Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit have high praise for the Ducks

The No. 6 Oregon Ducks flew to University Park to face the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions in one of the biggest games in the entire college football season.

ESPN also flew into town to host College GameDay before the top-ten matchup between the Big Ten powerhouses, just nine months after Oregon defeated Penn State in the 2024 conference championship game.

While a lot of the show was focused on Penn State since the Nittany Lions were hosting the ESPN crew, both Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit had a lot of kind words for the Ducks.

Howard spoke about how the best team in the Big Ten, which includes Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the country and the two top-10 teams playing that day, would be in action at Penn State's stadium that night:

"And they ain't wearing blue, baby," Howard said, alluding to the Ducks being the better team in the matchup, even though the Nittany Lions were the higher-ranked squad.

Later, Herbstreit was breaking down the favorites for the Heisman Trophy since the previous frontrunner, Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, just underwent hand surgery and is sidelined for about a month.

Herbstreit adamantly said that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore should be the undeniable frontrunner for the award.

So far this season, Moore has been nearly flawless as he led the Ducks to a 4-0 start to the year. He has earned 962 passing yards and 11 touchdowns, throwing just one interception. He has also tacked on 87 yards on the ground, including a 28-yard run against the Oregon State Beavers.

This Saturday, Oregon and Penn State were scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. PT, and the game would air on NBC and Peacock. Despite all of the praise, Penn State was favored to walk away victorious by 3.5 points, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.