STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Death, taxes and Big Game James Franklin adding fuel to what is now a burning-hot narrative around his coaching.
Penn State lost another matchup to a highly ranked opponent on Saturday night, getting outplayed by No. 6 Oregon to drop the Nittany Lions’ head coach to a remarkable 4–21 against Top 10 opponents.
While that eye-opening record deserves a smidge of recognition that some of his earlier Penn State teams were often significant underdogs against some of the country’s elite programs, that wasn’t the case coming into this Week 5 blockbuster. The Lions were playing at home before 111,015 in their ferocious white-out setup at Beaver Stadium, had far more starters back from last year’s team which made it to the final play of a College Football Playoff semifinal and spent big in the offseason to keep their roster befitting of a true national title contender.
The end result, however, was the same as it was in previous iterations when there was a lot on the line for the blue and white: a dispirited loss, a chorus of boos from the home crowd and more questions for Penn State than answers.
Here are three takeaways from the Ducks’ 30–24 double-overtime win over the Nittany Lions.
1. The Penn State offense wasn’t saving anything
With a nonconference schedule that was slightly weaker than an NFL preseason slate, it was an easy assumption to say that Penn State was saving something for its big games like the Big Ten opener against the Ducks. That line of thinking was misguided, however, as the Nittany Lions offense looked nothing like a group that was returning a ton of starters, had one of the best offensive lines in the country and spent big to bring in a handful of key transfers at wide receiver. Quarterback Drew Allar barely outpaced the number of boos he prompted from the crowd with just 14 completed passes (for 127 yards and two touchdowns) and had several of his balls hit the turf not because they were tipped, but simply because they were poorly thrown. He also threw the game-sealing interception in double overtime. It didn’t help that the running game behind Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen was virtually nonexistent (3.3 yards per carry) and his wideouts failed to create much separation, but it was a woeful effort against a team with plenty of experience in such games.
2. Oregon wasn’t rattled by the white-out
Ducks head coach Dan Lanning flashed a big grin while walking around Beaver Stadium before kickoff and that confidence was reflected in the way his team, though young, played in what is usually one of the most intimidating environments in college football. QB Dante Moore was the one who looked like a first-round NFL draft pick in front of scouts from nearly every NFL team (29 of 39 for 248 yards and three touchdowns). Freshman tailback Dierre Hill Jr. looked like one of the best running backs in the conference with his impressive quickness leading to a game-high 82 yards on the ground. The defense, too, came to play with senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher notching double-digit tackles while flying all over the place and defensive tackle Bear Alexander shutting down running lanes nearly single-handedly. It might be a little early to say they’re better than reigning champion Ohio State, but the Ducks are showing no signs of slowing down after winning the Big Ten last year.
3. The Ducks have the inside track for a quarterfinal berth now
Oregon is off next week and then will host a dangerous Indiana team at Autzen Stadium for what will be another tough test against a potential playoff team. The Ducks sure have a great path to earning one of those CFP quarterfinal berths (and resulting bye) now. They have to come back east to play at Rutgers and at Iowa, but will likely wake up on Sunday with just one ranked opponent, the Hoosiers, remaining on their schedule. You never want to start assuming wins and losses in a sport like college football, but that sets up well for the Ducks to make another run at getting to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game—especially given that a team like Penn State still has to play both of the league’s other Top 10 teams in Indiana and Ohio State.
READ MORE: College Football Playoff Bracket Projections After Week 5
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fischer’s Takeaways from Oregon–Penn State: James Franklin Fails in Another Big Game.
