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 6 hours ago6 hr by Mike West

I feel like they are our new Stanford, where every season we are capable of ruining each other season.

Honestly coming into the B1G I thought our best comparison was PSU, not Michigan or Ohio State, but Dan Lanning's performance has me questioning that.

2 hours ago, Mike West said:

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!!!!!

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.

5 minutes ago, WTD25 said:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

8 minutes ago, HappyToBeADuck said:

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.

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 Rivalries 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.

22 minutes ago, Jon Joseph said:

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.

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.

43 minutes ago, EastBayDuckDad said:

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 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.

1 hour ago, David Marsh said:

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.

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

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.