What We Learned From Penn State's Overtime Loss to Oregon

Oregon quarterback Donte Moore finished the first half completing 15-of-22 passes for 112 yards and a 110.9 quarterback rating, throwing primarily check downs and easy access passes. It wasn’t the flashiest performance, but the Ducks entered Penn State territory on five of their first seven drives and scored a pair of touchdowns. Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein made life easy for Moore.

Drew Allar couldn’t say the same thing. He went 6-for-12 for 45 yards in the first half and couldn’t find consistency. Much of that is due to the complexity of Andy Kotelnicki’s game plan, which saw the offense run long-developing plays. Kotelnicki didn’t simplify the playbook enough to get Allar into a rhythm early. 

“It's a little bit of all that, right?” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I don't think we were executing the way we're capable of executing. Obviously, we’ve got to do whatever we’ve got to do to manufacture yards. We gotta make some plays. It's all of it. It's all of it. And obviously, those things come at a premium when you're playing really good teams. The margin of error is small.”

Before beginning its game-tying comeback in the fourth quarter, Penn State totaled 109 yards of offense through three quarters and averaged 2.9 yards per play. Third down was an issue (6-for-15 overall) because first down was an issue. Penn State averaged 4.8 yards per play on first down.  

Drew Allar is polarizing

Penn State’s quarterback faced a 3rd-and-8 on his own 40-yard line late in the second quarter. As Allar dropped back, his foot slipped and he let go of the ball, making a highlight-reel throw to wide receiver Devonte Ross. The very next play, Allar lasered a ball behind tight end Luke Reynolds. 

That described Allar’s play not just against Oregon but on the season as a whole. One play, he’ll look like the best quarterback in college football. The next, he’ll have fans wondering if the team should’ve picked former Nittany Lions quarterback Beau Pribula instead of him. 

Both Franklin and Allar pointed to the lack of success on first down as one of the main reasons the senior and the offense are struggling. They’re consistently in obvious passing downs.

“I thought he battled early in the game,” Franklin said. “I think it's obviously going to be easy for people to be critical. But again, when you're not able to have success on first down, not able to get ahead of sticks on second down, and I think in the first half, we averaged almost 3rd-and-9 [on every third down]. That's not a good situation for any O-line. That's not a good situation for any quarterback.”

Offense shows life late

Penn State’s backs were against the wall. Oregon’s Jordon Davison gashed the Nittany Lions defense for an eight-yard touchdown run, extending the Ducks’ lead to 14. However, Allar had something to say about that. He marched Penn State on a four-play, nearly 2-minute scoring drive.

Allar was 3-for-3 for 56 yards and a score on that sequence and finished the fourth quarter with 70 yards and two touchdowns. The senior and Penn State’s offense as a whole have followed a theme the past several years — starting to click when they’re trailing. 

“Just gotta figure it out,” running back Nicholas Singleton said. “You know, we always preach about starting fast. We obviously didn’t do that today. 

Franklin has said numerous times that the offense needs to start fast, and Saturday continued a season-long problem. If Penn State wants a chance at a national title, the offense must get in a rhythm early.

Offensive line performs poorly

Offensive line coach Phil Trautwein hung up a Joe Moore Award poster in the team’s meeting room this offseason. That’s the group’s goal — to be deemed the best offensive line in college football. Through four games, and especially in the White Out on Saturday, they haven’t played near that standard.

And it started with run blocking against Oregon. Singleton and fellow back Kaytron Allen combined for 75 yards on 23 carries (3.26 yards per carry), which was 154 less than they had in 2024’s Big Ten title game. There simply weren’t enough holes for the backs to hit. 

Additionally, pass protection was subpar on Saturday. Oregon sacked Allar twice and made five tackles for loss, four more than Penn State.  

“I mean, you see the stats like that's regrettable, right? It's pretty obvious. I mean, all this stuff is pretty obvious,” center Nick Dawkins said. “We didn’t execute the way we were supposed to in the beginning of the game. We got it going a little bit at the end. But, I mean, that's inexcusable. That’s not our standard.”