No. 1 Oregon keeps No. 3 Penn State at bay in 45-37 Big Ten title game win

Oregon’s undefeated season will carry on into the College Football Playoff.

5-37The No. 1 Ducks assured themselves of the top spot in the 12-team field with a 4 win over No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten title game on Saturday night. The Ducks were powered by a career day from wide receiver Tez Johnson, who sliced through the Penn State secondary. Johnson had 11 catches for 181 yards and a TD.

That score came in the third quarter and extended Oregon’s lead to 38-24 when Dillon Gabriel hit Johnson for a 48-yard catch-and-run TD.

From there, Oregon wasn’t threatened by Penn State. The Nittany Lions cut the deficit to eight at the start of the fourth quarter, but a two-point conversion failed and Oregon responded on its next drive. Jordan James capped off a 12-play drive that took 6:49 with a three-yard TD run to extend the lead back to two scores with 7:28 to go.

Penn State cut Oregon’s lead to a score with 3:41 to go but the Ducks responded once again. The Nittany Lions had a hard time stopping the Oregon offense all night but were able to get a stop before the 2-minute warning. But on the second play of Penn State’s drive, Nikko Reed intercepted a Drew Allar deep pass to end the game.

The Ducks are the only undefeated team at the top level of college football and have been at No. 1 in each edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. With two-loss Georgia beating Texas to win the SEC earlier Saturday, there’s no question that Oregon will be the top team in Sunday’s bracket and play the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

As Johnson had a fantastic day, so did Gabriel. The sixth-year QB likely solidified a spot as a Heisman finalist with a 22-of-32 passing performance for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Gabriel’s chances of winning the Heisman are extremely slim behind Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, but he’s done enough to at least attend the ceremony.