As we're all aware, Penn State suffered a gut wrenching 2OT loss to OBD by the tune of 30-24. However, they had a "get right" game lined up for them. An opportunity to get that bad tastes out of their mouths.

So imagine my surprise when I tune in and see the Nittany Lions down 27-7?! TO UCLA??!!!

UCLA would go on to win 42-35 in a game where they never trailed, after ironically having not led for a single second this season.

Guys, I think we broke Penn State.

James Franklin may very well be gone before the season ends. And now Dan Lanning may have contributed to the firing of yet another head coach.

Crazy, right?

Sound off below.

Well...it was a great Oregon victory...for A WEEK!

First road game not being until game #5 catches up to them.

Let’s not start playing the transitive properties game quite yet.

tOSU only scored 14 at home against Texas, who just gave up all kinds of points against a 3 loss team, etc etc. =tOSU is no good.

I think I have the math right.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by JabbaNoBargain

That was not the same team that Oregon played, especially the defense.

Plus UCLA was completely revamped with the new coach.

We still need to win all our games

Penn State...

I hear their next home game is a paper bag on head out.

Still a good win last week in spite of this massive screw up by PSU. It changes nothing as Oregon just needs to win every week.

Go Ducks, hose the Hoosiers!

Penn State still has a loaded roster.

But they didn't play like they cared. They showed up to playing the LA sun and accept their free win over 0-4 UCLA.

Credit to UCLA who was playing with house money and they knew it. It didn't matter what they did because they were expected to win.

Penn State just phones it in for a half woke up in the second half offensively and still looked utterly confused against UCLA's offense.

I haven't watched too much UCLA football this year. Probably as much as their own fans. So I don't know what they really did differently offensively but they played like they wanted to be there and cared.

Penn State didn't want to be there. Even if UCLA was throwing new stuff at them they didn't adjust and didn't play sound fundamental football.

This was a hangover game and it bot them.

We'll see if Penn State bounces back.

Andy and Ani's take for those interested.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by David Marsh

There've been a couple of other upsets so far this weekend. Glad OBD are resting up with a bye.

Let me just say that I never thought this loss would happen. However, after some deep thought, I think there are a lot of factors that led to this. First, they put all of their eggs in one basket for the Oregon game. They had the easy warm-up games, the bye week, home field/white out, etc.

Second, they had to travel all the way to LA for their first road game of the season. It was a must-win game after the OT loss last week and they definitely didn’t treat it like a business trip.

Third, they had to go against a totally new offensive scheme. Young Jerry Neuheisel had nothing to lose and he was able to cut Nico loose and get creative with his play calls. I think PSU felt that they could roll into Los Angeles and UCLA would just roll over and die for them.

These upsets were good learning opportunities for all teams on a bye this weekend (Indiana included). I think we all know DL and Cig are going to have their players ready for a big game with all of the pomp and circumstance that comes with College Gameday which will definitely be making the trip to Eugene.

1 hour ago, DrJacksPlaidPants said:

Third, they had to go against a totally new offensive scheme. Young Jerry Neuheisel had nothing to lose and he was able to cut Nico loose and get creative with his play calls. I think PSU felt that they could roll into Los Angeles and UCLA would just roll over and die for them.

Not an entirely new scheme as that would require more than a couple weeks to install.

They were up against an entirely new offensive mentality for sure. UCLA was playing with free money because their HC was fired and the season was written off.

Why not get aggressive with the play calling? That's what they did was play like there was no tomorrow and frankly for that staff and those players at UCLA there might not be a tomorrow.

Jim Knowles is time and time again referred to as the best defensive coordinator in all of college football. His defense just got ripped to shreds by a first time offensive coordinator and a program everyone has written off as dead.

Penn State prepared their heart out for Oregon and Oregon shattered their heart.

They're culture was broken coming into the game today. Now Penn State is in a state of do or die crisis.

And it wasn't just the defense that got beat... But that Penn State offense just couldn't move the ball.

If UCLA goes on a tear, they could still end up making Oregon look good, as long as the Ducks crush their newfound spirit.

Im not a weasel fan, but I can acknowledge the unbridled joy he exhibited for his son's success.

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by woundedknees

Thanks for nothing, Penn State 😉.

Let me pose this question to those thinking Oregon's win over Penn State is diminished.

Do you think Penn State would have lost today if they won last week?

I think they would in that scenario.

Long season and some random teams usually take the place of those that fall.

The SEC has a relative LOT of losses on the ledger for their contenders. The normal pattern for the SEC would be that “Texas only lost because now Florida is in the top 10, so let’s not penalize Texas too much.” Hard to do that when they lose to a Florida team with a losing record, but they‘ll try.

