1. Well, here we go again.
2. Heads up for this one, it is going to be very chronological and not exactly “random.” I am doing a straight rewatch of the game and writing down thoughts as it happens.
3. For the record, my first watch of the game was on a phone at a wedding and then a not high-definition TV back at the hotel.
4. Plus, you know, I might have had one or two *sodas* during the wedding.
5. I can’t believe we wasted this atmosphere.
6. At this point, I am good with shelving the Wildcat snaps for Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton where Drew Allar is lined up next to them. That works when it’s Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley because there’s a small chance that Trace gets the ball. There is a 0% chance Allar is getting the ball, so you lose any advantage of taking away an extra defender.
7. AJ Harris not securing the ball off the Dakorien Moore drop, and then Moore being able haul it back really foreshadowed how this game was going to go. The second it felt like Penn State was getting the upper hand, Oregon took it back.
8. The defense did a great job the opening two drives of setting the tone that Oregon was going to have to work for everything this go around. I told friends in the moment, but I thought it was a great sign that the Ducks were having to work just to get into third and fourth and manageable situations. A complete 180 from the Big Ten Championship game where the Penn State defense could best be described as trying to stop water from coming out of a fire hose.
9. Penn State’s opening play of the second drive is a really nice concept. Play action to Devonte Ross with Drew Allar rolling away from him and toward Nick Singleton in the flat. Problem is Oregon defensive tackle A’Mauri Washington did a nice job sniffing it out, meaning Allar had to put more air under the ball to get it to Ross. That causes problems with the timing, Donkoh whiffs on a block Bryce Boettcher, and it’s a loss of eight yards.
10. Washington is the key to blowing that play up, but Dawkins and Donkoh could have done a better job “olaying” him through. They hold the block for just a tick too long, and I think that’s what caused Washington recognize what was happening. If he’s not there and Allar can make a normal throw there, Ross has three offensive lineman ready to block in front of him.
11. Verdict. Good play call, bad execution.
12. TFrank at BWI pointed this out on Twitter (see below) so I don’t have to, but the up-tempo calls just don’t jive with this offense. You get a positive four-yard run on first down, decide to go tempo, and it completely blows up and leads to a 3rd-and-8.
13. One of the things Oregon did great despite the lack of explosive plays is that they stayed on track. No sacks, only one TFL, and Dante Moore completed 74% of his attempts. Even if it was two or three yards, they were moving the ball forward to stay out of third and longs.
14. The second drive (which ended with points thanks to Ryan Barker) ends on 3rd-and-4 because the offense, once again, went tempo. Vega Ioane can’t handle linebacker Jerry Mixon, who flushes Allar from the pocket and causes a high throw to Andrew Rappleyea for the incompletion.
15. I promise I won’t be this incredibly detailed as we go through this game, but I wanted to be for this sequence because someone asked a question in James Franklin’s Monday press conference about the offensive identity — or lack there of. This dates back to his Vanderbilt days when their offense was basically “Uh, we just do a bunch of stuff pretty inefficiently.” I don’t mind a “multiple” offense, but being multiple just to be multiple doesn’t help anyone.
16. Ryan Barker is a GOD. Love that kid.
17. For all the pressure Oregon got on Allar throughout the night, the first sack was pretty good blocking from the offensive line. Allar has Ross coming on a crosser with linebacker Boettcher on him. That’s where the ball needs to go. Recognize man, recognize you have a linebacker on your fastest wide receiver, and put the ball out in front of him, Drew.
18. Oregon has the ball, 2nd and 10 from its own 41 yard line. Jaylen Harvey fires off the snap, is way too quick for the pulling guard…and then over runs the play and misses the tackle. Zakee Wheatley cleans it up, but it’s 3rd-and-8 instead of 3rd-and-14.
19. There are no moral victories for the team as a whole, but for individual players like Harvey and Chaz Coleman, the snaps (albeit few) against a team like Oregon will make them better. I would continue to buy stock in both of them for the rest of the season.
20. Drew Allar is not the most fluid of runner. He is not going to break a ton of tackles, either. But I think he is being underutilized, especially in short yardage situations. He is a big boy who is pretty good at falling forward when his number gets called. We saw it on a 3rd-and-2 right before halftime. Had Trebor Pena coming motion, pulled the back, and picked up 5 or so yards when there wasn’t a ton of room.
21. I’m not saying he should be getting the Haynes King 20+ carries role, but he actually runs with pretty decent power.
22. The drive before the half stalls largely because Luke Reynolds drops a ball on 1st-and-15 that would have set up 2nd-and-1 at worst. It wasn’t a perfect throw from Allar — it was a bit behind Reynolds — but one he should have come down with.
