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Dipping into the Cliché Well, it Sure Does Feel Like the Pressure is on Penn State, Not Oregon
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We don’t normally waste our time with frivolous media declarations, the exercise in firmly stating what must be or what needs to happen going into a certain game.
But it sure does feel like “the pressure is on” Penn State this weekend, hosting an Oregon team:
- at home
- in a White Out
- with College Gameday in town
- while starting the more experienced quarterback
- with a bunch of seniors who have played in these types of games
- and having no significant injuries to deal with
Make no mistake, this Oregon team has handled four opponents this season, but they’re relatively young and the expectations aren’t anything close to what they were in 2024. They’re starting a QB in Dante Moore who hasn’t played meaningful snaps in a legitimately hostile road environment since probably Utah back in 2023. That’s when he was playing for UCLA and spent most of the day on his back, getting sacked seven times while putting up -51 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
No disrespect to the Utes, but Rice-Eccles isn’t Beaver at night. The Nitters are 13-8 in White Out games and haven’t lost one since 2018, when Ohio State came to town with Dwayne Haskins, J.K. Dobbins, and Chase Young. In fact, the last four haven’t been close, with blowouts of SMU, Washington, Iowa, and Minnesota following a touchdown win against Auburn back in 2021. In fact, seven of the losses in White Out games took place prior to 2016.
The Penn State story is the same as it always is. Can they finally break the “elite” ceiling and reach the elusive pinnacle? They got really damn close last year, and left some plays out there in CFP semifinal loss. This season was always about Oregon and Ohio State and that’s about it, because nobody expects them to stumble against Indiana or anybody else in conference play.
Oregon’s preseason outlook was defined by the departure of Dillon Gabriel, and Moore stepping in after watching from the sidelines. They had ten players selected in the NFL Draft, losing a first-round tackle on each side of the ball, and only brought back eight starters from the Rose Bowl. They had to reload with transfers at a half-dozen spots on both sides of the ball. They were a consensus third behind OSU and PSU in pretty much every prediction article that was written from here to Eugene.
Of course, the pressure of expectation is baked in when you go to a place like Penn State, which James Franklin accurately describes here:
No lies detected in those quotes, though the elephant remains in the room, and it is a large one. Nobody is out here asking if Dan Lanning can win the big one. At least not yet. He’s 39-6 in four seasons with a Big 10 title to show for it. Lanning loses this one, so be it. Franklin loses this one, the legend of “Big Game James” grows, and not in a good way. He wasn’t the reason for the Notre Dame loss, but it goes down in the L column nonetheless.
Additionally, Moore has been more impressive than Drew Allar through the first third of the season, so there should be pressure on the latter to play better than he did in throwaway games against Nevada, FIU, and Nova. Allar had his moments in the Big 10 title game last year, and if that version shows up, the Lions should be in good shape on Saturday night.
Either way, should be a good one, but we know who the pressure is on.
WE ARE! Getting the season underway after a snoozer of a non-conference schedule.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com