STATE COLLEGE – Drew Allar led Penn State’s fourth-quarter comeback before he threw an interception in the second overtime, enabling sixth-ranked Oregon to beat the third-ranked Nittany Lions 30-24 Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.
Allar’s miscue came eight months after his fourth-quarter interception led to the Nittany Lions’ 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, a College Football Playoff semifinal.
Dante Moore eluded Dani Dennis-Sutton and fired a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. to give the Ducks (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0) a 30-24 lead in the second overtime. Dennis-Sutton intercepted Moore’s conversion pass to keep it a six-point game.
On Penn State’s next play, Allar faked a handoff and looked to the right sideline for tight end Luke Reynolds, but safety Dillon Thieneman intercepted to end it. He also threw a fourth-quarter interception in the championship game when the Lions were trying to tie it.
The Nittany Lions (0-1, 3-1) had the ball first in the first overtime and scored on Kaytron Allen’s 4-yard run. The Ducks answered when tight end Jamari Johnson scored on a 2-yard shovel pass.
Penn State fell behind 17-3 with less than 13 minutes left before Allar tossed two touchdown passes to Devonte Ross, one a 35-yarder and then a 7-yarder with 30 seconds left that tied it.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Lions before a White Out crowd of 111,015, the second-largest in Beaver Stadium history.
It was the first meeting between the teams since the 2024 Big Ten championship game.
Oregon beat Penn State 45-37 in that matchup when the teams combined for 984 total yards.
Saturday night’s game was vastly different.
The Lions had mustered only 109 total yards when Jordan Davison scored for Oregon on an 8-yard run to make it 17-3 with 12:25 to go.
Oregon got a break in the third quarter. Penn State’s Chaz Coleman appeared to force Noah Whittington to fumble inside the 10. Zakee Wheatley recovered and returned it 39 yards on the play, but it was overturned by an officials review.
The Ducks scored on the next play when Dierre Hill Jr. caught an 8-yard pass, which made it 10-3.
Penn State’s offense struggled to generate much in the first half, totaling just 69 yards. The Lions had eight third downs with an average distance of 8 yards, converting three of them.
Their only score came after Nick Singleton caught two third-down passes for 28 yards and ran for 2 yards on a fourth-and-1.
Ryan Barker kicked a 49-yard field goal to give Penn State a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Oregon moved the ball but the Lions’ Amare Campbell and A.J. Harris stopped Moore on fourth down to halt one drive. Then in the second quarter, Atticus Sappington missed a 47-yard field goal and made a 42-yarder to tie it.
Penn State gained a couple first downs in the final two minutes of the half, but a false start penalty on Nick Dawkins led to the Lions punting.
Source: Berkshire mont
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