For as good as Penn State’s defense has been this season, not even they could find a way to stop arguably the most dynamic offense in college football. Penn State’s defense was bewildered by No. 1 Oregon on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and lost by a final score of 45-37. Penn State was not quite equipped to get into a track meet going up and down the field with Oregon, but they will come away from this one knowing they left some opportunities to waste in this battle against the Ducks.
Penn State’s defense could not stop the Oregon offensive attack in the first quarter. Dillon Gabriel led two masterful drives for touchdowns on each of Oregon’s full offensive series in the first quarter. Each drive was aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty on Penn State, including one on Tony Rojas on what would have been a fourth-down stop on Oregon’s second possession.
Penn State answered each time with two scoring drives on their first two possessions. The first drive ended with a field goal but [autotag]Drew Allar[/autotag] connected with a streaking [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] over the middle for a 22-yard touchdown to pulled Penn State within 14-10. Penn State was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the ensuing kickoff, though, and Oregon started with the football at the Penn State 40-yard line, and two plays later Tez Johnson took Oregon into Penn State territory. A big catch by Johnson on the first play of the second quarter put Oregon in a 1st and Goal situation and Oregon soon took a 21-10 lead with Gabriel’s third touchdown pass of the game, to tight end Terrance Ferguson.
Penn State’s defense came up with its first stop of the game but the offense was backed up deep in its end after a booming Oregon punt. Allar was then picked off by Dontae Manning at the Penn State 25-yard line and Manning returned the football to the one-yard line, setting Jordan James up for an easy touchdown to push the Oregon lead to 28-10.
Allar bounced back on the next possession to orchestrate a touchdown drive. [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] injected some energy into the offense with his physical running and catching, and Allar locked in on Omari Evans for a 22-yard touchdown to cap a 75-yard drive, cutting Oregon’s lead to 28-17.
Following a strong three-and-out by the defense, Allar and the offense got back to work to inch a little bit closer before halftime. Allar scored on the ground to cut the Oregon leader to 28-14, but the Ducks tacked on field goal just before halftime to take a seven-point lead into the break. The 55 combined points set a new Big Ten record for combined points scored in the championship game. The previous record was 52 by Wisconsin and Nebraska in 2012.
Penn State did make things interesting at the start of the fourth quarter by finishing off a 98-yard touchdown drive, which was ignited with a hands-to-the-face penalty on Oregon at the start of the drive and finished by a Kaytron Allen touchdown run. Rather than kick an extra point though, Penn State opted for a two-point conversion attempt but Tyler Warren was stopped well short of the goal line to keep things at 38-30.
Oregon added to their lead to take a 45-30 lead but Allar and the Nittany Lions roared back for one more score when Allar got away from a defender holding on to his jersey and completed a fourth-down touchdown pass to [autotag]Harrison Wallace III[/autotag]. The defense held firm for a big stand and Penn State got the ball back one more time. But out of the two-minute warning, Allar heaved a ball down the right sideline to Wallace and was picked off by Nikko Reed, and the Ducks managed to work the remainder of the clock to celebrate a Big Ten championship in its first season in the conference.
Oregon proved once again why they came into the Big Ten with high hopes and why they are the top-ranked team in the country. Penn State’s defense has been stellar all season but had no answers for what Oregon wanted to do on offense. Despite some good moments, it was not enough against the Ducks, who scored more points on Penn State than any team did this season. Oregon will be the trendy national championship pick going into the playoff after securing the first-round bye as Big Ten champion and locking up the top seed in the playoff. Could a rematch be in the cards for Penn State?
Penn State will now await their College Football Playoff fate on Sunday from the selection committee. The Nittany Lions will still be heading to the playoff, and should still be in line to host a first-round playoff game. The seeding could be in question, especially after Texas lost in the SEC championship game and fell out of position for a first-round bye. Penn State may still be looking to host a first-round College Football Playoff game, but a lot hangs in unchartered territory at the moment.
What’s next for Penn State? We’ll find out Sunday afternoon when the College Football Playoff bracket is officially unveiled.
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