23. Overall, a rough night for Reynolds. I had, and still have, very high hopes for him the rest of the way. But I thought Saturday night would be a coming out party for him. It was most certainly not.
24. 11:10 in the third quarter, Penn State goes play action. Allar has time, thinks he can evade Teitum Tuioti because of his momentum by cutting it back, but he’s sacked instead. Folks, he HAD Trebor Pena. Pena runs a post and dusts the Oregon corner. Allar needs to see that because he had time to get the ball there. Huge missed opportunity.
25. The 3rd-and-9 fake toss on Penn State’s first drive out of the half that went for nothing really encapsulates the game between Oregon DC Tosh Lupoi and Andy Kotelnicki. Tuioti plays that perfectly and stops it for no gain. That was clearly something they drilled for and it showed.
26. On that same thought, if that’s a QB power instead, Allar very well might have picked up the first down. Which I think shows the big issue for Penn State and Kotelnicki throughout much of the night: too predictable. The Ducks defense had holes, as we saw in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Nittany Lions didn’t score touchdowns on three straight possessions by accident. But too often during the first three quarters did the Nittany Lions do something Oregon expected or was familiar with.
27. So the punt from the 36 yard line, let’s talk about. If they try a field goal, that’s 53 yards. Barker’s career long is 49 yards, which he had hit earlier in the night. Does four yards really make a difference? I ask that seriously because maybe it does? Like I think Barker is capable of hitting a 53 yarder, but we also saw him get a kick blocked against FIU, which just so happened to be a 50+ kick. My best guess is Franklin doesn’t want to put Barker in the situation of 50+ unless the reward is worth it. At 3-3 with 9:19 left in the third quarter, I can understand not wanting to doomsday scenario of Oregon blocking it and returning it for a touchdown or something.
28. I hate punting there. I really go. But I can understand the reasoning, especially with how the defense looked.
29. Problem is Nwosu dropped it on the one and with a big bounce it went into the end zone. Ouch.
30. Amare Campbell and Tony Rojas were really good on Saturday. Of course you’d love for a sack or some TFLs, but I don’t think the main game plan was for them to attack the line of scrimmage. It was to essentially be safeties of the second level, which I thought they did well.
31. There was a good amount of holding by both teams, and refs can’t call everything. I understand that. But this no call on Dani Dennis-Sutton is as obvious a holding as there is.
32. Instead of 3rd-and-13 which it would have been with a holding, Moore finds Kenyon Saddiq for 23 yards.
33, And then the overturned fumble. I’m just not how you go against what was called on the field on that one. But man, just two killers that go against Penn State.
34. Zakee Wheatley was great on Saturday, but my guy — I understand you are worried about an Oregon player tracking you down, but you have Amare Campbell with you and only Dante Moore in front. USE HIM AS A BLOCKER. I suppose it’s good he didn’t score a touchdown because we’d just be more mad about the overturn, but I’d like for a bit more awareness there though I understand the situation you are just thinking “RUN!!!”
35. The Dakorien Moore catch to open the 4th quarter when it was 3rd-and-4 it just a catch a Penn State wide receiver has not made since 2022. Throw is slightly behind him, as AJ Harris is right on him, but he holds onto it. Back breaker.
36. Even on the rewatch, I am stunned we are about to have a tied ballgame here in about 12 minutes.
37. It’s frustrating watching how easy it was for Penn State to score that touchdown. Four plays, executed tremendously well. Show a fake toss, and hit Luke Reynolds in the middle of the field where the linebackers are now out of place. Seal a gosh dang block and open up a hole for Kaytron. Use Trebor Pena essentially as an h-back to give you some more quickness from that spot. And then use play action to freeze the Oregon defenders just enough to give Devonte Ross a step, and Allar drops it in the bucket.
38. That was the only throw attempted of over 20 yards. Which, hey, I understand it’s easier said than done. I’m not trying to be Cory Giger over here. But when playing American football in 2025, the pass sets up the run. Not the other way around when you face actual good defenses. You need to stress the defense vertically.
39. Dani Dennis-Sutton baiting the Oregon right tackle into retaliating after DDS hit his face mask is a cheeky, vet move. After the missed hold and fumble overturn, Penn State will take that.
40. 15 plays, 62 yards, drained 6:37 of the clock to tie it up. And just a beautiful play call to get Ross the ball there in misdirection.
41. I said this during the game so I’m not just saying it because of hindsight: I would have went for two. I understand the arguments of Penn State had the momentum and it is playing at home, and most of the time I would agree you go to OT. But I don’t know man, to me it just felt like you got yourself back and drained all that time on the clock — just take matters into your own hands and either win or lose the game there.
