Penn State dropped to No. 3 in this week’s AP Top 25 rankings after Miami moved ahead of them. Head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions will host No. 6 Oregon at Beaver Stadium in what’s expected to be one of their toughest tests this season.
The matchup carries extra weight for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions lost to Oregon last December, 45-37, and they’re looking for redemption on home turf.
Both Big Ten teams enter Saturday’s game undefeated. Each program wants to improve its current ranking and maintain that perfect record.
Franklin delivered a message to Penn State fans this week. He wants to create an uncomfortable environment for the visiting Ducks.
“Obviously, we need this place rocking. I’m expecting this to be an environment like no one has ever seen. We want to make it clearly obvious to everybody what is the most challenging and difficult environment to play in all of sports, let alone college football.”
Franklin made those comments to Tyler Donohue of 247 Sports.
Quarterback Drew Allar will look to bounce back from his performance in last year’s meeting with Dan Lanning’s Oregon team. Allar completed just 51% of his passes in that December loss.
He threw for 226 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the defeat at Oregon.
The stakes are higher this time around. Both programs are ranked in the top six nationally and playing for College Football Playoff positioning in the expanded 12-team format.
