Ducks outlast PSU, ‘take over’ as Big Ten champs
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Dan Lanning stood outside Oregon‘s locker room Saturday night, hugging and slapping hands with every player, coach and staff member leaving the confetti-filled field at Lucas Oil Stadium.
When Oregon was preparing for its first season in the Big Ten, Lanning had challenged his team to become the “keystone species,” a new organism that can define its ecosystem. The Ducks were joining a conference that included defending national champion Michigan and historic powers Ohio State and Penn State.
They ended up taking down all three, with Penn State being the final foe to fall Saturday in the Big Ten championship. Led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel and wide receiver Tez Johnson, No. 1 Oregon outlasted No. 3 Penn State 45-37 to secure its first Big Ten title in its first season in the conference.
“It’s just going in a new environment, just kind of messing up that environment, being the alpha in that environment,” tight end Terrance Ferguson said of Lanning’s keystone species theory. “There’s been some alphas in the Big Ten, and we just came in and put our hat on that. All year, that’s been preached to us, and we just put in the work to make it happen.”
The Ducks remained the nation’s only undefeated team at 13-0, tying a single-season team record for victories, and secured a first-round bye in the first 12-team College Football Playoff. They will return to the CFP for the first time since the format launched in 2014, when they lost to Ohio State in the national championship game. Oregon is slotted for the Rose Bowl and will face the winner of the first-round game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds.
In late July, Ferguson joined Gabriel, linebacker Jeffrey Bassa and Lanning on the same field at Lucas Oil Stadium for Big Ten media day. The Ducks were one of four West Coast additions to the league, and the one seemingly built to contend right away.
But a new conference brought new obstacles, from travel to opponents to doubts about their legitimacy. Ferguson remembers frequent questions about whether Oregon and other Pac-12 imports could handle the physicality of the Big Ten.
“Everyone sees the West Coast, soft, Pac-12, but I’m glad that we showed everyone that we’re not that,” Ferguson said.
Lanning said, “Motivation is overrated.” But he said he was proud of his team taking the final step in fulfilling the keystone species pledge, which he described as “an opportunity to invade a new environment and somewhere maybe you didn’t belong and … take over that environment.”
Oregon’s Big Ten title win reflected the elements that are most commonly associated with the program, namely speed and explosiveness on offense. Johnson won championship game MVP honors after recording 11 receptions for 181 yards and a touchdown, while Gabriel had four touchdown passes and no interceptions in his final performance before Heisman Trophy voting concludes.
Johnson, a senior wideout, was adopted by the family of former Oregon and current Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix but played Saturday before his biological relatives for the first time.
“I told them, ‘This is the first game y’all coming to, I’ll give y’all a show, I promise you that,'” Johnson said. “I don’t know if words can explain it. My mom, just seeing the tears in her eyes, being able to watch me play on a stage like this. My family had never seen it before. … It’s something you dream about.”
A year earlier, Johnson and his teammates watched their archrival Washington celebrate a Pac-12 championship in Las Vegas. It marked the Huskies’ second win over Oregon in 2023 and one that vaulted them into the CFP. Washington, along with USC and UCLA, struggled in their first season in the Big Ten, as none finished the regular season with a winning record.
Oregon charted a different path, overcoming a shaky start against Idaho and Boise State to outlast Ohio State 32-31 on Oct. 12, then record definitive wins against Illinois, Michigan and others.
“We were meant to be here,” Bassa said. “We’re at the top of the conference and we dominated this conference and we took over the conference.”
Penn State outgained Oregon 518-466 in yardage, but the Ducks led throughout and secured the win on Nikko Reed‘s diving interception at the Oregon 16-yard line with 1:54 left. Oregon twice picked off Penn State quarterback Drew Allar and received key contributions from tight ends Ferguson and Kenyon Sadiq, who hurdled Penn State defender Jalen Kimber for the game’s first touchdown.
“Just ready for their moment, each of them,” Gabriel said. “And I’m proud of them. They just maximized the moment.”
After the win, Oregon players posed on the field with newspaper covers that read “From West to Best.” Gabriel briefly emerged from the locker room holding a cigar and politely asked reporters not to photograph him.
But the celebration wasn’t over the top.
“We’re not done yet,” defensive back Dontae Manning said. “We’re not done yet.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Los Angeles Dodgers starter Blake Snell will back off his throwing program as he continues to recover from left shoulder inflammation, according to manager Dave Roberts.
