After easily defeating Maryland and getting a huge gift from Michigan, the Penn State Nittany Lions punched their ticket to Indianapolis for Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game against the No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
It’s the first time since 2016 (defeated Wisconsin) that the Nittany Lions are playing in this game. Oregon went undefeated in the regular season in their first year in the Big Ten.
It’s probably safe to say whoever wins this game will land the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoffs. Oregon would obviously get it if they win, seeing as they would be a 13-0 Big Ten champion. But even if Penn State wins, they’d be 12-1 with a win over the No. 1 team in the country to win a conference championship. That should be good engine to vault Texas, should the Longhorns win and would easily keep them above Georgia should the Bulldogs win.
Can Penn State pull the upset? Can James Franklins shake off his big-game woes? He can if these keys happen.
1. Penn State’s secondary needs a huge day. Oregon has a very steady group of receivers, led by Senior Bowl invitee Tez Johnson (68 catches, 687 yards, 9 touchdowns). Evan Stewart (48-613-6) and Traeshon Holden (36-581-3) are no slouches themselves. Penn State’s back half will need their best game of the season to keep that trio in check and limit the damage Oregon can do on offense.
2. Establish the ground game early. One good way to keep the ball out of an offense’s hands is to not let them have the ball as much. If Penn State can get Nick Singleton (733 yards, seven touchdowns) and Kaytron Allen (698 yards, five touchdowns) rolling early, Penn State can control the clock and not give Dillon Gabriel as much time on offense.
3. Mistakes by Oregon will be rare, Penn State has to capitalize. The Ducks are a complete team and very rarely don’t take care of the football. Gabriel only has six interceptions and the Ducks have only lost five fumbles all season. So if that window of opportunity cracks open Saturday night, Penn State has to take advantage. Because you can be sure those chances will be few and far between. But if they can, Penn State could come away with the Big Ten championship and find themselves at the top of the bracket come Sunday.
