Kirk Herbstreit: Penn State football feels like a ‘forgotten’ team ahead of Big Ten Championship

Penn State football is looking to throw an exclamation mark on the program’s best regular season since 2008 with a Big Ten title victory over the top-ranked Oregon Ducks on Saturday night. Although James Franklin and the Nittany Lions are finishing off an 11-1 year with an unexpected trip to Indianapolis, ESPN College GameDay star Kirk Herbstreit believes the Blue and White are being somewhat overlooked heading into conference championship weekend.

“They’re kind of a team that feels a little bit forgotten,” Herbstreit said of Penn State football this week. “I think everybody assumed Ohio State would be there playing Oregon in a rematch. Ohio State lost [to Oregon] by one point. I think people, a lot of people, just aren’t really giving Penn State much credence after they lost to Ohio State at home.

“This a huge stage, a huge opportunity for them…[Oregon coach] Dan Lanning, he’s made a point of making sure this is not about pretty uniforms and flash and dash. This is about an attitude of physicality. He did it last year. Those guys came very close. Remember, they couldn’t quite get over the hump against Washington, and now they bring a lot of those guys back for this team, and I think they’re a very confident team, but I like Penn State’s physicality.”

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Las Vegas has kept the line between the Nittany Lions and Ducks close throughout the week. As of Saturday morning, Penn State football remained a 3.5-point underdog to the No. 1 team in the country.

The only undefeated team left in the FBS, Oregon brings a top 20 offense and a top 10 defense into Lucas Oil Stadium in the program’s inaugural season in the Big Ten.

But the Nittany Lions aren’t far behind, with both teams ranking in the top five of the conference in scoring and yards on both sides of the ball.

© Chris Eutsler / Basic Blues Nation, 2024.

However, when it came time to lock in picks on Saturday morning’s edition of College GameDay, there wasn’t much confidence in the Nittany Lions. Herbstreit and the entire GameDay cast selected Oregon to bring the Big Ten Championship Trophy back to Eugene.

“Drew Allar has the opportunity to take over this game, but when you look at this Oregon team, they are a very violent defensive team,” Pat McAfee said.

Kickoff between Penn State football and Oregon is set for 8:17 p.m. ET. The 2024 Big Ten Championship Game will be broadcast on CBS.

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