2024 Win 13: Penn State

[OregonFan4Life]

The Big Ten championship, a lot of us Duck fans talked about winning the conference in their first year, weren’t sure if the team would make it, but here we were! And while we were expecting Ohio State we got to face a new team, Penn State with a chance to get revenge from the 1995 Rose Bowl.

Oregon offense started quickly, scoring on their first 3 drives with Sadiq getting two TD’s and Ferguson getting one. Then after a Manning pick six ducks went up 28-10 and it felt like this one may get out of hand quickly. However Penn State fought back behind Allar and Warren and their offense was clicking on all cylinders while the Oregon defense had a very underwhelming performance. Penn St got back to back TD’s and an Oregon field goal at the half put Oregon 7 points ahead at the break with Penn St getting the ball.

Similar story to the second half, Ducks started off hot getting back to back TD’s but the Penn State offense continued to move the ball at will. After an incredible 4th and 10 TD by Penn St as Matayo was tackling Allar the ducks lead was cut to 8 with a little time remaining. The Penn State defense came up big as they forced Oregon to a 3 and out and now had the ball with all momentum and a chance to send the game into OT. With a 2nd and 1 play Penn State tried to catch the Oregon secondary off guard but Nikko Reed made an amazing interception to pretty much seal the B1G championship, a 1 seed for Oregon in the playoffs (not a good thing in hindsight), and a perfect 13-0 record heading into the playoffs. Gabriel converted the last 3rd down to win the game and Oregon kneeled the ball and celebrated the program’s first B1G championship after only one season in the B1G.

I know the season didn’t end as we hoped, a lot of us are still recovering from the Rose Bowl blowout. But I still believe 2024 was a memorable season that will play a role in Oregon winning their first ever natty. Plus Oregon did some memorable things, including beating Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State in the same season, no team has done that since Michigan State in 2015. Plus Oregon is the first team ever to win 8 straight conference games without a bye. With Lanning as our coach Oregon will continue to bring in talent and continue the upward trajectory we’ve seen, there’s no reason not to believe Lanning won’t continue to elevate the Oregon program and see continued improvement. While 2025 will be a great season, it may not be the one where we win our first natty, but with Lanning I know we will win one, and I know it’ll be sooner rather than later. Regardless though, Go Ducks! Always, Go Ducks, and let’s enjoy the 2025 season!

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