Penn State or Oregon? The CBS Broadcast Team Scouts the Big Ten Championship Game

Who has the edge between the Nittany Lions and the Ducks? The CBS analysts dig into the Big Ten matchup.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter pressures Maryland Terrapins quarterback MJ Morris during the first quarter at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Aaron Taylor, the former NFL offensive lineman who will be part of CBS' broadcast team for Saturday's Big Ten Championsip Game, is a big fan of Penn State tight end Tyler Warren. How big?

"I wanted to dress up as him for Halloween," Taylor said. "He's an incredible player, and they use him in a ton of creative ways."

Taylor joined fellow CBS broadcasters Gary Danielson, Rick Neuheisel and Brian Jones on a Zoom call this week to preview the Big Ten title game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks. The game is the teams' first meeting since the 1995 Rose Bowl, and the CBS broadcast crew expects a showdown.

What stands out about Penn State and this matchup? The CBS broadcast crew breaks it down ahead of Saturday night's 8 p.m. ET kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

RELATED: Penn State has two prime opportunities vs. Oregon

Gary Danielson: [Penn State] has gotten better as the year has gone along. The movement of Abdul Carter to defensive end, he really struggled early in the year playing that position and he was, I felt, not the impact player that he was at the end of last year. But right now, he might be one of the most impactful players in all of college football.

Aaron Taylor: First and foremost, zooming out, we've got to give [Penn State coach James] Franklin a lot of credit for binging in three new coordinators, and particularly [offensive coordinator] Andy Kotelnicki. [Franklin] hadn't had much success at that position bringing people in, but look at the impact that that's made. What Kotelnicki did, if you look at what they were at Kansas last year [with Kotelnicki], they led their league in explosive plays, and that's the element that's really come to this team that [qurterback] Drew Allar has been able to take advantage of. And we saw that right out of the gate with their tight end.

Rick Neuheisel: Kotelnicki has done a great job as the coordinator. Drew Allar is a 71-percent passer. His average [yards] per attempt is up from a year ago. That was a concern for all Nittany Lions fans a year ago, that it was under 7 yards, and was it kind of dink and dunk, and could they make big plays against good teams? That number is up over 9 now. That's championship level.

Brian Jones: Both of these [offensive] coordinators, [Oregon's Will] Stein and Kotelnicki, come as advertised. They're very creative. They get their playmakers in space. I think that the challenge is going to be Penn State's secondary. They love to play that man coverage. [Penn State defensive coordinator] Tom Allen is going to bring the house and apply pressure to your quarterbacks. So if [Penn State] can hold up against [Tez] Johnson and [Traeshon] Holden and [Evan] Stewart, all those wide receivers there in Oregon, that should help them mightily in getting the W.

RELATED: Oregon Ducks scouting report: The view from Eugene

Gary Danielson: But also, the improvement of Drew Allar has really made a difference. Nick Singleton has gotten healthy. I mean, Penn State is capable of beating anyone, and they'll be in the game, I believe.

Rick Neuheisel: I guess the concern I have for the Nittany Lions offensively: Is there enough at wide receiver? And this is the matchup I'm most anxious to watch: the Oregon secondary against the [Penn State] wide receivers. [Oregon coach] Dan Lanning as a defensive coordinator is going to know you have to stop 44 [Warren], and no one has done it. We were all out there in Los Angeles and saw Tyler Warren catch 17 passes in that game [against USC] for over 200 yards. It was an incredible performance. Harrison Wallace and the other [three primary Penn State] wide receivers, they have 84 receptions together, and Warren has 81. That is a remarkable number when you're talking about big-time college football, that the tight end is that much the focal point of the throwing game. So to me, that's going to be the question.

Aaron Taylor: When I put the tape on, I see a very confident [Penn State] team that doesn't beat itself, that is tremendous at scoring points, particularly in the red zone, which was the one Achilles heel against Ohio State, ironically. But this is a vastly different and improved team, year over year, compared to where they were last year with largely the same personnel. So you add that offense compared to what they do on the other side with [Carter] and all that he brings there, this is a complete football team.

Brian Jones: Also on Carter, they move him around as much as they move Warren around on offense. They deploy him from various vantage points, allowing him to come free and take on your myriad offensive linemen from different positions. I also love the play of [defensive end] Dani Dennis-Sutton. I don't think he gets enough credit. This guy pops on film. He makes as many plays, or is as disruptive as, Carter is. So I think he's going to be influential in this ball game as well.

RELATED: Nicholas Singleton, Dani Dennis-Sutton getting healthy at the right time for Penn State

Rick Neuheisel: Are they [the Nittany Lions] fast enough [on defense]? Oregon is going to make you go from sideline to sideline. Will Stein, their coordinator, has a bunch of scheme throws all coordinators do to take pressure off the quarterback. And Dillon Gabriel, he's the best quarterback that I've seen in the last couple of years at doing things that don't show up in the stat book, which is getting rid of the ball, throwing away, avoiding a sack. I mean, he's made his share of mistakes, but he's pretty error-free, and especially in big games. So I like the speed of Oregon, but you've got to like what James Franklin has done with this team, and they're deserving to be in Indianapolis.

Aaron Taylor: I think this is going to be a hell of a matchup, on both sides of ball and individually, from a playmaker standpoint. Again, we've got to give James Franklin a hell of a lot of credit for the role that he's played in being proactive to give [Penn State] this opportunity.

Gary Danielson: Nicholas Singleton is as healthy as he's been since the day he walked back for spring football. His last game that he played [against Maryland] is the best he played all year. He's coming back 100 percent for this game. He is on fire running the ball right now.

Brian Jones: As for Penn State, Warren's going to be the focal point. Look for Dan Lanning to take him out of the ball game as much as he can. Who else steps up? It's going to have to be the running backs, and they've got to take care of the rock. Defensively, Penn State vs. that Oregon offense, it should be a fair fight. We'll see what that Penn State offense can muster.

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