As good as college football gets: Ducks’ win over Penn State answers questions about young squad

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Oregon Ducks have only won since the season started. 

They throttled Montana State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern and Oregon State — doing so with enough flair that those who figured the Ducks would take a step back in 2025 after winning the Big Ten Championship in 2024 have had to reassess. 

Are these Oregon Ducks really that good? 

The answer until Saturday had been: Time will tell — they haven’t played anybody. 

But after Dante Moore threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr. on Oregon’s first possession of the second overtime, after Dillon Thieneman ended the game with an ensuing interception of Penn State’s Drew Allar and after quieting the 111,015 fans in attendance, Oregon linebacker Bryce Boettcher took a seat in the Oregon media tent. A smile curled around his face when asked what he learned about his No. 6 Oregon Ducks after Saturday’s 30-24 win over No. 3 Penn State. 

This was no educational trip, the Eugene native said. 

“I didn’t really learn anything new,” said Boettcher, who led all players with 12 tackles. “I feel like we expected that. I mean, everyone kind of had that question of, once we got tested, how are we going to respond? Are we going to fold? Are we going to push back? I think over that fourth quarter, obviously they ran the ball on us and put it in the end zone, but for us to get another stop and put it in the end zone — man, it was one of the best games I’ve ever played in. It was awesome.” 

Few will present an argument against Boettcher’s conclusion: Saturday was as close to as good as college football gets. Playing in front of the second-largest crowd in Penn State history, with College GameDay in town and the entire stadium clad in white — save a few patches of green — this hyped top-six rematch delivered in every facet. 

There was the defensive slugfest in the first half that left the score knotted at 3-all going into the break. 

There was the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth when the Ducks finally broke through, mounting consecutive drives highlighted by an 8-yard Dierre Hill Jr. touchdown reception, followed by an 8-yard Jordon Davison rush on fourth down to seemingly put the game away at 17-3. 

There was the Penn State counter, with the Nittany Lions responding with two of their own touchdown drives — featuring a 15-play, 62-yard game-tying drive by PSU that took 6:37 off the clock and sent the game into overtime. 

There was Penn State scoring first in overtime. 

And then there was Dante Moore, a redshirt sophomore who started five games at UCLA, transferred to Oregon, sat behind Dillon Gabriel and waited for moments like these. He thought he was ready for this. 

By the end, it was pretty clear he was right. 

After Penn State opened up the first overtime with a touchdown, it was Moore who converted with his feet on a fourth-and-1 from the PSU five for a gain of three, then found Jamari Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown to force a second overtime. 

And for an Oregon offense that struggled to find big plays against Penn State all night, Moore finally found one on the first play of the second overtime when he dodged a potential sack, stepped up and slung a pass to Bryant Jr., who turned it up the field for the go-ahead score. 

Moore finished 29-of-39 for 248 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in the biggest game of his career. 

“Dude breeds excellence, man. He’s just very composed,” Boettcher said. “I mean, he’s 20 years old and the maturity out of him is incredible. Following up after Dillon Gabriel and Bo Nix, those are no easy shoes to fill. And he’s obviously his own person and leads in his own way. And I love it. He’s a competitor. I’m glad to have him on our side.” 

The Ducks outgained Penn State 424 to 276. A year after allowing 297 rushing yards to the Nittany Lions in the conference championship game, the Ducks limited PSU to 137 yards on the ground — with 72 of those coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. And facing one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the country with the crowd on his side, the Ducks’ pass defense didn’t blink. 

Teitum Tuioti and Matayo Uiagalelei each tallied sacks, then it was Thieneman, who came to Oregon from Purdue in the offseason, making the play to end Allar’s day with just 137 yards, 2 touchdowns and the game-ending interception. 

“I just got my eyes back to the QB and the ball was right there. It was like, ‘Oh, I got to get that.’ So I just picked it off,” Thieneman said. “It didn’t feel real in the moment. And then I just got up and started running. I didn’t really know what I was doing and everyone is running on the field. It was just a very cool moment.” 

At the end of it all, the Ducks would end up in the visiting media tent just through the tunnel of the northwest end zone. Just before Lanning entered, the Penn State band rolled through blaring music. After Lanning arrived, a continuous stream of dejected fans filed past the tent, making it nearly impossible to hear the fourth-year head coach – especially with the tent’s speakers not operating. It was slightly reminiscent of after the Big Ten title game, when Penn State coach James Franklin called it a “JV setup” as Oregon’s band blared in the background of his press conference. But a year later, Lanning and the Ducks didn’t seem to mind the less-than-ideal conditions. 

They had just beaten Penn State, on the road, in a White Out, in front of a crowd larger than all but three cities in Oregon. A little extra noise after a victory that stamped Oregon on the map was viewed as harmless. 

“That crowd is probably worth seven points,” Lanning said. “And they really weren’t tonight. I didn’t feel that. The only time we beat ourselves is when we beat ourselves.” 

And five games into 2025, the only team Oregon hasn’t been able to beat is the one flying home with an entire country knowing just how good they can be.