No. 3 Penn State squanders chance to capture the Big Ten championship against No. 1 Oregon

INDIANAPOLIS — No. 3 Penn State couldn’t contain No. 1 Oregon’s playmakers in a 45-37 loss in the Big Ten Championship. The Nittany Lions dug themselves a hole early and ultimately could not climb out.

Despite the initial struggles, Penn State (11-2, 8-2 Big Ten) came within four of Oregon as the two teams combined for the highest-scoring first half in Big Ten championship history at 55 points.

Late in the fourth quarter, Penn State drove down the field in an attempt to tie the game, but junior quarterback Drew Allar threw a costly interception that would ultimately seal it. The pick was his second of the game.

The result means that undefeated Oregon is likely to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff, while Penn State awaits an at-large bid.. The Nittany Lions will almost certainly make the playoffs and even host a home playoff game, but with Texas losing to Georgia in the SEC Championship, Penn State could now fall to the No. 6 seed — or worse.

The College Football Playoff Selection Show is later today (noon, ESPN).

Oregon’s most dangerous weapon is its explosiveness and Penn State was no match. On drive after drive, specifically in the first half, the Ducks were able to get its playmakers in space for big gains.

Most notably, slot receiver Tez Johnson made defenders miss, finishing the first half with five catches for 105 yards. Johnson finished with 11 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown.

It continued in the second half when Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel escaped pressure and hit an open Johnson for a 48-yard touchdown.

Once Oregon got into Nittany Lion territory, Penn State struggled to execute its blitzes and Gabriel made plays in the pocket and on the run.

The struggles left Oregon wide open for three tight end touchdowns in the first half — All of which senior safety Jaylen Reed was the closest defender.

On the first drive, Penn State tried a direct snap to senior tight end Tyler Warren for a touch pass to junior back Nick Singleton. Singleton fumbled.

Singleton would later redeem himself with a 41-yard gain, and Penn State got a field goal out of the drive. From then on, the run game popped, with gaping holes that found Singleton and junior back Kaytron Allen getting space to run through the gaps as a result.

Even in the second half, the run game kept things alive with Allen taking 32 and 26-yard gains to get Penn State back in the red zone.

The Nittany Lions totaled 292 rushing yards with 229 coming from the duo of Allen and Singleton alone.

The Nittany Lions outgained the Ducks by 45 yards, but because of personal fouls, they repeatedly granted Oregon easy field positioning.

Defensively, a pair of personal fouls were facemask calls for Penn State. One came on a fourth down stop while the other brought Oregon outside of the red zone. Additionally, there were two unnecessary roughness penalties, one on the kickoff team and one on the offense.

The defense struggled to perform well, and the costly infractions gave them no chance.

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