Dillon Gabriel felt he and Oregon were a “perfect” match when he decided to transfer there, and Saturday night proved his instincts correctly.
The top-ranked Ducks remained undefeated, despite a heck of an effort from No. 3 Penn State, to win the Big Ten, 45-37.
The Ducks led by as many as 18 in the first half, scoring touchdowns on four of their first five drives. Penn State chipped away to get back to within four, but after getting back up 14 midway through the third quarter, Oregon seemed to have all the momentum with a 38-24 lead.
The Nittany Lions weren’t dead yet, though, as Kaytron Allen had runs of 32 and 26 yards on a drive, finishing the job with a one-yard score. James Franklin opted to be aggressive, though, and go for two, but their version of the Philly Special was unsuccessful.
Oregon’s offense did their usual thing afterward, going on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a Jordan James touchdown, his second, to go up 45-30 with 7:28 to go.
But Penn State stayed alive – on 4th and 10, Drew Allar narrowly escaped a sack and zipped one into the end zone for a score to make it an eight-point game – then, they forced a three-and-out. But Allar went deep, and he was picked off. Oregon was able to get a first down, as Penn State was out of timeouts, to clinch the title.
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Tez Johnson had himself a day, caught 11 passes for a Big Ten championship record 181 yards and a touchdown. Dillon Dabriel completed 22 of his 32 passes for 283 yards and four scores.
Oregon will, in all likelihood, be the one-seed in the playoff, and despite the loss, Penn State is certainly in the running to host a game in the first round. They will find out their fate early Sunday afternoon.
As for the Ducks, it’s their first conference title since winning the Pac-12 in 2020, and they now get set for their first playoff appearance since 2014, the year the playoff was born.
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