SOS concepts being tossed around by the SEC mouthpieces are a bunch of smoke imo. Only way we don’t get in with 2 losses is if we have horrible timing. If we go 10-0, drop the last 2 in a row and don’t make the B1G championship game….thats the only 2 loss scenario that keeps us out IMO.

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by JabbaNoBargain

Traveling to different time zones isn’t that easy. Ducks are time travel warriors.

3 hours ago, JabbaNoBargain said:

First road game not being until game #5 catches up to them.

Let’s not start playing the transitive properties game quite yet.

tOSU only scored 14 at home against Texas, who just gave up all kinds of points against a 3 loss team, etc etc. =tOSU is no good.

I think I have the math right.

Why not? What do we have other than trans properties? This was a bottom-feeder loss for PSU. An L that sullies last Saturday's win.

Without a win in Columbus and a win against Indiana, We Are The Champs, Penn State will not qualify for the PO. PSU allowed the wrong QB to escape to Mizzou. PSU is trying to run an RPO O without a QB fit for an RPO.

This, after paying mucho dinero to keep guys at Beaver Stadium, playing for a sure thing, an NFL first-round draft pick QB, and WRs who can actually catch a football. And I do think in the subjective world of CFB rankings, this does diminish last Saturday's win.

I also believe UW's comeback against Maryland helps OBD's cause.

It's unfortunately all about transitive properties and comparison scores. 136 teams in theory competing for a spot in a 12-team PO, the manner in which you win and lose matters. The win in a White Out? Was it that B1G of a deal? OBD, but for a couple of plays, was 'This Close' to a three-score win.

From a mile away - Penn State fans will now whine about the strenuous travel post-White Out. This never would have happened but for the Newbie Westies!🤬

OT - My Vegas buddies, including Moi, called the under win total for Clemson and Texas. It's always good when you can line up after Week 6 to collect season-long future bets. 🤑

If you're looking for the Golden Arches in Austin, Texas, good luck, yuck, yuck 😁.

1 hour ago, David Marsh said:

Let me pose this question to those thinking Oregon's win over Penn State is diminished.

Do you think Penn State would have lost today if they won last week?

I think they would in that scenario.

I agree, the OBD White Out win is diminished. Not because of what I think, thank goodness, but because of the system. There is ZERO excuse for PSU to lose in LA today while looking feeble in the process. You do not get a hangover loss in CFB.

PSU Will Win The Natty Nits, will lose in Columbus, at home against Indiana, possibly at Iowa, and one more game. This team, for whatever reason or no reason, is simply not that good. Lose the LOS to OBD? OK. Lose the LOS to UCLA?

PSU, along with Clemson and Texas, is one of the 2025 Emperor Has No Clothes teams. Jim Knowles no longer has Caleb Downs et al to move around his chessboard.

1 hour ago, David Marsh said:

Let me pose this question to those thinking Oregon's win over Penn State is diminished.

Do you think Penn State would have lost today if they won last week?

I think they would in that scenario.

Absolutely diminished. It's sad, but it's a game of comparative scores. There is zero excuse for a team with a Blue Chip Roster showing up in LA with no will to win the game.

Whether or not Oregon’s win will be viewed as diminished will have everything to do with which Penn State team shows up in Columbus on Nov 1st.

Oregon has looked and played like an elite team.

Penn State has looked and played like a mediocre team outside of about ten minutes.

It's time to call out the facts. Penn States best win has been over Nevada. They now have lost to UCLA. They should not be ranked anywhere. Oregon should still be ranked top 3, they shouldn't be punished.

4 of the Ducks 5 opponents lost the next game after playing the Ducks. Only Northwestern won. All games were a TD or less. Northwestern had a bye and didn't have to play immediately.

24-30 in OT – Montana State - L vs S. Dakota St

12-19 – Oklahoma State – L vs Tulsa

17-14 – Northwestern – W vs UCLA

24-27 in OT – Oregon State – L vs Houston

37-42 – Penn State – L at UCLA

3 hours ago, David Marsh said:

Do you think Penn State would have lost today if they won last week?

I think that makes us 6 - 0 since Penn St. let Oregon beat them twice.

Penn State was pretty crazy today. Thought about them a bit and I came to one major conclusion at least on offense, they really, really miss Tyler Warren.

It's seems like stretch that a TE (who actually was replaced by what is considered a pretty good player) could mess up an offense that much; but, one of those loveable thing about the college game, sometimes one player (all the key drive saving plays, all the total production he provided and all the attention he demanded from defenses) can sometimes make that much of a difference.

Took me back to Oregon and 1998. Oregon's offense was tearing it up. Rueben Droughns was averaging 7.4 ypc and 165 ypg. Oregon was 60/40 run/pass and scoring 48.5 ppg. In those first 6 games Oregon rushing as a whole was 256 carries for 1445 yards @ 5.64 ypc.

