State College, PA- On WEEK 5, we attend Oregon at Penn State at newly refurbished Beaver Stadium. This is our most anticipated game of the 2025 regular season. For the annals of our history, this visit becomes our 120th Penn State game. This season and this game in particular mark the potential sendoff of the Nittany Lions to their first national championship since 1986. PSU ranks second in most pre-season polls to Texas. The Ducks start the preseason in the Associated Press poll at No. 5. With our great friend, PSU alum and die-hard Nittany Lion fan, John Massimilla, who we’ve seen PSU games with for 45 years now, we look forward to seeing the Lions play the Ducks for a second time. Last time, saw them battle in the 1995 Rose Bowl. Penn State prevailed, 38-20
Like that game, we hope to see the Lions remain undefeated. Penn State finished that season 12-0. Without a true College Football Playoff (CFP) back then, the pollsters awarded the championship to the other undefeated team that season, Nebraska. Different circumstance this time, of course. We expect both teams to enter Happy Valley undefeated. We’ll have seen the Ducks in their opener against Montana State. The week before this game, they will host in-state rival Oregon State.
White-out!!!
The Lions have a bye week the prior Saturday after meeting Nevada, Florida International and FCS Villanova – all at home. At this home game, the intensity ramps up! Penn State hosts Oregon in a traditional “White-out!” As at any such White-out confrontation, we anticipate a very long day of pregame tailgating, a close game to the end, a slow-to-empty parking lot exit and a late arrival home into the wee hours of the morning.
Our Oregon history
Compliments of Kermit the Frog. As mentioned, we saw the Oregon Ducks play Penn State in the 1995 Rose Bowl. You can read this story in my book, Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly. The Ducks stand 1-1 in the annals of Collegefootballfan.com history. We didn’t see them play again until last season. At Wisconsin, they held off the Badgers to a 16-13 win. They finished the regular season at 12-0 before defeating Penn State in the Big Ten Championship, 45-37. Like the other three CFP teams with byes in the first round, they fell in the next round. Eventual champion Ohio State dominated them, 41-21. OSU defeated Notre Dame in the CFP Championship. The Irish defeated the Lions at the semi-final in the Orange Bowl we attended, 27-24
Oregon up for the FBS hunt once again
HC Dan Lanning’s team lost well-travelled, Heisman candidate QB Dillon Gabriel (3,857 passing yards, 30 TDs and 6 INTs) from last season. To replace him, Dante Moore, a UCLA transfer who joined OU last season steps in. He’ll reap the benefit of having eight returning starters around him. Defensively, the Ducks return six starters. At RB, Noah Whittingham replaces Jordan James who went to the SF 49ers last year as the number four draft pick overall. Whittingham trudged for 540 yards and six TDs. He looks to be the key cog for OU in the rushing department. WR Evan Stewart and TE Kenyon Sadiq return as leading receivers as key targets for Moore. Four starters from their OL moved on including two first round picks. Transfers from reputable programs step in. They’ll probably establish the Ducks as a pretty formidable team by the time they visit Penn State.
“D” stands for Defense and Ducks
Defensively, Oregon returns Key EDGE rushers in Matayo Uiagalelei and Teitum Tuioti. ILB Bryce Boettcher returns as leading tackler, and Ole Miss transfer Jadon Canady reinforces the BUs. However, they lost four starting DBs, although two transfers join in from other Big Ten schools. It’s hard to bet against all that Nike money financing all that talent in Eugene. Last season in a night game at Wisconsin, the Ducks played unphased against a very boisterous crowd that evening. However, the Badgers possessed little firepower to challenge a tough Oregon defense.
QB Allar returns, but we recommend some “tweaking”
Despite the Big Ten championship loss to the Ducks last season, the Nittany Lions posted 37 points against the tough Oregon defense. Success for the Lions on offense this season centers on the improvement of senior QB Drew Allar. Though statistically dominant with his passing stats of 66.5%, 3,327 yards, 24 TDs and 8 INTs, we believe his coaching staff needs to make two significant changes to his game to help him to play even better.
