By Steve Woodward
At Big Ten Media Days in July, Oregon and Ohio State were picked as the most likely to win the conference. Five months and some memorable games later, the media got it “half” right. A battle several Rose Bowls removed is reborn in the 2024 B1G Championship Game as #1 Seeded Oregon faced #3 seed Penn State.
Penn State won the opening toss and chose to defer. Oregon opened the game on their own 15 after Whittington’s kickoff return got stuffed. The Ducks started off with a heavy does of Jordan James. James had multiple runs for positive yards as Oregon attached the vaunted Penn State defensive line with “All-World” defensive end Abdul Carter. After Penn State grabbed Whittington’s face mask on one carry and an attempt by Oregon to run a trick play, Dillon Gabriel hit Kenyon Sadiq for 28 yards and Oregon’s first touchdown of the day: 9 plays for 84 yards and took 4:16 off the clock. Penn State took their opening drive to the Oregon 16 and had to settle for a 33 yard field goal to make the score 7-3 Ducks at the 7:30 mark in the 1st quarter.
Oregon’s second drive had more of the same on runs between James and Whittington (one of Whittington’s went for 27 yards). On a 4th an 1, James appears to get enough yards for the first down on his own when Penn State is called for a facemask on the play, giving the Ducks and extra 15 yards and a first down. Gabriel capped off the drive with a 2 yard pass to Kenyon Sadiq for another Oregon touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
Penn State seemed to get their wind in the next drive as they found Penn State’s other “All-World” player, Tight End Tyler Warren for a couple of long passes. Running Back Nicholas Singleton caught a 22 yard pass to pull Penn State within four at 14-10 with 1:24 left in the first quarter.
Oregon’s third drive of the game opened on their 40 as PSU committed another roughing penalty on the kickoff. The Ducks opened up the passing game a bit on this drive as Gabriel connected with receivers on passes of 24, and 31 yards (both to Tez Johnson) and a 4 yard touchdown pass to Ferguson for the score and a 21-10 Oregon lead.
After Oregon and Penn State trade 3 and Outs, Oregon Penn State QB Drew Allar throws a pick to Oregon’s Dontae Manning who returns the ball to the Penn State 1 yard line. Jordan James punches it in on the next play and Oregon extends its lead to 28-10 with 10:05 left in the half.
Just when you think Oregon might start to pull away, Penn State clawed their way back into the game with a 75 yard touchdown drive, held Oregon to a 3 and out on its ensuing possession and then a 65 yard drive to pull within 28-24 at the 1:53 mark. Oregon answers back with a quick drive of their own, settling for a field goal to make it 31-24 Ducks at the half.
The 55 combined points between the two teams is a new B1G record, surpassing the 2012 Championship Game between Wisconsin and Nebraska for most points in a single half.
Penn State opened with the ball in the second half and their offensive line started making a serious push against the Oregon front. While PSU did not score on this drive, it appeared to open a few cracks that allowed Allen and Singleton to get free for decent yardage.
Oregon went back to the passing game on its next drive – Holden had a catch for 17 yards and Tez broke a 48 yard catch for a touchdown with the majority of those yards coming after the catch. 38-24 Ducks with 7:36 left in the 3rd quarter.
Both teams traded 3 and outs again and Penn State was pinned all the way back to their own 3 yard line. PSU again appeared to have momentum as the put together a 97 yard touchdown drive that only took 2:23 thanks to two big runs of 32 and 26 by Kaytron Allen.
Next, Oregon put together their best drive of the day: 75 yards, taking nearly seven minutes off the clock, using a mix of Gabriel scrambles, timely runs and a big 4th and 2 reception by Terrance Ferguson for 20 yards to get the ball into the Red Zone. Ducks (maybe) pulling away 45-30 with 7:28 left in the game.
Penn State responded again aided by a 22 yard scramble by Allar, a conversion on 3rd and 15 and an amazing throw and catch from Allar to Wallace, threaded between two Duck defenders for 14 yards and the score. Penn State tried to get cute with a trick play for a 2 Point Conversion attempt which failed. 45-37 Ducks with 3:47 left in the game.
All Oregon needs to do is get a first down and run out the clock, right? Right?!?!? Instead, the Ducks run up the middle twice with Whittington for no gain and a 3rd and 9 pass attempt that looked like it was supposed to go to Stewart that was way off the mark. Oregon punts again and the Penn State crowd, which was pretty much kept in check for the majority of the game, started to feel confident and give energy to the #3 seed in the current CFP Rankings.
Starting from their own 37 after what looked like a return into Oregon territory was called back due to a questionable fair catch signal, PSU drove to the Duck 46 at the “Two Minute Time Out.”
On 2nd and 1 from the Oregon 46 Allar’s throw is intercepted by Oregon’s Nikko Reed. Once again, Oregon’s defense steps up in a big moment. Oregon had a 3rd and 1 with 1:45 left and Dillon Gabriel scrambled for the first down to seal the game. Final Score: 45-37 Ducks.
Tez Johnson was your B1G Championship MVP with 11 Receptions for 181 yards and 1 Touchdown.
This is only the second time Oregon Oregon has finished undefeated heading into a playoff. The last time was 2010-11 when they faced Auburn in the National Championship Game. The Now 13-0 Ducks are headed to a January 1st date at the Rose Bowl to face an opponent to be determined on Selection Sunday.
