Last season marked the 30th anniversary of Penn State football’s legendary 1994 team that went undefeated that culminated in the program’s first Rose Bowl win.
It was Joe Paterno’s last undefeated team and his finest coaching opus to the game of football.
While it was denied the national championship by pollsters, it was quite a feat for the program to have accomplished this in just its second Big Ten season.
That game was also a turning point for the Oregon Ducks.
It was Rich Brooks finest output on the sidelines, doing something that hadn’t been done since Len Casanova’s iconic 1957 squad that made it to Pasadena.
It was also the year of Oregon’s finest play.
When Penn State fans make their pilgrimage to Autzen Stadium in 2027, they will be greeted with Kenny Wheaton’s “The Pick.”
Similar to how Ki-Jana Carter’s iconic Rose Bowl run galvanizes Beaver Stadium crowds, you are certain to hear the Autzen Zoo get revved up to Wheaton’s legendary interception against rival Washington as The Duck storms the field on a motorcycle.
What makes 1994 important for both Penn State and Oregon is those seminal teams have taken both programs in different trajectories.
Penn State has a history that rivals any in the country; few teams can say they have the luxury to have experienced what Penn State faithful have in 132 years of football.
For Oregon, few teams can say they have the luxury to have experienced what the denizens of the Autzen Zoo have seen since 1994.
Not even Penn State has the resume in the 30+ seasons since that Rose Bowl matchup has measured up to what Oregon has accomplished.
During that span, Oregon has participated in two national championship games in two different formats: 2010 (BCS) and the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff in 2014.
Oregon lost both those games, but Penn State has only been on the doorstep once, failing at last season’s CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
Penn State has the edge of having won two national championships (1982, 1986), but in the grand scheme of things those trophies are starting to collect some cobwebs for the modern recruit.
Consider, Oregon has been ranked No. 1 in the polls for 16 weeks in the 21st Century.
The last time Penn State was ranked No. 1 was in 1997.
If you were to subtract the first four weeks of the 2025 season, Penn State’s held the No. 2 ranking for only two weeks during the 21st Century, both occurring in the 2017 season.
Oregon, on the other hand, has held the No. 2 spot for 28 weeks.
Although polling is an inexact science, what it can tell us is where a program is and has a relevancy barometer.
Oregon has more than doubled the number of weeks in the Top 5 in the 21st Century being ranked there 89 times compared to Penn State’s 38.
Last season, Oregon was the “new kid on the block,” and bested what Penn State and Nebraska did in their second Big Ten seasons, which was make it to the Big Ten Championship Game.
Oregon not only made it but it also won by defeating Penn State 45-37.
Coach James Franklin marveled at Oregon’s dynamic speed and their ability to dominate the “space game.”
“They do a really good job of making it a space game,” he said. “They got three wide receivers that are challenging…They’ve got a really good running back. And they’ve got a quarterback that is poised and confident, distributes the ball,” Franklin said.
“They do a really good job of changing up tempo — going fast at times, then slowing down. Then look-look, see what we’re in defensively, look to the sideline, check the call, and then we’re trying to check the call. It was a chess game the entire time. Again, give them credit. But some of the things they were doing to cause stress and their athleticism also created some of the mistakes and challenges that we made.”
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Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq hurdles his way into the endzone for the Ducks first score of the game.
This year, Oregon is loaded once again at all the key positions.
After having the luxury of having the nation’s most experienced quarterback the last three seasons, Oregon coach Dan Lanning now has to cut his teeth with the relatively experienced Dante Moore.
Moore has lived up to his five-star billing from his prep career out of Detroit where he has completed nearly 78 percent of his pass thus far in 2025 for 657 yards and seven touchdowns.
Moore’s targets at wide receiver are just as talented as last season.
Freshman sensation Dakorien Moore looks every bit the five-star prodigy so far. Gary Bryant Jr. is the veteran of the group, along with Jeremiah McClellan and Malik Benson. Oregon will be pressuring the perimeter once again.
While Penn State enjoyed having the nation’s best tight end last year with Tyler Warren, Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq might be the best this season.
Sadiq should be no stranger to Penn State fans as Sadiq hurdled defensive back Jalen Kimber on his first of two touchdowns against the Nittany Lions.
Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq hurdles his way into the endzone for the Ducks first score of the game.
Oregon will be here next Saturday with Penn State having an opportunity to deliver a statement not only nationally but also within the Big Ten.
The consensus has to be Ohio State is the top program considering all the success it’s had, being ranked No. 1 currently and being the defending national champions.
Michigan, which is only two years removed from winning the national championship, seemingly is No. 4 in the conference, who are poised to rise once a young promising core develops.
Penn State and Oregon are jockeying to be in the spot to challenge Ohio State and only one can have it.
