No. 3 Penn State entered the 2025 season with plenty of buzz as a potential national title contender. While the team’s defense has looked elite and they sit at 3-0, the offense, led by Drew Allar, hasn’t looked great against lower-quality opponents.
With a whiteout matchup against No. 6 Oregon on the horizon, one analyst believes a loss could derail the team’s season, especially since head coach James Franklin’s gamble on Allar did not seem to pay off.
Penn State’s Drew Allar Gamble Threatens Playoff Hopes
The Nittany Lions have looked solid this season, but they haven’t been outstanding, especially on offense. Through three games, quarterback Drew Allar has thrown for just four touchdown passes, and the passing game lacks any true explosive element, with Allar averaging only 7.1 yards per attempt.
That needs to change heading into Week Four, as Penn State hosts Oregon, a new-ish powerhouse in the Big Ten.
On the “Always College Football” podcast, Aaron Murray, Georgia’s quarterback from 2010 to 2013, issued a warning for Penn State.
Given their early offensive struggles, Murray explained that losing to Oregon could put the Nittany Lions in danger of fighting for a playoff spot for the rest of the season, especially with games against No. 11 Indiana and No. 1 Ohio State remaining.
“This team that a lot of us predicted would be, obviously, in the playoffs, Big Ten Championship game, a team that can win the national championship, and all of a sudden you’re like ‘oh my goodness, can they beat Indiana? Can they beat Ohio State?’” Murray said. “So they may be fighting for their playoff lives if they can’t get this done.”
Murray isn’t wrong about Penn State’s upcoming schedule. Indiana looks just as strong, if not stronger, than it did last year when it made their first College Football Playoff appearance, and Ohio State, the top-ranked team in the country, is defending last year’s title.
In addition to the schedule concerns, Murray also highlighted the lack of explosiveness in the Penn State passing offense. He explained that Allar has struggled to generate big plays through the air, largely because of his wide receivers.
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James Franklin made a gamble in the transfer portal this offseason to help his young quarterback after a lack of production from Penn State receivers in 2024, adding Kyron Hudson from USC and Trebor Peña from Syracuse. According to Murray, however, they haven’t lived up to the hype.
“I went back with our new technology we’ve got at ESPN and just watched every attempt to Kyron Hudson and [Trebor] Peña on the outside for Penn State, and Greg, honestly, I walked away not very impressed,” Murray said. “I don’t think this receiving corps is any better than it was a year ago.”
While Peña and Hudson may not meet Murray’s expectations, they are still the team’s two leading receivers, totaling 27 catches for 522 yards and two touchdowns through three games. That duo is likely better than what Penn State had at receiver last year, when no wideout eclipsed 750 yards, despite Murray’s claims.
Regardless of what Murray believes about Penn State’s wideouts, he is right that they need to come up big for the Nittany Lions against Oregon this weekend, and that a loss could put the team’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Penn State’s whiteout game against Oregon in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 27, with coverage on NBC and Peacock.
