing defense he will have ever faced and a crowd of over 100,000 makes it even more challenging.

Penn State coach James Franklin said Oregon’s offense is operating similarly with Moore as it did last season with Dillon Gabriel, who led the Ducks past the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Championship game.

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“He’s a throw-first guy,” Franklin said. “Is very accurate. Can extend plays. Obviously, has a ton of play playmakers around him. … I think Dante sitting behind Gabriel was really valuable for his development.”

No. 6 Oregon (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 3 Penn State (3-0)

  • When: Saturday, Sept. 27
  • Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
  • Where: Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
  • TV channel: NBC/Peacock
  • Watch: You can watch this game live for free with Fubo (free trial), with DirecTV (free trial) or streaming live on demand with Peacock.
  • Stream: DirecTV (free trial) or Fubo (promotional offers) or Peacock ($10.99/month) or Sling (college football season pass is just $199). 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.

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Ducks stay put in US LBM Coaches poll after 34-14 road win at Northwestern

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3 weeks ago

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September 14, 2025

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Ducks stay put in US LBM Coaches poll after 34-14 road win at Northwestern


It was quite the uneventful week in college football, at least for the top teams in the US LBM Coaches poll, including the Oregon Ducks after their 34-14 road win at Northwestern.

The top seven teams in the poll didn’t go up or down from last week. Oregon is still No. 5 in the country as they now prepare for the annual rivalry game with Oregon State at Autzen Stadium. But everyone is pointing to the next game after the Beavers, however.

Oregon goes to Penn State, which is ranked No. 2 in the poll and will likely stay at No. 2 as the Nittany Lions have a bye this week. The Big Ten dominates the poll with Ohio State on top at No. 1 after its 37-9 win over Ohio. Illinois is also in the Top 10 as the Illini are No. 9 in this week’s version of the poll.

Indiana moved up two spots at No. 17 with its 73-0 win over Indiana State.

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The biggest move came from Georgia Tech after the Yellow Jackets stunned Clemson 24-21 on a last-second field goal. As a result, the Tigers, previously ranked No. 11, dropped to 1-2 on the season and completely out of the poll.

Besides Georgia Tech, Missouri (No. 22), Vanderbilt (No. 23) and Auburn (No. 25) are newcomers to the poll.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.



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