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James Franklin's PSU teams usually do not get blown out by highly ranked opponents. His losses against top teams are close and often agonizing. As is often the case in football, especially college football, close games come down to which QB played the better game. This was the case Saturday night in Beaver Stadium and also in Athens, Georgia, and Oxford, Mississippi. The Ducks' D was amazing for three quarters. But before the fourth quarter, where were the PSU Jet Sweep plays? Where were the plays designed to stress the edge of OBD's defense? When Franklin and his OC became aggressive with their play calling, PSU looked like a far different team. Drew Allar lost another headliner game with a late interception, just as he did vs. OBD in the B1G champ game, Notre Dame in the playoff, and again on Saturday night. The three WRs who Penn State paid a lot of money to put up 10 receiving yards through the third period. IMO, PSU's timid game plan showed a lack of faith in Allar. You couldn't have a better environment for a home team, and PSU sat on the ball? The disconnect in the passing game vs. three donut hole OOC opponents carried into Saturday's game. The stubborn effort to run up the middle of OBD's solid defense reminded me of Chip Kelly's sorry, conservative play calling vs. Michigan last season. Ditto Chip's play calling versus a Nebraska team that was wiped out at Indiana the week before, with Ohio State coming off a bye week. This approach, unfortunately, changed after the post-Michigan meltdown in a players-only meeting with HC Ryan Day, where the players urged Day to open it up on O. Many players on the PSU team we saw Saturday night will play in the NFL. PSU's timid approach to this game did take the game into OT, but what would the outcome have been if PSU trusted Allar and the O and played not to lose before the 4th quarter? This kind of game planning, IMO, is where Franklin deserves to be criticized.

Dante Moore surges to lead in Heisman odds after clutch White Out performanceAutzen ZooDante Moore surges to lead in Heisman odds after clutch W...Like a novelist bent on Steven King fame and fortune, the Heisman race kills its darlings.

Ducks climb to No. 2 in AP Poll, and fans starting to say, 'This team is different'Autzen ZooDucks climb to No. 2 in AP Poll, and fans starting to say...Oregon jumped four spots to No. 2 in the AP Poll Sunday, receiving 16 first-place votes, behind only new conference rival Ohio State.

I'm sensing some flippin' opportunities coming out of South Central. https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/football/2025/09/28/lincoln-riley-usc-football-refuse-fix-problems-improve-details/86405247007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=

Oregon Beats Penn State - Josh Pate's College Football Show

Dan Lanning is a once in a generational hire/coach, and Oregon nailed it.

2025 #6 Oregon football vs #3 Penn st double overtime! Last few minutes!!!

I dont know what some Duck fans were seeing. lol I went to the casino 4 days before the game and placed my bet on Oregon without one bit of hesitation.

If PSU loses three games they're done. But a two loss PSU team with losses to probably no.1 and 2 ranked Ohio State and Oregon probably keeps them in the playoffs picture. Especially if they are only one score losses. But their ooc schedule is garbage and they should be punished for it if things get tight.

Blessings to him.

Some Moore Good Stuff! 😍 AP NewsNo. 2 Oregon rolling behind latest transfer QB in Dante M...Oregon coach Dan Lanning believes Dante Moore is the best quarterback in college football. Moore led the No. 6 Ducks to a gritty win against Penn State on Saturday night.

I would tend to agree that true rivalries need early games and takes decades to develop. But on this new world just ruining each other's seasons and being towards the top of the conference will have to be good enough. With the pac-12 we were all effectively born into rivalries and were the next generation of the rivalry. Each generation added something more to the rivalry to make it special. In the B1G our only established rivalries are the ones that we brought with us from the pac-12. Washington, USC and UCLA and then putting Oregon State on double-tripple-secret life support don't have the same feel to them in this bigger pond. Washington and USC will be good but we're not competing with them for the conference crown at the moment or a playoff spot. B1G Ricalries will develop in some of our lifetimes but we are on the first generation of these new rivalries. So Oregon ruining Penn State's shot at a conference title and then turning around to ruin their white out fo a long way to establish the loathing required to make a rivalry.

AP Extra Points. Keep on Spankin' Jimmy Franklin. AP NewsAP Top 25 Extra Points: Elliott would go from hot seat to...No. 24 Virginia football is experiencing a high point under coach Tony Elliott. The Cavaliers are 4-1 and tied for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference after a double-overtime win against Florida St

The AP's take on its eponymous 🤪poll. OBD closes the gap on TOSU. 😁 AP NewsOregon moves to No. 2 behind Buckeyes in AP poll; Rebels,...Oregon has moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, while Mississippi has its highest ranking since 2015.