42. I’m not saying going for two was 100% the right decision and Franklin is a bozo for opting for the PAT. I truly just felt in my gut that you go for the knockout there. But alas, that didn’t happen.
43. The Trebor Pena run in overtime happens because Allar actually kept the ball a couple times. Amazing what happens when the threat of a QB run is there, huh?
44. Oregon botching the exchange on the handoff in the first OT, but Moore jumping it just before Zane Durant could…ugh. That was the moment.
45. Underwhelming game from Durant by the way. Needed more from him.
46. I hate the delayed blitz from Audavion Collins on 3rd-and-8 in OT. As Oregon had done all night, and would certainly do in OT, they were playing for fourth down. Moore fires right to spot Collins abandons, giving them 4th and 1.
47. That was the game. Oregon big play, followed by the Allar interception. It has been talked about a ton everywhere, but the play call was a concept Penn State has run a ton and Oregon was ready for it. Like I mentioned earlier, Kotelnicki was just too predictable too often.
48. Okay some final thoughts.
49. Oregon is very good. Their offensive line played tremendous. Their defensive line might be better than last year’s, which is crazy because they lost a first round pick and two third round picks. I think the Dante Moore glazing is a little much this week, but he played well and didn’t make any mistakes. Lanning’s got that thing humming.
50. Penn State wise, man, I get the anger. I was super angry as well. I spent Sunday using ChatGPT to photoshop James Franklin into Arkansas gear.
51. He is a very good coach and anyone who questions that is an idiot, but his tenure has been maddening. Like beat a great team one freaking time the last 5 years, dude, and stop telling us how good we have it. Like he did it again on Monday, saying: “Although I don’t think a lot of people spend a ton of time on what we have done over our 12 years here — and I get it, no one wants to hear this right now — there’s a ton of positives.” Read the damn room and have some self-awareness because *yeah* we don’t want to hear this right now. That was the 15th consecutive loss to a team ranked 6th or higher, we do NOT want to hear about your record against Wisconsin and Rutgers.
52. I greatly question if this team can get over the mental hump that is James Franklin in a big game, but Franklin aside if we can, I’ll say this: I was more encouraged on the rewatch than I thought I would be and that’s for a couple reasons.
53. This defense is very good, I think it’s very clearly a top 10 unit in the country and maybe even top 5. Knowles and the rest of the group are the real deal at every level.
54. I do have faith in Andy Kotelnicki figuring some things out. I don’t think the offense is a lost cause like it was in 2023 under Yurcich where they couldn’t do *anything* against defenses with real NFL talent.
55. Penn State’s offensive line needs to play better, especially in pass protection. They gave up pressures on 72% of drop backs. Again, I have faith in Phil Trautwein and the unit as a whole because we saw these guys play really well against the likes of Oregon and Notre Dame less than 12 months ago.
56. As for Allar, it’s an interesting one. The interceptions on the last offensive plays of the game aside, I think my biggest concern with him is he just hasn’t been accurate enough consistently on the short, quick stuff. In an RPO offense, that needs to be your bread and butter so his struggles with ball placement there is a real reason why the offense can feel disjointed or have a lack of flow.
57. I also think Kotelnicki can utilize him in better ways. I mentioned his running ability — which I think could open some underneath stuff — but another reminder: Drew has an absurd arm. Truly empower him to rip it. I know we have been screaming about it for three years now, but stretching the field vertically needs to be part of the essence of the offense.
58. I know not everyone agrees, but I do think Allar is a good quarterback. The problem is — and I think we all agree on this — Penn State kind of needs him to be more than that, given the talent they have around him. Not to say he has a bad supporting cast whatsoever, but there is no Tyler Warren or Jeremiah Smith or Saquon Barkley on this offense that brings that level of gravity to catapult your offense into another sphere. Kaytron Allen is a very good running back. Nick Singleton, at times, can be a very good running back. I think the wide receivers are mostly competent. I like the talent of Luke Reynolds. We know the offensive line can be good. But for the offense to be a top 10 unit, it needs a quarterback that is more than a game manager, which is mostly what Penn State has asked of Allar in the vast majority of games since Kotelnicki has gotten here.
59. Perhaps there’s a reason for that, the reason being they don’t trust him. And maybe they are right? Again, the last three losses have essentially ended on Allar interceptions. But I don’t know if the run-heavy, ball control, QB manager offense is going to take Penn State where it wants to be. Unless that’s a 10-2 ceiling with a probable first round playoff exit.
60. But, then again, that might be the reality no matter the offense. After another big game loss, it’s just starting to feel like this is it and this is all it’ll ever be.
