Dillon Gabriel threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night and No. 1 Oregon likely clinched the top seed for the College Football Playoff by beating No. 3 Penn State 45-37 in the Big Ten championship in Indianapolis.
Gabriel completed 22 of 32 passes for the 13-0 Ducks, connecting with Tez Johnson 11 times for 181 yards and a touchdown. Oregon is expected to earn a bye into the CFP quarterfinals on either Dec. 31 or Jan. 1 when the 12-team field is announced on Sunday.
The Ducks never trailed and answered every challenge from the Nittany Lions. When Penn State pulled within 38-30 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kaytron Allen 43 seconds into the fourth quarter, Oregon responded with a nearly seven-minute drive, which was capped by Jordan James’ 3-yard run at the 7:28 mark.
Drew Allar completed 20 of 39 passes for 226 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Nittany Lions (11-2). Allen rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts in the loss. Nicholas Singleton added 105 rushing yards on 10 carries for Penn State, which will probably play a CFP first-round game at home on Dec. 20 or 21.
Allar brought Penn State within eight points on a 14-yard strike to Harrison Wallace III with 3:41 remaining. The Nittany Lions forced a three-and-out and got the ball back at their 37, but Nikko Reed intercepted Allar’s deep throw at the Ducks’ 16 with 1:54 left to seal the outcome.
The teams combined for 55 points in a first half dominated by offense. Gabriel found Kenyon Sadiq for touchdown passes of 28 and 2 yards on the Ducks’ first two possessions, while the Nittany Lions got a 33-yard field goal from Ryan Barker and a 22-yard scoring strike from Allar to Singleton.
Oregon made it 28-10 with two touchdowns in 2:59 early in the second quarter, but Allar threw for a score and ran for another as Penn State closed within 31-24 at the break.
–Field Level Media