Oregon holds off Penn State for Big Ten title, secures first-round bye in CFP

Five months ago, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning and a few of his players traveled to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as something of a novelty in the eyes of its peers. The Ducks were among the four West Coast newcomers to join a conference rooted almost entirely in the Midwest, and the Big Ten Media Days event in late July served as their formal introduction to the rest of the league. They set loose a giant inflatable duck in a local river and answered question after question about the program’s intimate relationship with Nike co-founder Phil Knight, the man funding much of Oregon’s wide-ranging NIL efforts. Everything they did and said felt different. 

Fast-forward to December, when the Ducks returned to Indy with an unblemished record and a No. 1 ranking next to their name, and it’s clear that different worked just fine for Oregon during its debut season in the Big Ten. On Saturday night, Lanning and his team ran away from Penn State, 45-37, in a breathtaking offensive display that affirmed why Oregon is the league’s best chance to win a national championship — both in the immediate future and, potentially, in the years to come, so long as Lanning remains with the program. The Ducks racked up 466 yards of total offense against Penn State and scored on seven of their 11 possessions prior to running out the clock in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel completed 22 of 32 passes for 283 yards and four scores to complement a ground attack that gashed a top-10 rushing defense for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Wideout Tez Johnson, now fully recovered from a shoulder injury, caught 11 passes for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown. 

The Ducks’ reward? In addition to winning a Big Ten Championship for the first time, Oregon will now enter the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 overall seed when the bracket is revealed on Sunday afternoon. 

Here are some quick takeaways from the game: 

Early difference 

One of the only things that separated Oregon and Penn State following a first half in which both teams gained at least 250 yards of total offense, both teams scored on five of their respective possessions and the combined point total of 55 set a new single-half record for the Big Ten Championship game was an untimely interception by quarterback Drew Allar early in the second quarter. By then, the Nittany Lions had already fallen behind by 11 points and were in danger of being run out of the stadium by an opponent that arrived in Indianapolis having scored at least 35 points in five of its last six games. What Penn State needed was a sustained drive that could flip the field, run some clock and culminate with some kind of score. 

Instead, Allar wasted a clean pocket by forcing a pass into tight coverage against tight end Khalil Dinkins on an in-breaking route over the middle of the field. The ball flew well behind the back shoulder of Dinkins and into the arms of Oregon defensive back Dontae Manning, a fifth-year senior and one of the rare non-transfers in the Ducks’ secondary. Manning snared the pass at Penn State’s 25-yard line and nearly returned it for a touchdown, ultimately getting hauled down a few feet shy by wide receiver Harrison Wallace III. 

But a first-and-goal opportunity from the 1-yard line wasn’t something Oregon would squander, especially during a first half in which the Ducks averaged more than 4 yards per carry while racking up 97 rushing yards and a score. Tailback Jordan James, the team’s leading rusher this season with 1,166 yards entering Saturday’s game, only needed one attempt to plunge across the goal line and widen his team’s advantage to 28-10 with 10:05 remaining in the half. 

Play of the game

Given the aggressive reputation that Lanning has earned across three seasons as Oregon’s head coach — a tenure rich with two-point conversion attempts and gutsy fourth-down tries — there was little doubt that offensive coordinator Will Stein had two plays to move the chains on a critical fourth-quarter drive that would eventually milk nearly seven minutes off the clock. So even though Penn State linebacker Dominic DeLuca pumped his fist and roared when he slammed James for no gain on third and short, almost everyone in the stadium knew the defense still had one more stop to make. And this time, on fourth-and-2, Stein trusted the most experienced quarterback in college football history to make a play that effectively won the game. 

For Gabriel, a sixth-year senior whose career has meandered from Central Florida to Oklahoma to Oregon, moments like this are why he bypassed the NFL Draft to return to school for another year in search of a national championship. He remained poised in the pocket when all three receivers were covered on the left side of the formation and focused his gaze on tight end Terrance Ferguson instead. The pass from Gabriel hit Ferguson in stride for a 20-yard catch and run at a time when all the Ducks required was 2 yards. Rumbling and bumbling toward the end zone, Ferguson was finally stopped at the Penn State 15-yard line. 

From there, James only needed two carries to find the end zone for a second time and push Oregon’s lead back to double digits with 7:28 remaining. The Ducks knew that Lanning’s latest gamble — executed successfully in the most pressure-packed of settings — meant a Big Ten title was almost within reach.  

Key stat 

Whenever Penn State head coach James Franklin is asked to describe what makes Allar, a former five-star prospect, such a high-level quarterback, the statistic he almost always invokes is touchdown-to-interception ratio — an area where his junior signal-caller clearly excels. A year ago, during Allar’s first season as the starting quarterback, he tossed 25 touchdowns and only two interceptions. And as of kickoff in the Big Ten title game, Allar had thrown 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions thus far in 2024, with three of those picks coming against USC in October. It was the first and only time Allar had thrown multiple interceptions in the same game as a collegiate player. 

Until Saturday. 

On the biggest stage of his career, and with the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff on the line, Allar completed 20 of 39 passes for 226 yards, three touchdowns and two costly interceptions — one that set up an easy touchdown run for the Ducks; another that sealed the game in the fourth quarter. With his team trailing by eight in the waning moments, Allar made an unusual decision to heave the ball toward Wallace against tight coverage from cornerback Nikko Reed down the right sideline. Reed, a former transfer from Colorado, was in better position to contest for the ball than Wallace and made a beautiful over-the-shoulder grab that seemed to stun nearly everyone in attendance. He wheeled away in celebration with 1:54 remaining, knowing that all Oregon’s offense would need to hoist the trophy was a single first down. 

Franklin placed his hands on his hips in an unenviable combination of anguish and disbelief. Allar appeared on the verge of tears as he retreated to the Penn State sideline. A player lauded for his decision-making and ball security had faltered when it mattered most. 

What’s next for Oregon?

By remaining perfect through the Big Ten Championship game, Oregon secured the No. 1 seed in the first iteration of a 12-team College Football Playoff. As one of the four highest-ranked conference champions, the Ducks will receive a first-round bye and then face the winner of the 8-9 game on a neutral field. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Dec. 31 at the Fiesta Bowl and Jan. 1 at the Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. 

What’s next for Penn State?

With an 11-1 regular season record, the Nittany Lions assured themselves of a berth in the College Football Playoff regardless of what happened in Indianapolis on Saturday night. The only question after second-ranked Texas lost to Georgia in the SEC title game earlier in the day was whether Penn State could earn a first-round bye and the No. 1 overall seed by toppling Oregon, or if Franklin’s team would be crossing its fingers on Sunday afternoon for an at-large berth that would result in a home game at Beaver Stadium. In other words, just how far will the selection committee drop Penn State for losing to Oregon by eight on a neutral field while teams like Ohio State and Tennessee remained idle?  

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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