Thank you, DM! The next regularly scheduled game vs. Penn State is in 2027, when both Penn State and Ohio State visit Autzen. WOW! One, Not So Fast! I'm not certain Penn State finishing 10-2 with no P4 opponent OOC is a lock for the PO. And PSU could lose more than two games. The SEC is deep, and as The Athletic asked yesterday, 'Is there a great team amidst all of the very good teams in the SEC?' Except for Arkansas and Kentucky, no game, even vs. Florida with the Gators' excellent D, is a sure win. How many SEC teams with better OOC opponents than PSU, which is close to, if not all 16 SEC teams, will finish 10-2? And if the committee's metrics truly address SOS, 3-loss SEC teams could be in the mix. At least in the mind of Sankey. In addition to the game in Columbus against the Ohio State ferocious defense that shut down UW on Saturday, Penn State plays at Iowa and hosts Indiana, with the game against the Hoosiers coming the week after the road game at Ohio State. The Nits' home game against Nebraska could also present a challenge. The game at Kinnock Stadium sees Joe Moore winner, Iowa DC Phil Parker vs. Knowles. On Saturday, future OBD opponent Iowa kept the Indiana O under the Mendoza Line (😁). I think Indiana's pass game is superior to Penn State's, especially if Penn State cannot run the ball. Thanks again, David, for another spot-on take. Hoist the Hoosiers!

Great article to ponder David, thanks? If we played PSU evety year then it would be a rivalry, for certain. Playing them 4 or 5 times in 10 years doesnt work for this fan. They are a very good program and Franklin is a proven coach. However the BIG titles are going to Michigan, tOSU and OBD's! With Natties going to tOSU, Michigan and hopefully ODD's this year. As long as the 5☆ players go to tOSU, Michigan and the Ducks then PSU will put up a great battle but ultimately lose. Michigan is 7-3 in their last 10 games, tOSU since 2006 is 15-3 over the Nittany Lions. The Ducks are 2-0 since joining the BIG. Most of those games were close and hard fought. But scoreboard counts. PSU will get a chance soon to change the narrative when they play the Buckeyes. If they lose then no title game and their fan base will be upset. Time will tell. Go Ducks!

Great perspectives in the article, David. The days of Beavus and Fusky as Oregon's main rivals are now relics of the past and the ghosts of the old PAC. Maybe Washington again someday. I have to admit that I had Penn St winning in our prediction contest as I believed that Knowles would have WS's number just enough to stop Oregon's offense when it mattered. The Rose Bowl was just so jarring in terms of getting outcoached on both sides of the ball. The Bucknuts probably had the talent edge, and that made the difference with the enlightened coaching advantage. What I saw Saturday was a more talented Oregon that will be the best of the B1G for the immediate future. This match up will be exciting to watch for years to come even if Stein moves on and DL replies him with another offensive wunderkind.

I am not going to drink everyone's Kool-Aid, but taking a sip once in a while is nice at the right moments. As fans, we are processing this win, and it is great to see other pundits offer words about Oregon that, we've never heard. Oregon Ducks "Penn State draws most of the attention, but Oregon proved the bigger point. This is one of the deepest, most talented rosters in the country, and Dan Lanning has been building toward this kind of win. Beating Penn State in a White Out is validation that Oregon can beat anyone." Dante Moore Dante Moore looks every bit like the program-defining quarterback Oregon has long sought. He completed 29-of-39 passes for 248 yards and three scores in one of the toughest road environments in college football. Heisman front-runner talk isn’t hyperbole. Moore and Oregon are terrifying.

Oregon is a tier above Penn State. The game shouldn't have gone to overtime really. Missed field goal and some crazy things from Allar at the end kept this from being a double digit win. Penn State hasn't beaten a top ten team in nine years! They've come close, but until they actually win one of these games I can't call Franklin anywhere close to elite. Franklin himself said after a close loss to Ohio State in 2017 that Penn State was good, but to be great they needed to reach another gear. That was eight years ago and they've lost one score games every year to Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and now Oregon. Even in that magical 2016 season where they beat Ohio State and won the B1G, they lost a close game to Clay Helton and the Trojans in the Rose Bowl. James Franklin beats everyone he's supposed to. He's 2-15 against teams where he needs to out coach somebody with an equal or maybe greater talent level. That's not elite.

The difficulty the Penn State fan base faces right now is that some are calling for his firing. Which is reactionary and not realistic. Lets for a moment assume Penn State fires Franklin. Who do they hire that's better? I believe the answer to that question is... No one at least no one obvious. The problem Penn State faces now is that Franklin has to be introspective and make changes to himself and his program and how it opposites. It isn't good enough and there is no easy fix. Even changing the offensive scheme comes with risks because do they have the players to do something different? It would also impact the defense in terms of how they opposite as Penn State likes to be a ball control team. Oregon by the way dominated the time of possession. Dan Lanning is absolutely a rar coach. He was basically a no name that Oregon nails the hire on and gives him all the supports he could dream of and he's proven he's up to the task as a first time head coach. Lanning's Ducks are the terror of the B1G for sure.

I agree with much of this. Great post. Can you explain more about the Lupoi switch from 3-4 to 4-2? Was that a good or bad thing. I'm not an x's/o's person, so not sure of the implications, though it did seem that PSU's offense found some breathing room later in the game. Re: Franklin, I agree that the fanbase is more upset than they should be. PSU is always good and, if they get the right players and QB, they can be great. Hard to ask for more than that. If you're in contention every year, one of those years will work out.

Another "Man Of Oregon". Good to see in the current social climate we live under. Kudos young Man. 🏆