Two prominent college football powerhouses separated by nearly 2,700 miles are set to converge on Indianapolis, Indiana, and Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game.
No. 3 Penn State and No. 1 Oregon will meet for the fifth time in their illustrious histories on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. on CBS and the two programs are familiar with playing each other on a signature stage. The previous matchup came 29 years ago in the 1995 Rose Bowl which Penn State captured 38-20 to go an unblemished 12-0.
The Nittany Lions secured their 20th all-time 11-win season following a dominant 44-7 thrashing of Maryland and recorded their fifth 11-win season under head coach James Franklin. The Ducks enter the title clash with their second ever undefeated regular season after going 12-0 with a 9-0 mark in Big Ten action.
Saturday will showcase two of the best quarterbacks in the nation with Penn State junior Drew Allar and Oregon senior Dillon Gabriel who are fifth and second in the nation respectively, in completion percentage. Franklin spoke highly of Gabriel who garnered Big Ten Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year honors.
“You watch him play, just looks so relaxed, he looks so poised,” Franklin said of Gabriel . “You're not going to give a whole lot that he hasn't seen before and he's surrounded with really good talent. The running backs are really good. The tight end is really good. The receivers are dynamic. He's put himself in really good situations where he's played a ton of football. You got an experienced quarterback, their play caller does a really good job of getting people in space, and he looks very comfortable and relaxed.”
Gabriel has thrown for 3,275 yards and 24 touchdowns while Allar has amassed 2,668 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. The pair of veteran quarterbacks guide two teams that rank inside the top-15 nationally in third down percentage and Franklin stressed the importance of staying on schedule with executing on first down against a tenacious Ducks defense.
Allar and Gabriel both have some of the most dynamic playmakers in the country at their disposal. Big Ten Tight End of the Year Tyler Warren and second team all-conference wideout Tez Johnson headline the pass catchers as the former now holds the Big Ten tight end season receptions record with 81 and the Penn State tight end career touchdowns record with 17.
Redshirt senior cornerback Jalen Kimber will be tasked with guarding players like Johnson and junior wide receiver Evan Stewart who combine for 14 receiving touchdowns. The explosive playmakers have each tallied over 600 receiving yards and Kimber recognized the importance of preparation by saying, “we just got to prepare like we’ve never prepared before because it's critical now, you don't have time for small errors.”
“You always want to go against the best,” Kimber said. “That’s something that I’ve always dreamed of is going against the best and you're able to go out there and show what you're capable of and that's what that's what we're ready to do.”
Defensively Penn State and Oregon boast physically dominant front seven’s along the line and in the linebacker positions. Junior defensive end Abdul Carter was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year after totaling 10 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss. Carter is the first Nittany Lion with 10 or more sacks in a season since Carl Nassib's 15.5 in 2015.
The Ducks have a pair of All-Big Ten defensive lineman with sophomore outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei and senior defensive end Jordan Burch. The front four will battle with a Penn State and Oregon offensive line that ranks seventh and 13 nationally respectively, in sacks allowed per game.
Sophomore linebacker Tony Rojas said his fellow defensive teammates - also headlined by all-conference selection Kobe King and honorable mentions Zane Durant and Dani Dennis-Sutton - are excited for the challenge that Saturday presents.
“It's gonna be a good opponent so we just know it's not gonna be handed to us and we're gonna have to take it,” Rojas said. “If that's the case, then we're gonna all be excited. Obviously, it's a big game. It's gonna leave a legacy for us, and the players coming in.”