“As he was playing catch, he just didn’t feel great,” Roberts said Wednesday afternoon before the Dodgers played the Chicago Cubs. “Right now, we’re going to slow play the throwing. Will probably get it looked at again when we get back home.”
Snell, 32, has been on the injured list since early April after making just two starts for the Dodgers. He signed a five-year, $182 million contract this past offseason.
Snell, who was set to throw a bullpen session Wednesday, felt discomfort in the shoulder while playing catch Tuesday. Roberts was asked how concerning the latest setback was.
“I wouldn’t say concerning because part of the messaging from us to Blake is, it’s about later on in the season and if there’s any type of discomfort, let’s not try to fight through it,” Roberts responded.
Snell is one of several Dodgers pitchers on the mend, including left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who pitched three innings in a minor league start Tuesday, his second rehab outing this spring.
“Velocity was good,” Roberts said. “Got into the fourth inning. He’ll make a start next week. Really positive stuff.”
The Dodgers also received positive news about right-hander Tyler Glasnow after he left his last start with leg cramps. His latest bullpen session went well, according to Roberts.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani is throwing again after missing time on the paternity list. He’ll have another bullpen session Saturday as he recovers from elbow surgery, though the team still doesn’t have a timetable for his return to major league action.
The team was also without catcher Will Smith on Wednesday after he injured his wrist on a play at the plate in Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs.
“As he made the tag, his [left] wrist turned in and so there’s some residual soreness,” Roberts said.
Smith could get imaging done when the team returns to Los Angeles, but Roberts wasn’t overly concerned about the injury.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Most players are happy to be done facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong might not be one of them.
The Los Angeles native has torched his childhood team this season, including Wednesday night at Wrigley Field when he went 3-for-4 with a home run, two stolen bases and a career-high four RBIs, helping the Cubs to a 7-6 win. It came one night after Chicago beat L.A. 11-10, with Crow-Armstrong contributing another home run.
He was asked Wednesday whether his production has special meaning coming against the team he used to root for.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean, they are regarded as the best, and I think we’ve enjoyed being able to show that we’re right there with them, and yeah, it’s always a little extra special for me getting to do it against the team I grew up going to see.”
Crow-Armstrong erased a 2-0 Cubs deficit with an opposite-field, three-run homer in the fourth inning, then added a run-scoring single an inning later, which turned out to be the final run of the night for the Cubs.
Overall, he had four home runs and nine RBIs in the seven-game season series against the Dodgers, which the Cubs won 4-3 after losing the first two games in Japan in mid-March. But that was before the Cubs’ offense took off. They’re averaging an MLB-high 6.3 runs per game.
Crow-Armstrong’s season took off as well, starting over a week ago when the teams met in Los Angeles. In the 10 games since, the 23-year-old is hitting .400 with five home runs.
“He needs to send me a bottle of wine or some golf balls with all the success he’s had,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped before Wednesday’s game.
Roberts and Crow-Armstrong exchanged pleasantries before the first game of the series, as the second-year player is friends with Roberts’ son, Cole. The two played against each other growing up.
“I got a couple different connections to Doc,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s so great.”
That’s the same word Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are using about him as he continues to impress both at the plate and in the field. According to ESPN Research, he’s the fastest player in Cubs history to reach five home runs and 10 stolen bases, doing it in 26 games.
Plus, his pitchers love seeing him patrol center field.
“Defensively, I got to say he’s probably the best,” Wednesday’s starter, Matthew Boyd, said. “And what he’s doing at the plate is no surprise.”
Crow-Armstrong showed signs of breaking out late last year but then struggled early this season before locking in during the Cubs’ most recent road trip. He said he got “on-time” with his swing while learning how to deal with failure better. He was asked how satisfied he is with his game right now.
“If it comes out in a win, it’s very satisfactory,” he said. “It makes me feel very content. I love being able to impact it in any way I can.”
So does his manager, who called Wednesday a “wonderful game” for Crow-Armstrong.
“He made his presence felt in a big way for sure,” Craig Counsell said.
Crow-Armstrong is quickly becoming a fan favorite, as the Cubs faithful are taking to his aggressive style of play. He was asked what it’s like to hear his name chanted when he comes to the plate after producing in previous at-bats.
“I’ve tried to tune that out,” he said with a laugh. “I was actually thinking about it yesterday and I was like, I got to be 0-for-20 when they’ve chanted my name. But they continue to chant and they get behind every one of us and it’s the coolest thing.”
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