Third-ranked Penn State rallied in a defensive battle-turned shootout on Saturday against No. 6 Oregon, but the Nittany Lions fell short, and one last-minute decision by head coach James Franklin remained in question afterward.
Penn State (3-1) came back from 17-3 down in the fourth quarter to pull within a point, 17-16, on quarterback Drew Allar’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross with 30 seconds left in the game. Instead of going for a two-point conversion to take the win, Franklin opted for an extra point and a 17-17 tie, which led to overtime and a 30-24 defeat in the second extra period. He stood by the decision afterward.
“No, we were going to have a tremendous environment and a really good opportunity,” Franklin told reporters afterward. “Obviously, we went down and scored. Felt like we were in a really good position for our defense to get a stop.”
“They made some significant plays. But no, we felt like going to overtime at home with the crowd advantage that we were going to have, would give us the best situation,” Franklin added.
Penn State’s Home Field Advantage Not Enough Against Oregon
Penn State enjoyed the home-field advantage in Happy Valley overall, with another whiteout among 111,015 fans in the stands for the prime-time game. The Nittany Lions have a 13-8 record when the school has an official white out for the game, and Penn State has one of the strongest home-field advantages in the country in general.
It didn’t faze the Ducks (5-0), which scored a touchdown in both overtimes and sealed the game with an interception in the second overtime. Oregon only had four penalties for the game as crowd noise didn’t disturb the Ducks.
“I thought our players handled the crowd. The crowd didn’t make a single play, right? )ur players made plays today,” Lanning told reporters afterward. “That showed up in this game.”
Penn State grabbed the lead, 24-17, in the first overtime when Kaytron Allen scored on a 4-yard touchdown run. The Ducks responded with quarterback Dante Moore’s 2-yard touchdown throw to Jamari Johnson, and the Ducks went ahead, 30-24, in the second extra frame on Moore’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr.
James Franklin Addresses Punting Call
Skipping the two-point conversion wasn’t the only questionable decision of the night.
Franklin had the Nittany Lions punt from the Oregon 26-yard line in the third quarter with the game tied 3-3. Oregon then took the ball 80 yards in 10 plays for the first touchdown of the game, a Moore touchdown pass to Dierre Hill, for a 10-3 lead.
“We have the analytics book on the sideline, like everybody does. We went through those scenarios,” Franklin explained. “The punt becomes a challenge when you punt it in the end zone. You go in for a short yardage punt, or a situation where we call a “sky punt”, where you’re going to pin them deep.”
“When you decide not to go for it, and then you punt it into the end zone, then you should have gone for it,” Franklin added. “That magnifies the decision that you made.”