INDIANAPOLIS — Two thousand, seven hundred miles. That just about covers the distance along U.S. roads that separates the universities of Oregon and Penn State.
Somewhere in between them is this place, Indiana, a state in what once upon a time was known as Big Ten country. What a bygone concept that is in an era when major-college conferences exist with no bounds and even less logic. Considering the Big Ten has ballooned to 18 schools and is now bicoastal, with Rutgers on one side and newbies Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC on the other, where on the map will it look to expand its so-called footprint further? Perhaps the University of Toronto or the National University of Singapore wants to get in on the action?
It probably sounds as though I’m lamenting the runaway train of change in college sports, especially football, but that’s only because I am.
And now I’ll stop. How pointless and silly it is, anyway, to take issue with a night such as Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Big Ten crown to the winner. The No. 1 seed in the upcoming 12-team College Football Playoff to the winner. With No. 2-ranked Texas having lost to Georgia in the SEC championship game Saturday afternoon, the Big Ten game was for all the bracket marbles — and it did not disappoint.
No. 1 Oregon’s 45-37 victory against No. 3 Penn State never stopped delivering.
The Ducks (13-0) and Nittany Lions (11-2) wasted no time putting on an offensive show, faced with surprisingly little resistance, considering these were two of the top-seven defenses in the country statistically. With quarterback Dillon Gabriel — the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year — pulling the strings with an easy precision, the Ducks drove 84, 75 and 60 yards for touchdowns in the first quarter. Peyton Manning, the QB who built this house, never did it better.
But then Penn State’s stars started running defenders over. Bruising back Nick Singleton did it. Bruising back Kaytron Allen did it. Tyler Warren, the best tight end in the country, lowered his sculpted shoulders and did it, too. With Ducks flying everywhere, it was game on. The first half featured 55 points, a record for the 14-year-old Big Ten title game.
With 3:47 left, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar delivered a clutch fourth-and-10 touchdown pass to Harrison Wallace III to make it 45-37. After a three-and-out, there was time for one last offensive possession, but a deep sideline ball by Allar was intercepted on a spectacular play by the Ducks’ Nikko Reed.
It was a high-end spectacle befitting a season throughout which the final stakes — the chance to get into and win a newly expanded playoff that has tripled in size — have felt grander and more important than ever.
The fans who traveled tremendous distances clearly felt this as they walked through downtown all afternoon, trying to stay warm. From the Oregon side, they wore neon colors in too many combinations and configurations to keep count of. Penn State fans played it simple, as though they had a choice. Blue. White. One, the football school known for endless costume changes. The other, the one where former coach Joe Paterno wouldn’t even allow his players to wear white shoes. But no matter what they had on, fans were buzzing with anticipation.
In a way, it was perfect that Oregon made it to this game with the No. 1 ranking and zero losses. Conference interlopers everywhere had instant success, after all. Texas was the SEC’s highest-ranked team before taking its championship game to overtime. In its first season in the Big 12, Arizona State — picked by media to finish in last place — actually won it, beating Iowa State in another conference championship game. And in its ACC debut, SMU exceeded all expectations by getting to the title game Saturday against Clemson.
Speaking of exceeding expectations, that was one of Oregon’s themes going back to the offseason. The Ducks read all about it in the book ‘‘Hidden Potential’’ by Adam Grant. They also studied ‘‘The Art of War’’ by Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu. It’s kind of a cliché, perhaps neither here nor there when you really think about it.
But who has had time to think this season, especially when it comes to the Big Ten? Indiana is going to make the playoff, the same Indiana that went 3-24 in conference play from 2021 through 2023. Illinois has won its most games — nine — since 2007. Michigan, the defending national champion and the winner of the last three of these title games in Indy, nearly fell apart in its first season post-Jim Harbaugh, losing five times. Ohio State, which won the four Big Ten title games before Michigan’s run, didn’t get here, either.
In Dan Lanning’s first game as coach at Oregon, in 2022, the Ducks were destroyed 49-3 by Georgia at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Where will the national-title game be played on Jan. 20? Same joint. Heck, if the Ducks get there, maybe it’ll be the same opponent, too.
Who has time for lamentations? Let’s be done with those.
