UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For a long time on Sept. 27, Beaver Stadium felt so far away from Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Oregon could stop the run. Drew Allar hit the impossible throws. It was the Ducks’ freshmen, not the seniors, who were making plays. 

But then it started to lean the other way. Penn State toted the rock to overtime. Senior Gary Bryant Jr. caught the touchdown that put Oregon up 30-24. Allar, once again, had to make the play.

And it was third-year athlete, Purdue transfer Dillon Thieneman who was in on first-and-10. In a look that Lanning said Oregon hadn’t shown all game — meant to counter the lateral motion that had gashed the Ducks in the second half — Thieneman rose up and took Allar’s pass in two hands. 

“The ball was just right there,” Thieneman said. 

295 days separated the two games, but maybe this was Indianapolis again, after all.

No. 6 Oregon (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) cut its way past No. 3 Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten), 30-24, in double overtime on Saturday night in University Park. After the Ducks dominated the first half box score but struggled inside field goal range, their freshmen (Dierre Hill Jr., 82 rushing yds; Jordon Davison, 17 rushing yds, TD; Dakorien Moore, 89 rec. yds) buoyed them to a 14-point second half alongside quarterback Dante Moore (248 passing yds, 3 TD, 35 rushing yds). 

In overtime, head coach Dan Lanning bet on his defense, and it repaid him in kind. Oregon emerged with a second giant slain in as many years in the conference, renewed confidence and more proof — as if it needed it — that it is a force in the new era of college football.

“We’re relentless, man,” linebacker Bryce Boettcher (career-high 12 tackles) said. “I’ve been saying it from the beginning: it’s all about culture…We’re in pads Monday through Thursday. Some guys think it’s ridiculous, but it shows up when it needs to.”

For what it’s worth, the first drive began much like Oregon would’ve planned. Runs. Reliance on Moore’s arm. A Kenyon Sadiq hurdle. Then, though, it started to feel like Autzen Stadium must have felt in the Ducks’ last Big Ten heavyweight battle, last year against Ohio State. True freshman Davison got the ball on fourth-and-1 inside Oregon’s half — and the Ducks fell victim to the false start penalties that have plagued their opponents in Eugene early this season. Instead of an energy-sapping effort directed at the crowd, it was a punt.

The defense stood up. Oregon stuffed the run twice, including a direct snap to back Kaytron Allen, before Allar couldn’t take advantage of a wide receiver-on-linebacker matchup between Boettcher and Kyron Hudson on third-and-5.

Where the Big Ten Championship Game less than a year ago was explosive, this was calculated. Oregon attempted fourth downs not with reckless abandon, but with calm efficiency. It didn’t, though, always work out. In between midfield and field goal range, Moore kept on fourth-and-3 but threw his spin move too early and took the hit too far behind the line to gain.

“We were really clear before the game,” Lanning said. “We’re coming here to win the game. We’re coming here to be aggressive…we went through the Rolodex today, and what did we convert? I mean, we had five of seven. Everyone of those fourth downs mattered.”

But for all the points that Oregon and Penn State combined for over four weeks of the 2025 season, there were none in the first quarter. For all of the hard-nosed running, there were few explosives, and no points. It remained the opposite of last year’s matchup, where the two teams combined for 24 first-quarter points and seemed impossible to contain.

Allar, who seemed determined to prove that his arm talent could win games, connected with Singleton twice either side of the quarter break. The latter, a sidearm, cross-body effort, put the Nittany Lions inside field goal range. Kicker Ryan Barker took advantage from 49 yards, and put Penn State on the board.

Sappington couldn’t do the same. After Moore scrambled into field goal range on third down, the experienced kicker finally got the call after four fourth-down tries, and waved it wide left from 47 yards out.

The quarterback, though, was stifled again for the home side. After a first-down sack from Matayo Uiagalelei, Allar couldn’t complete on third-and-7 — another punt, and Oregon sacrificed less than two minutes of clock.

Sappington hit, 10 plays and 51 yards later, but it was hard to ignore the missed opportunity on the drive. Oregon elected to go on fourth down again, and while Moore converted with a 20-yard deep cross to Dakorien Moore, he elected not to pull the trigger earlier with the true freshman on a potential touchdown track. The Ducks, though, had tied it before the half. 

It was Allar’s arm that had to make the plays, but the senior continually forced himself to make off-schedule, off-platform throws, missing receivers only to return to them with admittedly impressive throws after flushing from the pocket.

Moore, the more in-rhythm of the two signal-callers, threw for 112 yards in the opening half on 68-percent efficiency. His connection with Dakorien Moore continued to flourish – the two connected for 57 yards before the break — but the hesitation on the Ducks’ field goal drive remained a stark missed opportunity. A holding penalty kept the quarterback from riding that rhythm to more two-minute drill points, though, and Oregon — the better of the two teams in the box score — could feel aggrieved that it had just the trio of points to its name in the locker room.

