Penn State will play Oregon for the first time in nearly 30 years. 3 things to know about the Ducks

Penn State’s chance at a Big Ten title this season will come against an opponent it hasn’t faced in nearly 30 years. And the last time the Nittany Lions faced off with Oregon, it was in the 1995 Rose Bowl with their undefeated season on the line. They were able to get to 12-0 with a 38-20 win, but their record still didn’t lead to a national title in an era where the champion was decided by the polls.

Penn State will be looking at its first postseason chance for a title since then, with that starting against the Ducks. A win Saturday will give the team a bye in the College Football Playoff and put it three wins away from being national champions.

But how has Oregon changed since that Rose Bowl in 1995? Let’s take a look.

Ducks have become a blue blood

Oregon had never won 10 games in its history when it last took on Penn State, and that game was a chance to get there. But it didn’t and it wouldn’t for another six seasons when the Ducks went 10-2 in 2000. Now it has 15 seasons with double-digit wins, and it’s in the middle of its fourth straight. That started to become the norm under former head coach Mike Bellotti, but really took off when Chip Kelly — Ohio State’s current offensive coordinator — took the helm. Kelly won 46 games in four seasons from 2009 to 2012 before becoming the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Ducks didn’t have another stretch like that until now, with 44 wins in the last four seasons, including a 34-5 record under current head coach Dan Lanning.

Lanning has taken the program to the next level, recruiting the best of the best from the high school ranks and the transfer portal. Plenty of that success is due to the infrastructure the Ducks have thanks to Phil Knight’s financial contributions. Knight, the former chairman and CEO of Nike, went to Oregon and has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to the university, including the athletic department. Those financial gains have helped the Ducks become a consistent contender and one of the blue bloods of college football.

Speed still rules the day in Eugene — but it’s not everything

Chip Kelly’s Oregon teams became known for their speed. Whether it was their pace of play or their on-field speed, the Ducks were among the fastest in the country under Kelly. While that hasn’t always been the case since his departure, it is with this iteration of the Ducks. Oregon has once again become a team that wins with speed, and it does it on both sides of the ball. On offense, the team’s top receivers — Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart — are two of the fastest players in all of college football.

And on defense, the Ducks fly around with speed at all three levels, including with their pass rushers when getting after quarterbacks. While the group’s speed is among the best with the defense, that doesn’t mean its all it can do. The biggest difference between this iteration of the Ducks is how strong and physical the defense is. That applies across the board, but especially with the players chasing the quarterback in Matayo Uiagalelei and Jordan Burch. Those two players have helped the Ducks prove their identity as a team that can do more than outrace its opponents.

Transfer portal success fueling current run

While Penn State has added pieces here and there from the transfer portal, the Ducks have used it as a major piece of its roster building. Burch, Stewart and Johnson all started their careers elsewhere, as did starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, safety Tysheem Johnson, receiver Traeshon Holden, right tackle Ajani Cornelius, defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, cornerback Jabbar Muhammad, cornerback Brandon Johnson, defensive tackle Jamaree Caldwell, safety Kobe Savage and kicker Atticus Sappington. And that is far from the end of the list for the Ducks.

They’ve managed to pull talent from all over the country out of the portal and build a team that can succeed at the highest level. That’s both a testament to their portal recruiting and the culture Lanning has built that has been able build in such a short time as the Oregon head coach. He and his staff have managed their roster perfectly and quickly built a team that can compete with anyone — and beat anyone — in the country.

This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 11:09 AM.

Jon Sauber

Centre Daily Times

(814) 231-6461

Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.