Against all odds, the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions played in the Big Ten Championship game in 2024. A mere two weeks ago, this would have seemed impossible. Yet, after Ohio State gave their game away against Michigan, the door was wide open. Here are your takeaways.
1: Running game strong
Jordan James made and the Oregon running game gave Penn State everything they could handle from the start, and Oregon turn the Nittany Lions’ inability to stop the run into early points. As the Nittany Lions settled on defense, the Ducks didn’t gash Penn State as badly as they did in the first quarter, but they still got chunk plays when they needed them.