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Penn State Breaks Down Big Ten Championship

by:Linden Hile•12/08/24

The Penn State Nittany Lions fell 45-37 against the undefeated Oregon Ducks Saturday in the Big Ten Conference Championship. Below are the most notable questions and quotes from Penn State’s post-game press conference as well as my thoughts at the end.

Opening Statement:

“Like always I want to thank the fans who came out and supported us, we don’t take that for granted. You have to give Oregon and coach Dan Lanning credit.”

“They did a great job creating difficult situations and we had a chance to win at the end. This is a new college football and our season has just begun.”

Drew Allar on Penn State’s last offensive play:

“I saw him hold and not really get any depth. I just have to see the leverage with the defensive back and give him more leverage.”

Franklin on defense and two-point conversion:

“We knew that was going to be a challenge for us. I think early in the game we didn’t start out the way we’re capable of starting out.”

“They have a really challenging scheme and really good players so thought our defense came together in the second half but we weren’t able to get it done.”

Franklin on hosting a game next:

“I don’t spend a ton of time on that. For me to sit here and feel like I can predict how those things are going to go, I’m not sure.”

“I know these guys will be excited about the opportunity that comes. I don’t think there’s anyone in the Big Ten that has that type of resume but we’ll be waiting eagerly.”

Franklin on considering going for the fourth-and-five out of halftime:

We talked about that. You make that field goal you’re in a much different game moving forward.”

Allar on Tyler Warren‘s quiet second half:

“On third down they tried to bracket him a little bit and it opened up our backside reads. He still had a phenomenal game and they tried to do a couple things but it creates openings for other guys.”

Linden’s take:

There’s no doubt Penn State is an excellent football team that pushed Oregon to its limits but it feels like more of the same. The Nittany Lions under Franklin have consistently been very good, but struggled to win big games such as this.

They’ll likely still be in the playoffs, but one has to wonder if there’s a ceiling on this team.

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