It’s really happening, folks.

Penn State football is set to face Oregon in the Big Ten Championship. Before traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana, both James Franklin and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning took to the stand for 30 minutes with the media. Lanning discussed Penn State as a whole, Tyler Warren, and much more during his segment.

Here’s what we learned from 30 minutes on Zoom with Lanning.

On Tyler Warren

Lanning prefaced much of his Penn State talk by saying that he didn’t watch much film on the Nittany Lions prior to Sunday’s 3 p.m. Zoom call. However, he did say he’s seen Warren and Penn State when watching tape of other teams.

“He’s obviously an elite player, a matchup issue, and a complete tight end,” Lanning said on Warren. “I’m excited to hop in and dive into that plan and see how we can neutralize him. I think they do as good a job as anybody utilizing their personnel, their scheme is difficult to plan for offensively, so that’ll be a fun challenge for us and our defensive staff.”

On Penn State vs. Other Oregon Opponents

Lanning was asked to compare Penn State to other opponents the Ducks have faced this season. Lanning said the Nittany Lions were a unique opponent and was complimentary of James Franklin’s group.

“I think this team has its own unique identity and they do some different things that we haven’t seen so far this season,” Lanning said. “Obviously, they play a physical brand of football. I think coach Franklin does an elite job in all three phases. They’re very detailed — I think that shows up.”

On Drew Allar

Lanning spent plenty of time talking about his own quarterback, sixth-year transfer Dillon Gabriel, but he was asked about Drew Allar and the challenges Penn State’s quarterback posed.

“I think composure is certainly one of the things that stands out [about Allar] and understanding of their offensive scheme. I think it’s about taking what’s there, but I think he’s also a guy who’s made some really tight throws in some great windows this year,” Lanning said. “I think he understands his personnel and his strengths and those who he wants to get the ball to. But more than anything, [he’s] just a composed operator. He goes out there and can execute at a really high level and make explosive plays.”

On Andy Kotelnicki

Just a few hours after Lanning spoke with the media, news broke that Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was expecting to interview for the West Virginia head coaching job.

However, before that information came out, Lanning said he’s watched Kotelnicki’s teams for some time and had studied his work.

“One of the things I do here is every week, I watch explosive plays across college football. And last year, going through film and previous years going through film, Andy’s film always showed up. I watch explosive plays of other teams through college football, you watch and see unique formations pop up,” Lanning said.

“Whether that was in his time at Kansas or now his time at Penn State, you see some unique ways to use personnel and create tough looks for defenses. He’s a guy that’s able to get the numbers right at the point of attack. He’s a guy that’s got a lot of smoky mirrors that make it tough to have great eye discipline. But explosive plays are one of the things that stands out. He consistently creates explosive plays in this offensive scheme and it requires guys to do a great job of taking care of their job.”

On Abdul Carter

Abdul Carter has steadily improved as Penn State’s top defensive end, cementing himself as a first-round NFL Draft prospect. In addition to speaking about Carter, Lanning took some time to speak about Penn State’s defensive unit as a whole.

“With anything, just watching their defense and their offense, you see guys that play really well together. Eleven guys kind of playing as one. They have an aggressive nature,” Lanning said. “[Carter’s] certainly a guy that’s shown physicality and ability to play all over the field, so he’s somebody you have to be aware of. I think they have a lot of guys on defense that you have to be aware of where they’re at, and we’ll have to do a great job of identifying them.”