Oregon’s undefeated season will continue into the College Football Playoff.
Ducks no. 1 clinched first place in the 12-man field with a 45-37 win over No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten title game on Saturday night. The Ducks (13-0) were fueled by a career day from wide receiver Tez Johnson as he tore through Penn State’s secondary. Johnson had 11 catches for 181 yards and a TD.
That score came in the third quarter to extend Oregon’s lead to 38-24 when Dillon Gabriel hit Johnson for a 48-yard catch-and-run TD.
From there, Oregon was not threatened by Penn State (11-2). The Nittany Lions cut the deficit to eight early in the fourth quarter, but a two-point conversion failed and Oregon answered on its next drive. Jordan James capped a 12-play drive that spanned 6:49 with a three-yard TD run to push the lead back to two scores with 7:28 left.
Penn State cut Oregon’s lead to 3:41, but the Ducks answered again. The Nittany Lions had trouble stopping the Oregon offense all night, but they were able to pull off a stop before the two-minute warning. But on the second play of Penn State’s drive, Nikko Reed intercepted a deep pass by Drew Allar to end the game.
The Ducks are the only undefeated team at college football’s highest level and have been No. 1 in every edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. With Georgia beating Texas in two games to win the SEC earlier Saturday, there’s no doubt Oregon will be the top seed in Sunday’s bracket and will play the winner of the No. 1 seed on New Year’s Day. 8 vs. no. 9 in the Rose Bowl. .
As Johnson had a fantastic day, so did Gabriel. The sixth-year QB likely cemented his spot as a Heisman finalist with a 22-of-32 passing performance for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Gabriel’s chances to win the Heisman are extremely slim behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, but he has done enough to at least attend the ceremony.
The win at Oregon is also Penn State coach James Franklin’s 19th loss in 22 games against top-10 opponents for the Nittany Lions.
Where will Penn State be seeded?
There is no doubt that the Nittany Lions will be in the College Football Playoff. The only question is where they will be deployed.
Penn State seems certain to host a first-round game, but will the Nittany Lions fall to Notre Dame? The Fighting Irish are 11-1 and were one spot below Penn State in the rankings. No. 2 Texas also lost on Saturday and will likely stay ahead of Penn State. If the committee doesn’t judge either Texas or Penn State for one-possession losses in their respective conference championship games, they’ll be No. 5 and No. 6, while Notre Dame is No. 7.
Penn State’s No. 6 seed would also likely avoid a matchup with No. 2 Big Ten team Indiana. The Hoosiers will likely become the No. 1 seed. 10 in the bracket and could end up as far as Notre Dame or even a rematch with Ohio State.