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.

The No. 1 Ducks assured themselves of the top spot in the 12-team 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 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 (11-2). 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 two-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 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.

Oregon's win is also now the 19th loss for Penn State coach James Franklin in 22 games against top-10 opponents while with the Nittany Lions.

Where will Penn State be seeded?

There’s no doubt that the Nittany Lions will be in the College Football Playoff. The only question is where they will be seeded.

It seems certain that Penn State will host a first-round game, but will the Nittany Lions drop below Notre Dame? The Fighting Irish are 11-1 and were a spot below Penn State in the rankings. No. 2 Texas also lost on Saturday and will probably stay ahead of Penn State. If the committee doesn’t ding either Texas or Penn State for one-possession losses in their conference championship games, they will be the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds while Notre Dame is the No. 7 seed.

A No. 6 seed for Penn State would also likely avoid a matchup against fellow Big Ten team Indiana. The Hoosiers are probably going to be the No. 10 seed in the bracket and could end up heading to Notre Dame or even a rematch with Ohio State.