INDIANAPOLIS — Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes and No. 1 Oregon outlasted No. 3 Penn State 45-37 on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship, giving the Ducks a first-round bye and almost certainly the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
The Ducks (13-0, No. 1 CFP) are the only unbeaten team in FBS — barely. They nearly blew a 15-point lead in the final four minutes, ending the Nittany Lions’ last gasp by picking off Drew Allar‘s pass with 1:54 left on a wild, wacky championship weekend.
Jordan James ran for two scores to help Oregon win its first league title since 2020 in the Pac-12, this one coming in its first year in the Big Ten.
“These guys can take it all the way if they continue to work and I can guarantee you they continue to work,” Ducks coach Dan Lanning said.
Penn State (11-2, No. 3 CFP) also is expected to make the first 12-team playoff field despite having its four-game winning streak snapped after failing to convert a 2-point conversion early in the fourth quarter — leaving it down 38-30.
Oregon then capped a 75-yard drive with James’ 12-yard TD run to make it 45-30 with 7:28 to go.
But Allar responded with a nifty 14-yard TD pass to Harrison Wallace III with 3:41 to play and Penn State forced a punt, giving Allar one more chance to tie it.
Gabriel finished 22-of-32 with 283 yards, hooking up with Kenyon Sadiq twice in the first half when the teams combined for a championship-game-record 55 points. The previous mark, 52, came in 2012.
Sadiq had only two catches in the game — hurdling a defender on the way to his first score. James rushed 20 times for 87, and Tez Johnson caught 11 passes for 181 yards and a TD.
Allar was 20-of-39 with 236 yards, 3 TDs and 2 interceptions. Kaytron Allen had 14 carries for 124 yards and one score, and Nicholas Singleton carried 10 times for 101 yards and caught a TD pass. Tyler Warren had seven receptions for 64 yards.
Both teams allowed their highest point totals this season.
