The Penn State Nittany Lions played the David role in the Big Ten Championship Game, taking on the No. 1 Oregon Ducks in a game for every marble. A loss to Texas earlier in the day secured the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff for the winner of that game. So if there wasn’t already an additional motivation, then this was the motivation. As it turns out, Goliath came to play.

Penn State found itself in an early hole when Oregon took its first drive 84 yards and turned it into a touchdown. Aided by a facemask penalty (one that Abdul Carter thought was a hold), Dillon found Gabriel (Person) for a (yards) touchdown that made the game 7-0 early.

The Nittany Lions responded with a field goal drive to move upfield. A dropped pass from Liam Clifford negated what would have been a first down, and Kaytron Allen failed to get enough yards on the next down. A pass intended for Luke Reynolds went out of bounds in the third when Oregon pressured Drew Allar to throw.

Oregon wasn’t done yet. They used their second drive for another touchdown and extended their lead to 11 points. Aided again by a facemask penalty that would otherwise have stalled the drive, the Ducks drove 75 yards to end the game 14-3.

Penn State continued to get in its own way on the second drive when Tyler Warren dropped a pass that would have put the Nittany Lions near the Oregon 30 and then called a false start penalty heading to 2nd-and-15 embarked. Harrison Wallace III dug in the conversion block to keep the drive going on the next down. Two passes later, one to Tyler Warren and one to Nicholas Singleton, and Penn State came back to tie the game at one point.

On a drive that ended well into the second quarter, Oregon started at midfield thanks to another 15-yard penalty (unnecessarily rough this time) by the Nittany Lions. The Ducks scored three times on their first three drives, all three aided by a 15-yard Penn State penalty.

Since the defense was having a lot of fun with the penalties for personal fouls, the offense decided to take action themselves. A positive first down play turned into a 2nd-and-19 after another unnecessary roughness penalty against the Lions. Unsurprisingly, Penn State punted on the drive. This would be the first punt of the game. Luckily for the Lions, they stopped calling silly penalties on the defense, and it wasn’t surprising that it was Oregon’s first punt of the game.

The game turned around when Drew Allar threw a costly interception from Penn State’s 10-yard line that Oregon quickly turned into seven points. With the score at 28:10, things looked bleak for the Lions as the game progressed. An answer from Penn State was nowhere to be found as they reached into their bag of tricks, but the Ducks were on their heels. Luckily, a pass interference penalty kept the drive alive and Omari Evans rewarded the Lions with a touchdown catch.

After forcing Oregon into a three-and-out, a 15-yard run by Singleton moved the Lions to midfield. On the first fourth down play of the game, Krytron Allen drove well past the 1st down mark. An Allar touchdown run later and suddenly a 28-10 contest turned into a four-point game.

Penn State opted for the middle eight strategy after forcing Oregon into a field goal at the end of the half, but their promising drive stalled inside the Oregon 25. Acting almost automatically, Ryan Barker missed the field goal that would bring Penn State within 7. Oregon responded by driving right down the field to once again take a two-touchdown lead.

Penn State exceptionally received a personal foul penalty that moved them out of their own end zone and into a more comfortable spot. Kaytron Allen, a play-layer, took a supposed play to midfield, and Singleton took it to the red zone on the next play. Allen hit it again after Beau Pribula took it to the 1-yard line. The 2-point conversion would fail.

With eight minutes left in the game, Oregon extended its lead back to two touchdowns. Desperation began to break for Penn State as they wouldn’t need two touchdowns and a successful 2-point conversion to end the game. And by grace they almost made it! Penn State scored to get within eight points, stopped Oregon and then got the ball to midfield – but it was called back for a fair catch call, which was not the case. With the ball and the drive, Allar threw an errant pass for his second interception of the night, and it would prove to be crucial for the Lions.