Penn State Football 12/7/24 Preview Against Oregon

S. Samek

Now that the regular season is over it’s time to move to the conference championship games. With a win and a surprising loss Penn State earned a spot to fight for a Big Ten conference title.

Penn State got some help from Michigan as they were able to upset #2 Ohio State 13-10 this past weekend. The loss gave Ohio State a 10-2 record. Penn State then took care of Maryland 44-7 to improve to 11-1 and move past Ohio State in the standings despite a head-to-head loss to them.

Now they have the task ahead of beating Oregon. Oregon is currently ranked number in the nation with a 12-0 record and 9-0 in the Big Ten.

This is the first time the two teams have met sense 1995. Penn State leads the all-time series 3-1 including a 38-20 Rose Bowl win in that 1995 contest.

Oregon is led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has thrown for 3,275 yards this season along with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He is a player to watch in the Heisman Trophy race as well as is also a finalist for the Maxwell award. The Ducks also have a 1,000-yard rusher this season with Jordan James and his 1,166-yard campaign. Tez Johnson has 685 receiving yards and nine touchdowns to go with 67 catches.

Penn State isn’t lacking offensive weapons though. Quarterback Drew Allar threw for 2,668 yards and 18 touchdowns so far this season with only five interceptions. His top target was tight end Tyler Warren, who caught 81 passes for 978 yards and six touchdowns. He also broke the Big Ten record for season receptions by a tight end. Nicholas Singleton led the run game with 733 yards on 121 carries with seven touchdowns.

I’d expect a good close game. I’m predicting Oregon wins 34-30.