Saturday, Sept. 27
7:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Pacific
NBC
The one college football game you simply cannot miss this Saturday, if at all possible, is this one. Oregon versus Penn State is a gigantic game. Alabama at Georgia and LSU at Ole Miss are big-time games, but Alabama has already lost and LSU has not looked great on offense. This Oregon-Penn State game is a battle of two teams with legitimate national championship aspirations. Both teams are expected to make the College Football Playoff.
Penn State reached the semifinals last season and is hungry to take the next step up the ladder. Oregon was the No. 1 seed in last season’s playoffs and got crushed by Ohio State in the quarterfinals. That’s just the start of a long list of plot points in a game which should tell us a lot about these two title contenders.
Quarterbacks have different perspectives
New face versus veteran QB defines Oregon-Penn State
The Oregon Ducks have a quarterback, Dante Moore, who has never played in a game nearly as big as this one. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar played Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game last season and then played three playoff games. Will the talent of Moore override his lack of experience, and will Allar’s experience enable him to handle this stage with the poise and composure Penn State expects? These are important questions to consider when sizing up this Big Ten fistfight.
Oregon Ducks-Penn State Nittany Lions Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the 3Dog Thursday Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Oregon +3.5 (-115), Penn State -3.5 (-105)
Total: 52.5 (Over -105, Under -115)
Underdog moneyline: Oregon +145
There are so many fascinating aspects to this game. Let’s hit on several dimensions of Oregon-Penn State.
We talked about the quarterbacks. Let’s continue with the point that these teams have not been remotely challenged. Their schedules have been very easy. Oregon and Penn State have been able to rest their starters and play a lot of backups to this point. Both teams are fresh and healthy. They have not been beaten up. Now they play each other. Will they both play at a high level, or will one team (maybe both) suffer because of the lack of a serious test through Week 4? Will Week 5 expose glaring deficiencies which other teams haven’t been able to probe or unearth?
Here’s another rich topic: James Franklin against top-10 teams. Penn State’s head coach has notoriously struggled versus elite opposition. This is the year Franklin has to break through at PSU. He gets this game at home with a veteran quarterback, at night, against an untested Oregon squad. This feels like a now-or-never moment for Franklin and his program.
One more element of intrigue: PSU defensive coordinator Jim Knowles coached against Oregon with Ohio State twice last season. He knows how the Ducks like to run their offense, but this year, the quarterback is different from 2024 UO quarterback Dillon Gabriel. Will Knowles win the chess match this time, or will Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein hit back?
All in all, this is a very tough game to read, probably tough enough that you should stay away from it. Oregon’s moneyline price is undeniably attractive, though. It’s best to wait until the second half for an in-game bet. Spend time studying these teams before you wager. A pregame bet just seems like a total gamble.