In one of my preseason articles I discussed candidates for Oregon’s new B1G Rivials, and on my list of five potential rivals, Penn State came in at No. 2. After Oregon’s 30-24 win in their house during their most celebrated tradition, it’s clear that the Oregon-Penn State rivalry is taking form. For the second time in less than a year, ...

The Oregon-Penn State Rivalry is Here

Awesome article David. Even Josh Pate echoes your thoughts about Penn State's title chances.

I must say, James Franklin is an elite coach. He doesn't have a talent advantage, but he's been able to give his team, with warts and talent holes at key positions, and a chance to tie or win games against more talented teams.

His fan base , quite frankly, is spoiled like Ohio State's. Without any evidence backing their claim he can't coach. They claim he falls behind because he's soft and too conservative. Hogwash.

His teams get out muscled, and his staff finds ways to climb back into contention. And he got lucky. Lupoi switched his 3-4 front to a 4-2 in the fourth quarter.

But Lupoi was plain awesome Saturday. The best he's been. Franklin still dialed up Max Protect to get his team a shot. Then exploited that flaw I keep pointing out in the Mint defense (sliding the backside DE to the middle of the box).

It came down to one mistake at the end, and an unfortunate reversal on the fumble in the third quarter. Franklin had some bad luck against a team that was slowly taking control of the game, and brought them back despite a talent mismatch.

Penn.State fans should get in their knees and pray for forgiveness. For their arrogance.

As for OBD. GUT check, answer. Coach Lanning is getting better every month. I had that one complaint. But that is mostly because I really don't like the Mint Defense. It only works with real NFL players in my humble/not so humble opinion.

Stein is a beast. Lupoi can actually coach using the right scheme (again my opinion here).

I feel for James Franklin. He has some physical guys that aren't physical enough, and he's going to need to add more schemes to the personality of that team. They don't have the kind of WRa to kill shot elite defenses, so he's going to need to study Stein and some NFL greats to compliment his physical style of play.

David, you called the new fabric of the B1G. And if USUC, the Fuskies, Indiana, Illinois, or one of the other name brand schools decides to step up like Franklin has, the B1G could be dominant for years to come. But PSU definitely has another rivalry for elite pole position in the conference.

How bout OBDs!!!!!

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Mike West