It's game day for the No. 3 Penn State football team at Beaver Stadium as it prepares to take on No. 6 Oregon at 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN's "College GameDay" kicks off at 9 a.m. until noon on Old Main Lawn in State College with LaVar Arrington joining the crew as the show's guest picker for the day.
The Nittany Lions (3-0) are seeking revenge after losing to the Ducks (4-0) in the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game. It'll be the first true test of their season with Oregon coming to town and all eyes are on whether head coach James Franklin and quarterback Drew Allar can perform under pressure. Recruits from the classes of 2026-29 will be lined up in the stands swarming with Penn State fans wearing white.
The White Out will be a true battle for the Ducks to overcome. In 2024, Allar recalled feeling the ground shake and not hearing anything his teammates or coaches were saying inches away from him while the offense was on the sidelines. Oregon's first-year starting quarterback, Dante Moore, will need to set the noise aside to move his explosive offense down the field. Opposite of him, Penn State's defense will fight to knock Moore down. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles exploited the Ducks' offense before and after not needing to pull out all the stops in the first three weeks, the defense is another massive hurdle Oregon has to overcome.
For offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and his offense, the same applies. The first three weeks didn't require new parts of the playbook to unveil. What did happen on the field, though, left many with concerns as to what the Nittany Lions will realistically accomplish in 2025. New layers to the offensive scheme might show up and show out in the White Out game and keep those concerns at bay.
Line: Penn State -3.5 (-114), Oregon +3.5 (-106)
Money Line: Penn State -172, Oregon +142
Over/Under: 53.5 (-110/-110)
Here are our team's predictions for how Saturday's Nittany Lions v. Ducks contest plays out:
Josh Yourish - Penn State 27, Oregon 25
James Franklin is 4-20 against Top 10 teams across his first 11 seasons at Penn State. Now, Year 12 has been the season that he consistently delivers in big games, and Week 5 is his first, and probably best, chance.
The Penn State offense has been lackluster through three games against Nevada, FIU, and Villanova, and Drew Allar doesn’t appear to have taken the next step with a revamped wide receiver room. Meanwhile, Oregon has been one of the country’s most efficient buzzsaws through its 4-0 start, outscoring opponents 203-37. But that’s exactly why Franklin went out and got Jim Knowles this offseason. Knowles and the crowd noise at Beaver Stadium will keep Oregon’s offense in check, at least long enough for Andy Kotelnicki to jumpstart the Nittany Lions on the other side of the ball. My best bet is under 24.5 in the first half, but my prediction is that Franklin finally breaks through.
Odds are subject to change.
See Josh Yourish’s full betting record HERE.
Sydney Ciano - Penn State 24, Oregon 21
For both teams, Saturday night will not be an easy task. While Oregon has the challenge of facing an intense White Out atmosphere, Penn State faces something it has yet to overcome: pressure. The Nittany Lions need to come out with a win to prove that they truly are national title contenders.
Both coordinators, Kotelnicki and Knowles, are going to throw new looks out that weren't debuted in the first three weeks of the season. Still, don't expect the offense to come out of the gate steamrolling down the field. Knowles will need to buy Allar and the offense time, which shouldn't be too much of a challenge given he's done it before and has the fan atmosphere to help throw the Ducks off. Once the offense figures out how to get going, it can't take a step back. Saturday will be a tough, marginal, gritty battle until the very end. Moore is heading into a difficult environment as a first-year starter and Allar has a lot to prove. I doubt Penn State allows Oregon to come out of Week 5 undefeated.
Asher Fair - Penn State 27, 31 Oregon
Myles Hannak - Penn State 27, Oregon 20