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Oregon's Dan Lanning defeated Ohio State to claim the Big Ten statement victory

Posted on by Kennedy
Oregon's Dan Lanning defeated Ohio State to claim the Big Ten statement victory

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Looking back at the biggest moments of Week 7 in college football, starting with the biggest game of the day in the Big Ten.

First Down: Oregon – to three or not to three?

Somewhere in the crowd of people on the field at Autzen Stadium late Saturday night sat Oregon coach Dan Lanning, literally exhaling after a brief television interview.

You could see him saying the word “phew.”

He was lucky. Really happy.

This time he didn't have to accept any mistakes in an important game. This time, Ohio State University quarterback Will Howard lost track of the clock on the final play of the game and scrambled to the middle of the field to attempt a shorter field goal as time expired for Oregon's 32-31 win .

The irony of it all is not lost in the moment.

Two years ago, Lanning failed to convert a fourth down rather than kick a field goal in a tied game against Washington late in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies gained prime field position and ended up kicking the game-winning ball. Last year cost three failed ones Fourth-down calls – instead of shooting short field goals – gave the Ducks the victory over the Huskies.

Both games were three-point defeats.

On Saturday night, Oregon trailed 28-22 late in the third quarter, and instead of making a short field goal and three points, Lanning tried to convert from the Ohio State 2. The result was the same as last season: odd play calling that left the quarterback (Dillon Gabriel in 2024, Bo Nix in 2022-23) with limited options.

Had Oregon scored the points, it would have had a four-point lead on the final drive and Ohio State would have needed a touchdown to win the game. Instead, the lead was one, and if Howard hadn't lost track of the time, it could have backfired again.

Ups and downs: Week 7 winners and losers in college football

To be fair to Lanning, Oregon missed a field goal and botched an extra point early in the game, and that could have been a deciding factor in their decision. Despite all the bad history in the background.

The win was Lanning's first against a top-five team and moved him to 3-3 against top-10 teams in Oregon. But the field goal drama isn't over yet, folks.

Oregon and Lanning had another field goal problem last year in the Pac-12 championship game against Washington and will most likely get another shot at Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. Maybe, just maybe, the lesson was learned.

Take the points.

Second Down: The Wild SEC Race

The big weekend was upon us for the best conference in college football, and the only certainty is that No. 1 Texas remained undefeated.

Other than that, well, let's just say it was a whole lot of ugly.

Alabama was absent for the second straight game, this time against a South Carolina team that scored as many as three points in a home loss to Ole Miss last week. Maybe at this point we should all accept that this is what Alabama is – a mediocre SEC team.

Everyone still believes that Alabama is among the nation's elite after the Gamecocks suffered two consecutive, uninspired losses to Vanderbilt – which still came a week later – and a last-second win over South Carolina that the Gamecocks took in the second missed half?

“The little things add up,” said first-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer. “And we are in a fight to the end.”

That's mercy on an Alabama offensive line that couldn't protect quarterback Jalen Milroe (four sacks, nearly 50 percent pressure rate) and a defense that continued to give up big plays in big moments (explosive plays of 36, 31 and 23 yards). ).

In the meantime, we introduce you to Georgia, which somehow lost to the same Alabama team three weeks ago. If you find that strange, consider Dawgs coach Kirby Smart's behavior in a too-close 41-31 win over weak Mississippi State.

With Georgia leading by 17 points in the fourth quarter, Smart shoved Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren while trying to argue with an official. And that was the most physical moment of the game for anyone wearing the “G” logo.

Then there are Florida and Tennessee, where the bitter rivals set football back for decades with the ugliest, most poorly coached game of the year. At some point in Florida, a field goal was taken off the board with 12 players on the field at the end of the first half.

On the field goal unit. After a break in the game. And I know this will shock you, but those three points were the difference in a game that Tennessee ultimately won in overtime.

Things didn't go much better for Ole Miss in the first half against LSU. At one point, back-to-back Rebels drives ended in a botched 32-yard field goal and came downs to the Tigers 4 when they couldn't gain a foot more than a yard.

Not surprisingly, the game ended in overtime — after LSU tied at the end of regulation — when Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy.

Moral of the story: Take the points.

Third Down: Penn State(ment)

First, the bottom line: Penn State traveled 2,000 miles and won a Big Ten regular-season game against someone not named Ohio State or Michigan. Know what the Lions have done at every opportunity since 2021.

But that's not the story. Nor is it about quarterback Drew Allar's career play in the overtime win against Southern California or his top performance in a big game (a big question upfront).

The story here is Tyler Warren, Penn State's tallest tight end (6-foot-6, 260 pounds).

He crossed wide towards the receiver. He grabbed the quarterback and completed a nine-yard pass.

And he caught 17 passes, an NCAA record for tight ends. Warren had 224 yards receiving and caught a 34-yard touchdown pass after a beautifully crafted return play by new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

If you want to know why Penn State is now a real threat in the national title race, it's Kotelnicki and Allar — and the emergence of Warren, a matchup nightmare for the defense. Oregon had success with tight end Terrance Ferguson against Ohio State, but focused more on wide receivers.

Ohio State plays a majority of two safeties with high defense and strong zone coverage. That leaves the tight end to work the linebackers, a significant advantage for Warren and Penn State in the Nov. 2 game in Happy Valley.

Fourth Down: Welcome to the party, Pitt

They had 277 total yards of offense. Quarterback Eli Holstein played the worst game of his short career.

And Pittsburgh still found a way to build a lead and hold off California to get to 6-0 for the first time in 42 years. The Panthers did what they had done for years under coach Pat Narduzzi: a stifling defense and just enough offense.

Pitt sacked Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza six times, increasing its season total to 18. Since 2019, the Panthers have an NCAA-best 248 sacks. The difference this season is that they have a complementary offense for the first time since Kenny Pickett led the team to the 2021 ACC Championship.

Pitt hasn't beaten anyone of note and is expected to be 7-0 heading into a key ACC game at SMU on Nov. 2. Pitt hosts Clemson at home on Nov. 16, but finishes the season at Louisville and Boston College.

This week's College Football Playoff projection series

1.Texas: Georgia comes to Austin next week and suddenly doesn't look like the dominant force of years past.

2. Oregon: Of all the impressive games in QB Dillon Gabriel's brilliant career, none was better than Ohio State's win.

3. Miami: It's Florida State Week, and it wasn't that long ago that it meant something.

4. Brigham Young: Two proof games in the Big 12 (Kansas State, Arizona) and two wins with a combined score of 79-28.

5. Ohio State: Rarely do you see a team do whatever it wants for four quarters and somehow lose the game.

6. Georgia: The fact that Mississippi State scored 31 points against the vaunted Georgia defense should be alarming (and UGA has given up more than 30 points for the second time this season).

7. Penn State: Don't underestimate winning against a desperate team after a 2,000-mile trip to the West Coast.

8. Iowa State: It was ugly early, but the defense took over (again) and the magical season continues.

9. Clemson: There is no hotter quarterback in the country than Cade Klubnik, who has scored 21 total touchdowns since the season-opening loss to Georgia.

10. LSU: A patchwork defense, a hot quarterback. Somehow it works.

11. Pittsburgh: The last time Pitt was at this position, a guy named Dan Marino played quarterback.

12. Boise State: Broncos have two weeks to prepare for the toughest game on the schedule: at UNLV.

The scheduled CFP matchups

First-round byes: Texas, Oregon, Miami, BYU

First round games

No. 12 Boise State and No. 5 Ohio State

No. 11 Pittsburgh at No. 6 Georgia

No. 10 LSU at No. 7 Penn State

No. 9 Clemson at No. 8 Iowa State

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