5 Things To Watch: B1G Championship University of Oregon ...

INDIANAPOLIS — After completing a perfect 12-0 regular season in its first year as members of the Big Ten, the Oregon football team will play Saturday for the conference's championship.

The Ducks travelled to the Midwest on Friday, a day ahead of their Big Ten Championship Game appearance against Penn State. The title game will kick off at 5 p.m. PT.

No. 1 Oregon completed its unbeaten regular season last week with a win over Washington, improving to 9-0 in conference play this fall. No. 4 Penn State went 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten — like the Ducks, the Nittany Lions hosted Ohio State this season, resulting in Penn State's only loss.

Each team has wins over UCLA, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue, Maryland and the Huskies this season.

Penn State leads the all-time series with Oregon, 3-1, including all three neutral-site matchups. The Ducks' only victory was the one game played in State College, Penn., in 1964. Penn State won the most recent matchup between the two, in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2, 1995.

Saturday's game will be televised by CBS, with Brad Nessler on play-by-play, Gary Danielson providing analysis and Jenny Dell reporting from the sidelines.

Some storylines to watch when the game kicks off ….

1. The Oregon football team also stayed in Indianapolis prior to the team's game at Purdue in October. But for three Ducks, this is their third trip of the fall to the Midwest metropolis.

Prior to preseason camp, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, tight end Terrance Ferguson and linebacker Jeffrey Bassa represented the UO football program at Big Ten football media day. Before leaving town, Ferguson said this week, his family and some others booked rooms for this upcoming weekend, already making plans for the Ducks to be back in Indy to play for the conference title.

"We knew the work that we put in," Ferguson said. "We put countless hours into that. That comes from confidence, from your own preparation."

2. In this first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format, there's some debate about the best path forward following this week.

Should Oregon win, the Ducks would have a first-round bye in the playoff, and open bowl season at the Rose Bowl against, more than likely, the No. 2 or No. 3 team from a power conference such as the Big Ten or SEC. If the Ducks lose, they'd probably host a first-round game against, potentially against a team from outside those powerhouse leagues.

Is one path clearly preferable to the other? Has that debate penetrated the walls of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex? Apparently not, according to Bassa. All that's on Oregon's minds this week is winning a title — regardless of the playoff bye that would accompany it.

"Getting the bye is not even something we've been talking about," Bassa said. "… I've just been so focused week to week, and that hasn't even been brought up in the facility."

3. As Oregon developed its defensive game plan for this week, there's no doubt some of the focus was on the Penn State player who wears No. 44.

That would be Tyler Warren, who leads Big Ten tight ends with 81 receptions and 978 yards this season. Because the Ducks and Nittany Lions have so many common opponents, Ferguson said he's seen ample film of his fellow tight end in Saturday's matchup — and he's been impressed not only with Warren's talent, but his versatility.

"He plays tight end, he plays receiver, he plays running back … some quarterback even, and a rep at center," Ferguson said. "His ability to be anything they ask of him, he does a great job of that."

4. The Ducks have played this season at the Big House, they've played at the Rose Bowl, and of course at Autzen Stadium. Where they haven't played yet this fall in indoors.

But that will be the case Saturday, when Oregon and Penn State meet in the home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium.

"For us, it's just another opportunity," Gabriel said. "We can only show up to whatever environment they have us in, but we're going to have the right mindset and be excited about it. We know what is at stake and the opportunity."

5. Oregon is playing in a conference title game for the fifth time in the last six years. But the Ducks are looking for their first victory since the pandemic season of 2020, and are coming off a loss in last season's Pac-12 title game.

The sting of that defeat still resonates. A chance for redemption Saturday is at hand.

"When you get to a championship game and you come up that short like we did last year, it stays with you 365 days," Ferguson said. "A lot of the seniors and anybody who was a part of that team last year knows what it takes to get to a championship. We're just all putting everything we've got into this week and the opportunity to be a part of this Big Ten championship."