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[Photo Story] Penn State vs. Oregon In The Big Ten Championship

After Michigan upset Ohio State, Penn State football secured its spot in the Big Ten Championship game. The Nittany Lions weren’t expected to make the trip to Indianapolis, with most predicting Ohio State to face Oregon. Instead, Penn State earned its first Big Ten Championship appearance since 2016 when it defeated Wisconsin to claim the title.

However, the Nittany Lions fell short this time as Oregon powered to a 45-37 win. The loss dropped Penn State to a No. 6 seed in the College Football Playoff, and the Nittany Lions will host SMU in a first-round matchup at Beaver Stadium.

Our photographers made the trip to Indianapolis to photograph the conference title game.

Lucas Oil Stadium was decked out for the Big Ten Championship, and Penn State and Oregon’s logos were in each end zone while the Big Ten logo was in the middle of the field.

The buses arrived, and the Nittany Lions were locked (the f***) in to take on the No. 1 Ducks.

Warmups began as both Nittany Lion and Duck fans filled the stadium.

There were lots of familiar faces cheering on the Nittany Lions, including Curtis Jacobs, Spice Adams, Sean Clifford, and even Tank Smith.

The clock winded down and both teams were ready to take the field.

Penn State and Oregon’s entrances were awesome. We’re not sure what safety measures go into lighting fire or pyrotechnics in a closed-air stadium, but it was all worth it. Let’s normalize this at other games.

Oregon struck first with a touchdown, but Ryan Barker answered with a field goal to make the score 10-3. With under a minute left in the first quarter, Drew Allar connected with Tyler Warren for a 28-yard gain. Allar found Nick Singleton with a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10.

The Ducks quickly found a 28-10 lead in the second quarter. Penn State was struggling to keep up, especially after Allar’s interception.

Luckily, Allar fired a 22-yard touchdown pass to Omari Evans to make it 28-17 halfway through the second quarter.

After what seemed like an impossible deficit, Allar found the end zone to make it 28-24 with 1:53 remaining in the first half. Suddenly, the Nittany Lions were back in the game.

Kaytron Allen punched in a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but Penn State’s decision to go for a two-point conversion came up short. The failed attempt left the Nittany Lions trailing 38-30 with 14:17 to play, adding pressure to the comeback efforts.

Penn State’s defense did not have a great game. The Ducks, fueled by standout performances from stars like Tez Johnson, overwhelmed the Nittany Lions. Playing catch-up against the nation’s top-ranked team proved to be a nearly impossible task.

With 3:41 left in regulation, Allar fired a pass to Trey Wallace under pressure, who caught it in the end zone to make it 45-37.

Penn State had a chance to tie the game. After Oregon gave the ball back, the Nittany Lions started at its 37-yard line. Nick Singleton broke free for a 9-yard gain, but disaster struck on the next play when Allar threw an interception, sealing the game for the Ducks.

Regardless of the result, it’s still impossible to hate Oregon’s mascot, Puddles.

Penn State will have a two-week break before its next game at Beaver Stadium.

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About the Author

Hailey Stutzman

Hailey is a senior film production major and is Onward State's visual editor. She is also the editor of our podcast, Podward State. She's from outside of Philly-ish and is a die-hard Birds fan. When Hailey's not taking pictures or editing videos, you can find her scrolling through TikTok or sleeping. Feel free to reach her on Twitter when she wakes up @stutzhailey or her email [email protected].

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