Ducks White-Wash Penn State 30-24 in Double Overtime

BY KEN WOODY

In college football’s finest game of the year, underdog Oregon took on a nationally recognized Penn State football squad and its 111,015 screaming fans and brought down everybody in the White Out with a 30-24 double-overtime win. For coach Dan Lanning, it was his first overtime game as a head coach and it was a dozer. Penn State is a muscular, physical team and so, the rest of the country found out, are the Ducks, who hit, pursued and never let up in the Battle for the Line of Scrimmage, where every game is decided, according to the Book of Lanning.

This game exhausted the participants, but in the end Oregon’s quarterback Dante Moore was the better and more composed, completing 74 per-cent of his passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 35 yards in crucial situations. Drew Allar, much ballyhooed Nittany Lion signal caller, hit 14-of-25 throws for 137 yards and two touchdowns and he rushed for 42 yards on both scrambles and designated runs. Allar got hot in the last ten minutes of the game, but was hampered by several poor throws caused by intense pressure by a fierce and unrelenting Duck pass rush throughout the contest.

Although the first quarter ended a scoreless, Oregon had established a foothold on the struggle, out-gaining the Nittany Lions 52-18, and converting 2-of-5 third-down conversions to Penn State’s 0-2. The only key play occurred when Lanning chose to go for it on fourth down on his own 32-yard line the second drive when Dante Moore was a yard short of the first down sticks. He made that one, but it was another fourth down in Penn State territory that failed. Those were daring moves by the coach, but revealed his determination to establish control of the line of scrimmage. Naysayers would observe that he turned over the ball too early in the game, but it should be noted that Lanning’s background is heavily invested as a defensive coach who believes in the athletes he has on that side of the ball.

Penn State gained 32 yards but it took them eleven plays to do it, having to settle for a 49-yard field goal and the early lead. Though the home team scored first blood, it wasn’t easy and the Duck defense regained control and asserted itself, forcing four straight punts into the fourth quarter and the Lions’ last two possessions of the game.

Oregon’s offense began to move, but kicker Atticus Sappington missed a 47-yard field goal attempt. Penn State’s quarterback Allar was harassed by a Duck pass rush that maintained constant pressure throughout the rest of the game. Edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei sacked him and then a timely safety blitz by Dillan Thieneman forced an off-target third-down pass.

Offensive coordinator Will Stein put together a variety of short runs and passes and Sappington get another chance, converting on a 42-yard field goal that would send the teams into the halftime locker rooms tied, 3-3. Although the Ducks continued their yardage gained dominance, Lanning grimaced as he noted his offense was only 2-of-10 on third-down attempts; the only solace that his own defense was holding Penn State to 3-of-8 attempts.

Allar, Penn State’s gifted quarterback, has had the occasional bad game and this would end up being one. He only completed 56 per-cent of his pass attempts for a pedestrian 137 yards and the one back-breaking interception in overtime. Credit Oregon’s Tosh Lupoi and the rest of the defensive coaches for an excellent plan that brought pressure all game long. The Ducks had two sacks, five tackles for losses and were a pretty much constant pain in the neck for Allar and his coach James Franklin.

Offensively, Oregon’s deep running depth was evident throughout. Freshman Dierre Hill, Jr., gained 82 yards on ten carries, Dante Moore had 35, Jayden Lamar and Jordan Davison 17, and Noah Whittington, 26.

Whittington was involved in a huge play for the Ducks on Penn State’s nine-yard line on their first drive of the second half. Whittington took a handoff from Moore, and ran to his left, apparently fumbling where Penn State’s Zakee Wheatley snagged the ball and ran it 39 yards the other way. It was a crushing turnover for the Ducks, until the replay showed Whittington’s knee had barely touched the ground right before the ball came loose. It was a brave call by the officials, but true, and impressive in that 110,000 white-clad fans would voice their venomous displeasure having their first big play of the game stolen from them.

On the next snap, Moore abruptly silenced the stadium, flipping an eight-yard screen pass to Hill, profiting by a tremendous block by tackle Alex Harkey who kicked out the force defender and then turned inside to get another. The Ducks had scored their first touchdown on an 80-yard drive, their first of the third quarter. Although a relatively short gain on the play, it was an example of Oregon’s most impressive offensive resource: a line, that on the snap, fires out with low pad levels and consistently powerful leg drive.

