INDIANAPOLIS — No. 1 Oregon managed to navigate all the potential pitfalls of a topsy-turvy college football season — even on a wild, wacky championship weekend.
It just took the Ducks a little longer than expected to keep their biggest goals intact.
Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes and a late interception helped Oregon outlast No. 3 Penn State 45-37 on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game. The victory gives the Ducks a first-round bye and almost certainly the top seed in the first 12-team College Football Playoff as they chase an elusive national championship.
“You live for these moments, you dream of these moments and you want to be in them,” Gabriel said after celebrating with his family near one of Lucas Oil Stadium’s tunnels. “I’m just smiling because we’re Big Ten champs.”
He’s certainly taken full advantage of his opportunities since announcing he would transfer from Oklahoma to Oregon almost a full year ago.
Gabriel and Oregon (13-0, No. 1 CFP) certainly didn’t take the easy route to being the last unbeaten team in FBS.
Lanning intentionally ran 12 players onto the field to help preserve a 32-31 victory over Ohio State in mid-October, survived the frigid conditions to win 16-13 at Wisconsin in mid-November and they won Saturday despite giving up a season-high points total and nearly blowing a 15-point lead in the final four minutes.
Yet the Ducks passed this latest test with flying colors, too.
They won their first conference crown since winning the Pac-12 in 2019 and 2020, and it came in their first season of Big Ten play. And unlike No. 2 Texas or No. 8 SMU, they found a way to win a league title.
Oregon relied on some familiar names.
Gabriel, the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Year, was 22 of 32 with 283 yards. Workhorse running back Jordan James carried 20 times for 87 yards and two scores including the Ducks’ final core midway through the fourth quarter. Receiver Tez Johnson was named the game MVP after catching 11 passes for 181 yards and one TD.
Gabriel completed two passes to Kenyon Sadiq and both went for touchdowns — hurdling a defender on his first score — in a record-setting first half when the teams combined for 55 points. The previous championship game mark, 52, came in 2012.
“I thought our offense did an unbelievable job tonight and the belief in our team never wavered,” coach Dan Lanning said.
Yet the normally high-octane needed defensive back Nikko Reed’s acrobatic interception in front of the Penn State sideline to close it out.
Penn State (11-2, No. 3 CFP) was playing for its first league title since 2016, but is expected to receive a welcome consolation prize after having its four-game winning streak snapped: A playoff bid and what will likely be a first-round home game.
While the Nittany Lions played well and fought back from a 28-10 first-half deficit, coach James Franklin knew this was not the near-perfect performance it would take to upset the nation’s best team.
“We played the No. 1 team in the country and had a chance to win at the end,” Franklin said. “We’re going to learn from it.”
Allar had a solid game, going 20 of 39 with 236 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, with the first being converted into an Oregon touchdown.
Penn State was even better on the ground with Kaytron Allen rushing 14 times for 124 yards and one score, and Nicholas Singleton logging 10 carries for 101 yards. Singleton also caught a TD pass and Allen hurt his left ankle late in the game.
But the turning point proved to be a failed 2-point conversion attempt early in the fourth quarter — leaving Penn State down 38-30.
On the ensuing a 75-yard drive James scored on a 12-yard run to make 45-30 with 7:28 left.
Allar responded with a nifty 14-yard TD pass to a well-covered Harrison Wallace III to make it 45-37 with 3:41 to go and Allar got one more chance after the defense forced a punt.
The only question now seems to be can Oregon come up with the perfect plot to close out a wild and crazy season.
“These guys can take it all the way if they continue to work hard,” Lanning shouted to the crowd after the confetti and streamers littered the field. “I guarantee you they will continue to work.”
Oregon: No, it wasn’t a lopsided affair but the Ducks did what they needed to do Saturday — win. They extended the FBS’ longest active winning streak to 14 and can now focus on their next goal, winning a national championship.
Penn State: Franklin’s team had as much to prove as anybody Saturday. The biggest complaint about Franklin’s teams had been the offensive struggles in big games. This time, the Nittany Lions scored points and it should give them a big confidence boost.
Sadiq’s initial score was the first of several highlight reel plays Saturday.
He set the tone by catching a pass in the flat and hurdling Jalen Kimber in full stride on his way to the goal line.
Then as Penn State tried to mount a late comeback, Allar threw a bullet to Wallace, who barely held onto the ball in front of a diving defender.
And then Reed’s acrobatic interception might have been the most amazing play of all.
Both teams will be eagerly anticipating the selection show Sunday to find out who, when and where they are playing next. ___
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