The hire of Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State should be helpful in providing James Franklin with input we think will help substantially having beaten PSU in the past. Allar tends to focus on his primary receiver rather that look off to give his receivers more room with such deception. Secondly, the offense doesn’t take enough advantage of the great running game they possess to utilize more play action. Freeze the opposing secondaries more. If the coaching staff worked on this in the off-season, the Lions will be even better on offense and Allar will dominate.
Penn State returns with formidable offense
The Penn State running game reputation already persists. Nick Singleton led in rushing last year with 1,099 yards and 12 TDs. Kaytron Allen provides the second of the one-two backfield punch with 1,108 yards and eight TDs. In front of them opening holes charge seven war horses with starting experience. Second Team All-Big Ten OG Olaivega Ioane leads the way. Most of the 300+ pounders started 16 games last season. The graduation of Tyler Warren loses a degree of production at TE. Khali Dinkins returns after six starts. The Lions also seem to have a revolving door now at that position into the pros.
The wide receiver position warranted the greatest needs for OC Andy Kotelnicki’s offense. James Franklin scoured the transfer portal to add three experienced players to step right in. Kyron Hudson came across the country from USC with 462 yards. Devonte Ross showed up from Troy with 1,043 yards recorded. Trebor Pena comes from Syracuse with 941 yards for the Orange. Kotelnicki’s receiving corps impressed us when we saw his Kansas squad in an exciting 55-53 Liberty Bowl loss against Arkansas in 2022. With improvements as mentioned previously regarding Allar, this could be the most fun, passing team we have ever witnessed at Penn State.
Another season at Linebacker U.
Despite that Linebacking reputation, the Nittany Lions look strong overall. Six starters return on defense along with a wealth of talent at other positions. DE Dani Dennis-Sutton and DT Zane Durant will be returning with 42 stops each to their credit. Dennis-Sutton recorded 8.5 sacks. LBs Tony Rojas and Dominic Deluca return to uphold that stellar reputation. Both had three pick-offs in addition to hard hits a year ago. UNC transfer Amare Campbell adds more depth to an already strong contingent of backers. The secondary features CB AJ Harris with 48 tackles. FS Zakee Wheatley comes back as the leading tackler with 96 a year ago along with three INTs. Most likely, he’ll be joined by SS King Mack who took a one-year hiatus to Alabama. Under new DC Jim Knowles, this defense can be even stronger. Last year, the Lions allowed 17 points per game.
What we expect if…
In front of 110,000 fans fired-up from a full day of tailgating, this White-out Crowd will be intimidating for Oregon. As visitors, they withstood the night game we attended in front of an excited Wisconsin crowd a year ago, but this will be amplified. On top of that, the Nittany Lions let Dillon Gabriel throw effectively against them at a neutral site. The Lions and their fans will be amped about that. Last season in that game, the Lions played some catch-up. If we see adjustments made as prescribed previously, Allar should get this offense going early. If not, the Lions may set themselves up for an upset.
James Franklin needs to lead
In the past, we’ve seen Michigan and Ohio State come in for White-outs and win. The Oregon program is definitely on par with both under HC Dan Lanning. If Oregon hangs close which they may do, our only concern from this perspective is James Franklin. As much as he can recruit among the best, in close game situations, we have to question some of his decision-making processes.
If the Lions can extend a lead entering the final period, the denizens of Happy Valley can rejoice late that evening. If it’s close, we hope Franklin steps up to lead his team to inspire them to victory in a tough situation. The Nittany Lions seem to have everything going for them in the right direction heading into this game. We expect to see them win by more than a TD. However, like other PSU fans, we may be biting our nails if the game is close going into the final period.
Read about the last time we saw Penn State and Oregon Clash and other Tales
Click on the title of my book about this life-long adventure: Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun, and the Ugly on Amazon.com. Read the reviews on the page and get your copy today! If you’re trying to follow NILs and transfer portals, read what we predicted in 2023 and more. In addition, we offered solutions to issues occurring that we anticipated when we wrote this book. Also, based on what you read above, this fun, unique life-long Journey continues. Catch up on the last 45 years, and then please submit a review. We hope you will get a kick out of our great adventure having seen every FBS team play over the years!
Edited by and photos taken by Steve Koreivo – Member of Football Writers Association of America and Author of Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales: The Good, the Fun and the Ugly.