The offensive line has been bolstered by transfers Harkey, Isaiah World, and Emmanuel Pregnon Their experience showed in this mighty display of hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. Despite the unbelievable constant noise provided by the partisans, the Ducks only had one false start, and that was by a tight end who slightly flinched. Offensive line coach Terry A’lique had his charges prepared and disciplined to deal with the ear-splitting racket the huge crowd trumpeted play after play. You had to be impressed with the observable mechanics of their own communication, both shouted and with hand signals on the line of scrimmage before each snap.

The Duck defense put a dagger in the Lion’s next drive, three-and-out and now Moore had it rolling, completing a 29-yard pass to Dakorien Moore on third-down. With a fourth-and-one on the eight-yard line, freshman Jordan Davison slashed his way through a Penn State defense that was crushed by Oregon’s front seven. With the score 17-3 and the Nittany Lion’s offense in disarray it looked good for Lanning and his underdogs going into the final stretch.

But, as the Reverend Lee Corso, would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” Franklin inspired his charges and Aller broke out of his game-long funk. It took only four plays to go 75 yards on a run and three completions, the last a 35-yarder to Devonte Ross that pulled the Lions to 17-10.

Now, it was the Ducks who looked tired, and they could only scratch out seven yards on their next possession. Penn State gratefully accepted a mediocre punt and proceeded to use up six and a half minutes tying the score with only thirty seconds left on the clock, 17-17. The Lions have their own stable of running backs and they came on like gang busters. Although Oregon’s defense was still physical and hitting hard, they were giving up crucial yardage to the running backs in yardage gained after contact.

So comes the overtime.

Penn State made it look like the end was near as it took only three plays to get their touchdown and the extra point to make it 24-17; the Nittany Lions had scored 21 straight points. Taking their turn, Dante Moore dived ahead for a first down on fourth and one to the two-yard line and then Coach Stein pulled one out of his hat with an inside shovel pass from Moore to Jamari Johnson to tie the score at 24-24.

Trading ends of the field, away from the Penn State students, and towards the vastly outnumbered green-clad Duck fans conveniently located in the upper deck close to heaven, Moore threw a beauty to Gary Bryant, Jr., who made it look easy, scampering in for the go-ahead score, 30-24.

The overtime rules call for a required two-point attempt and Oregon fans’ blood immediately ran ice cold when Moore’s intended pass over the middle was intercepted by Dani Dennis Sutton who ran it back fifty yards, pursued by desperate Ducks. Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq is an unbelievably gifted athlete and if you have the chance, find a way to see this play: he comes from nowhere to tackle Sutton, who fumbled the ball. It is picked up by Amare Campbell and Sadiq, who hits the ground after the tackle on Sutton, regains his feet and tackles Campbell. If Campbell scores on the interception and Penn State scores a touchdown on their next possession the game is over, no need for the two-point conversion attempt and the Nittany Lions win.

Coach Lanning thought he had an All-American safety in Purdue transfer Dillan Thieneman and he knew it on the next play as Drew Allar slightly underthrew his sideline receiver and Thieneman, who had reacted like a rattle snake, instinctively raced to his left, and with a two-handed-above-the-head leap, brought the ball down, safely, cradling the overtime win in his grip.

For all the hullabaloo about the 110,000-person “Whiteout” that the Penn State nation prides itself on, Duck fans noted they never booed their favorites as the Lions fans did theirs on several occasions. Lanning had Oregon exquisitely well prepared for this game, with unbelievable levels of noise at practices where the offensive line, in particular, and the defense were able to establish their assignments over the noise. Hand signals were used by everybody and the absence of observable penalties and missed assignments was dramatic.

After the game, Lanning was in a state of high emotion, you could see the intensity he possesses that drives the Oregon football program. After four years of dedication by Lanning and his coaching staff, the results were evidenced by the player’s character and performance: they were built for this game. This Penn State victory is, to this point, the greatest in history, a story that is just getting started, with more to come.

Next week, a bye to start attending classes and get recentered and focused for the following week’s visit from Indiana, a playoff team last season and better this year. Stay focused lads, work hard and understand how intention leads to performance.  Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6^th Street Grill WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1st AT 5:00 P.M.  Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.