After Droughns left, Oregon could no longer run the ball. Not really at all. I think Derien Latimer took over (as Ho-Ching checked out about the same time as RD and he was sitting at only 3.6 ypc).

Oregon did try to continue to run the ball and it was just different. Three post-Drougns games were 32 carries for 64 yards, 32 carries for 61 yards, and 38 carries for 31 yards. Oregon eventually had to lean into the pass and turned into 49/51 run/pass.

In the last 6 games Oregon managed to salvage 30.2 ppg; but, rushing those games was 219 carries for 494 yards @ 2.26 ypg).

1445 rushing yards in the first six games, 494 rushing yards in the last 6 games and 48.5 ppg to 30.2 ppg just switch out the RB. Not the same as the Penn State thing I know; but, it did make me think of that season.

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by AnotherOD

In two years at the UO, Rueben Droughns played in eleven games and had half of OU's top ten rushing games. Un freaking believable.

18 hours ago, David Marsh said:

Not an entirely new scheme as that would require more than a couple weeks to install.

They were up against an entirely new offensive mentality for sure. UCLA was playing with free money because their HC was fired and the season was written off.

Why not get aggressive with the play calling? That's what they did was play like there was no tomorrow and frankly for that staff and those players at UCLA there might not be a tomorrow.

Jim Knowles is time and time again referred to as the best defensive coordinator in all of college football. His defense just got ripped to shreds by a first time offensive coordinator and a program everyone has written off as dead.

Penn State prepared their heart out for Oregon and Oregon shattered their heart.

They're culture was broken coming into the game today. Now Penn State is in a state of do or die crisis.

And it wasn't just the defense that got beat... But that Penn State offense just couldn't move the ball.

Ask tosu if they miss Knowles. Nope. Remember, Saban called Knowel's defense antiquated when tosu lost to the Ducks. It was only after that that tosu defense started running more line stunts and blitzes that fueled the Buckeye playoff run. Knowles defense requires each player to execute their part perfectly, hardly varies, and is isn't flexible. His first year at tosu was marked by frequent explosion plays. Day was glad to see him go.

36 minutes ago, Tony said:

Ask tosu if they miss Knowles. Nope. Remember, Saban called Knowel's defense antiquated when tosu lost to the Ducks. It was only after that that tosu defense started running more line stunts and blitzes that fueled the Buckeye playoff run. Knowles defense requires each player to execute their part perfectly, hardly varies, and is isn't flexible. His first year at tosu was marked by frequent explosion plays. Day was glad to see him go.

I only watched the end of the game but cannot believe that Penn State let UCLA’s QB beat them with his legs. You would think that they would have put a spy on him or tried to contain him within the pocket.

Knowles should have loaded the box and made UCLA beat them through the air. I was perplexed at the game plan.

LOL. Penn State’s very highly compensated coaching staff got outmatched by a team with no coaching staff.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by OregonDucks

59 minutes ago, Tony said:

Day was glad to see him go.

I'm not sure Day was glad to see him go in that sense. From a bunch of sources I have read/listened to was really the Day and Knowles had run their course.

Day had become more of a micro manger and Knowles lost some of his autonomy. Warranted or not... That sort of thing gets old fast.

So we'll see what happens at Penn State. Personally, I'm not sure he is the best DC in college football but the media loves saying it and Knowles is getting paid like the best DC so he better have answers.

24 minutes ago, OregonDucks said:

I only watched the end of the game but cannot believe that Penn State let UCLA’s QB beat them with his legs. You would think that they would have put a spy on him or tried to contain him within the pocket

I watched Franklin's post game and they did put a spy on him. But... Either the spy wiffed their tackled on Nico or Nico caught them on a play they went man and didn't have a spy.

I don't know how actually true that is or isn't but that's what Franklin said.

Penn State Washington without a stating linebacker who was really one of the primary communicators. However, Moore ran for some important yards and first downs against a full strength Penn State defense.

So their defense has problems.

3 minutes ago, David Marsh said:

Personally, I'm not sure he is the best DC in college football but the media loves saying it and Knowles is getting paid like the best DC so he better have answers.

Through the first 4 games, UCLA scored 57 points, total (14.3 PPG). Against Penn State, UCLA scored 42 points.

2 minutes ago, David Marsh said:

a spy on him

If he did, then the spy was a double agent.

8 minutes ago, Steven A said:

If he did, then the spy was a double agent.

LOL. There are Penn State fans asking the same thing about Coach Franklin.

How much did the internet scuttlebutt suggest Uncle Phil paid Franklin to throw the game?

You know some idiots believe that shite!