Oregon
Oregon football vs. Penn State preview: Big Ten championship game filled with intriguing matchups
The Oregon offensive line vs. Abdul Carter. The Oregon defense vs. Tyler Warren. Dan Lanning vs. James Franklin.
As with so many highly ranked, conference championship tilts, Saturday’s Big Ten championship game between No. 1 Oregon and No. 3 Penn State has no shortage of intriguing matchups. And to the winner, the spoils of a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
Both teams will make the playoff field, but there is plenty on the line Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Big Ten championship: No. 1 Oregon (12-0) vs. No. 3 Penn State (11-1)
When: Saturday, Dec. 7
Time: 5 p.m. PT
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Coaches: Dan Lanning, third year (34-5) vs. James Franklin, 11th year (99-40)
Latest line: Ducks by 3.5 (odds via FanDuel)
TV channel: CBS
Stream: You can watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a cable provider, use your login information to watch this game on cbssports.com.
Oregon uniform combination: Black jerseys, black pants, green helmets.
What’s at stake: The winner of Saturday’s conference championship will receive a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff and a trip to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The loser will still make the playoff, and likely host a first-round game on their campus Dec. 20 or 21.
Oregon offense vs. Penn State defense
The Penn State defense is formidable and highly physical, led by superstar pass rusher Abdul Carter. It has a lot of similarities to Oregon’s defense, which could either bode well for Dillon Gabriel and company or be their undoing, depending on how you look at it. Practicing against a group of this caliber helps, but it only goes so far. Carter will be hunting for Gabriel all night.
What will be key for the Ducks offense is finding balance and creative ways to attack the Nittany Lions, who rank 7th in passing yards allowed and 7th in rushing yards allowed. An obvious weak point isn’t readily apparent.
The same could be said for this explosive group of Oregon playmakers, though, led by the now-healthy Tez Johnson and bellcow back Jordan James. It’s good vs. good in this particular 11-on-11 matchup on Saturday, so which group will rise to the top?
Oregon defense vs. Penn State offense
Where the game could turn Oregon’s way is with its defense on the field. Penn State is less of a threat through the air, beyond getting the ball to all-world tight end Tyler Warren. This is a run-first team. And while Drew Allar is efficient, he isn’t relied upon nearly as much as Gabriel is for the Ducks.
Forcing Penn State into difficult passing situations by shutting down the run will be key for Oregon’s defense. And not allowing Warren to take over the game by finding empty spaces in the secondary could be the difference between a close game and a potentially lop-sided scoreline. The Ducks’ front seven has proven its ability to stop the run, and will need to do so again.
Matchup to watch: Oregon’s offensive line vs. Abdul Carter
What Dan Lanning said: “You line up against who they put in the bracket. At the end of the day, you got to win your games to get to the end. Obviously there’s benefit to having more time to prepare for an opponent and you should have a benefit if you go and win your conference championship game. There’s definitely a huge advantage there of putting yourself a step closer to the end-all goal.”
Key stat: Carter had 10 sacks this season. But Oregon’s Matayo Uiagalelei had more with 10.5.
Prediction: Oregon 30, Penn State 27
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— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.
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.
“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.”
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.
“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.
“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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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.
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.
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