If last year’s Big Ten Championship — 55 first half points, regular explosive plays and a dominant Penn State rushing attack — was the explosion, this was the inverse. The two teams combined for just six points and three plays of 10 or more yards, while Oregon held the Nittany Lions to just 24 first-half rushing yards (1.8 yards per carry). Don’t call it an implosion, though — not yet.

Out of the break, the Nittany Lions went back to lateral movement in the rushing game: sweeps to Peña, wide zones to Singleton and boot actions with Allar saw them almost match their first-half total on the drive. Tuioti, though, came up big with a sack and stuff on the quarterback — and when Penn State decided to punt from Oregon’s 36-yard line, the Ducks welcomed the ensuing touchback.

Then, it was Moore’s turn to make the impressive throw. Rolling to his right on third-and-3, near the sideline, the redshirt sophomore found Kenyon Sadiq across his body for a 23-yard completion — Oregon’s second passing explosive of the game.

“I think we got the best quarterback in college football,” Lanning said afterward. “I mean, anybody who watches that game…maybe I don’t see everybody else, but that guy’s composure, his poise, I mean…”

After Hill, who was wished a happy birthday by Lanning afterward, and Davison combined for another 24-yard gain, Whittington looked to have fumbled with Oregon in goal-to-go for the first time. The Ducks, though, didn’t lose faith — they were dancing on the sideline as “Livin’ On A Prayer” played during the video-review commercial break — and were rewarded with the revelation that Whittington’s knee was down, and Hill Jr. punched it in the next play on a well-designed screen.

Lanning, who said they were already focused on the next play during the review, and the Ducks kept their faith in Hill, and handed him the ball on the first three plays of the ensuing drive after the Nittany Lions went three-and-out and Allar nearly — nearly — threw a ball into the hands of Oregon safety Aaron Flowers on third down. It swung again away from Indianapolis, where Allar threw two crucial interceptions. This time, it seemed, he wouldn’t.

Hill took those three carries for a combined 23 yards, and set Oregon up on the Penn State 46-yard line when it headed to the final quarter break. Moore converted to Moore on third down, again. Oregon found its place. Hill’s counterpart, Davison, punched it in. 

Beaver Stadium, silent, listened.

“That crowd’s probably worth seven points, right?” Lanning said.
”And they really weren’t tonight. I didn’t feel that. You know, the only time we’d beat ourselves is when we beat ourselves.”

Then, for the first time on the night, Oregon’s defense faltered on play, after play, after play. In four plays, Allar went from his own 25-yard line to the goal line and wide receiver Devonte Ross flipped Dillon Thieneman’s hips with a cut for the 35-yard score.

Beaver Stadium, ineffable and within a score, screamed.

We started off hot,” Thieneman said. We were doing good, and then they started to get a little bit more momentum. From my point of view, I had a couple key mistakes on both their scoring drives that ended up leading to the scores.” 

The team that prided itself on composure began to stumble more, and the Nittany Lions began to look more like the team that came so close to the title a year ago. This time, it wasn’t the gashing runs — it was little cuts. 

Penn State rushed for one yard, then 20 on a quarterback keeper, then eight, then one, then two, then three, then five, then six, then two twice more and three once in Allen’s hands before Allar found Devonte Ross and Ross found the final seven before the endzone with half a minute left.

Beaver Stadium, inimitable, bellowed.

“I talked to Coach Lanning more than anything,” Moore, who mentioned during the week that he would try to contact former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix (who played in a Penn State white out), but didn’t catch him, said. “Coach Lanning has been in national championship environments…he always told me that there can be 200,000 fans, but they can’t make a block. They can’t make a catch. They can’t make a play. So it’s really just 11 on 11 football at the end of the day.” 

The rushes kept coming as Penn State moved Oregon laterally with no abandon. In overtime, Trebor Peña earned 16 yards and Allen punched in the final four. With the ball in Moore’s hands, the 20-year-old overcame a fumble in the backfield to slide the ball to second-string tight end Jamari Johnson in the endzone.

The two teams held back Indianapolis for four quarters and one overtime. In the second, Moore found Bryant Jr., who snuck from the 11-yard line to the goal line. The man who had thrown nine interceptions as a teenager at UCLA in 2023 finally threw one on Saturday as Oregon attempted its two point conversion.

Was that Indianapolis gone? Not quite.

Allar, who elected to not declare for the NFL Draft last season and return to Penn State after rebounding from the loss and picks in Lucas Oil Stadium to lead a charge to the College Football Playoff semifinal, looked for the play. He’s got experience.

But so does Dante Moore. So does Davison, and Hill and Dakorien Moore and Oregon’s cacophony of nearly-teenage talent. They had it before, Oregon thought, and they certainly have it now.

On first-and-10 from the 25-yard line, 295 days after Drew Allar threw a game-sealing interception in Indianapolis, Dillon Thieneman saw the ball, right there.

“I just picked it off and it didn’t feel real in the moment,” he said. “And then I kind of just got up and started running.” 

Oregon now heads to its bye week before hosting No. 11 Indiana.