For Penn State, Frustration Burns After Loss in Big Ten Title Game

The Nittany Lions played a compelling but flawed game vs. Oregon and missed a chance to make a national statement.

Oregon Ducks defensive back Nikko Reed (9) makes an interception in front of Penn State receiver Trey Wallace during the Big Ten Championship Game. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

INDIANAPOLIS | Penn State coach James Franklin walked off the field at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday with his two daughters and one dejected player. Offensive lineman Vega Ioane lingered on the field as Oregon celebrated its 45-37 win over the Nittany Lions and walked slowly toward the tunnel. Franklin, holding hands with one daughter, patted Ioane on the shoulder and guided him up the ramp.

Thus began about 45 dazed and confused minutes before the Nittany Lions boarded their buses to begin an uncertain playoff wait.

"It’s sickening, because we had all the intentions to win and have the confetti fall on us," Penn State cornerback AJ Harris said. "But we just understand that we’re still not far from our main goal. For us to be in a ballgame like that with the No. 1 team in the country, I feel like we definitely have more to show and more to work on."

For Penn State, a 45-37 loss to top-ranked Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday felt like a missed opportunity. The Nittany Lions had a chance to make a national statement by beating a No. 1 team for the first time since 1990. They could have earned the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff and trumpted their arrival at the game's elite table.

Instead, Penn State got carved by Oregon's F1 offense, which it still outgained 518-466, and committed the game's only two turnovers. The last, a phenomenal interception by Oregon's Nikko Reed against Trey Wallace in the fourth quarter, effectively ended the game. Reed has been beaten earlier for a touchdown, which he recognized in that moment.

"Everybody was like, we need a turnover to win the game, and they happened to throw it to me again," Reed said. "It just wasn't the thing they wanted."

A statement that captured Penn State's night. So many moments weren't the thing that Penn State wanted. The Nittany Lions often were spectacular, rushing for an outrageous 292 yards, averarging 8.3 yards per attempt and battling back from an 18-point deficit and a 15-point deficit to bring the game within one possession. Each time, Oregon countered just enough. As a result, music and cigar smoke drifted out of the Ducks' locker room, while a shouting voice pierced the silence of Penn State's.

"Damn!" one player shouted as a door opened between the interview room and Penn State's locker room.

Largely, the scene around Penn State's locker room was filled with a zombie daze. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, holding a pizza box, walked slowly into the waiting arms of former Penn State offensive coordinator (and current Old Dominion head coach) Ricky Rahne, who consoled more than a few players. The frustration was palpable, even in Penn State coach James Franklin's postgame media session.

Franklin, who addressed his concerns about the game's officiating, had just finished a composed opening statement and was about to take questions when Oregon's band starting playing on the field. The sound reverberated through the interview room's audio system, prompting a pause in the questions.

"I've got no issue with them celebrating," Franklin said in his postgame press conference, "but this is kind of a JV setup."

Quarterback Drew Allar laughed, a momentary blip of levity in an otherwise bitter few minutes. That interception, on a deep route to Wallace with 2 minutes remaining, ended Penn State's chances of tying the game. Allar, who made some elite throws but also was intercepted twice, desperately wanted that ball back.

"I saw him [Reed] hold and not get any depth and tried to give Trey a chance," said Allar, who finished 20 of 39 for 226 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. "I've got to do a better job of [Wallace] or nobody."

There was a lot of that feeling across the Penn State lineup. The Nittany Lions felt as though they went straight-up with college football's only unbeaten team, gave as many punches as they took but gave way under their own lapses.

"To be quite frank, we also just made a lot of mistakes," Penn State defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. "That's a credit to them. When you have such a talented team and you're playing at an elite level, the margin of error is very, very small. Coach Franklin alluded to that after the game. The margin of error is so small, so slim in these games that it makes all the difference."

Some of those errors belonged to the coaching staff. Franklin defended his decision to go for a 2-point conversion down by eight points in the second half, citing it as a path to winning in regulation. However, Franklin didn't address the play itself, a reverse option pass with tight end Tyler Warren trying to throw to Allar. Warren got caught between decisions and slipped to the ground.

And in the fourth quarter, Penn State running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who combined for 229 of Penn State's 292 yards rushing, touched the ball once apiece. Allen scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Singleton ran for 9 yards on the play before Allar's interception. Allar was 5-for-10 for 46 yards and the interception in the fourth quarter.

"I feel like we proved to the country that we definitely belonged," Harris said. "We just have to finish these ballgames at this point."

Once Oregon's band music stopped reverberating through the interview room, Franklin made his case for why Penn State should get a higher-seeded home game. The Nittany Lions will be competing with Texas, Notre Dame and Ohio State for placement among the 5-8 host seeds for the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Penn State is fairly certain it wil host a first-round game Dec. 20 or 21 at Beaver Stadium. But Franklin sought to remind the selection committee about his team's resumé, just in case.

"Do I think our resumé matches up with anybody in the country? Yeah, I think it does," Franklin said. "Again, we lost by one possession to the No. 1 team in the country. And I think earlier in the season we lost to the No. 3 team in the country at the time, if I remember correctly. Is that correct? A one-possession game as well. So I don't think there's anybody in the country that's got that type of resumé in the Big Ten, arguably the best conference in all of college football."

More Penn State Football

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What they said about the Big Ten Championship Game

Big Ten schedules the Penn State-Oregon regular-season rematch for September 2025