Nick Saban critiques Oregon's schedule: 'They haven't played anybody either'

Much has been made of Penn State not playing anybody of note to get to 3-0 ahead of its conference opener and major matchup against Oregon. However, Nick Saban says it’s not as if the Ducks at 4-0 have played anyone either.

While on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ in Happy Valley on Friday, McAfee referenced Oregon being 4-0 now after a win over Oregon State in the Civil War. Saban responded similarly as he did when discussing Penn State’s schedule, as he thinks neither team has played much of a schedule over the first month of the season.

“Yeah, but they haven’t played anybody either,” Saban said of Oregon. “41-7 or something (against Oregon State)?”

Despite neither strength of schedule being very high, Oregon has played a tougher schedule than Penn State. The Nittany Lions have won two over the Group of Five in Nevada (Mountain West) and FIU (Conference USA) before beating Villanova out of the FCS before their bye, which has resulted in an average margin of victory of 38.3 points.

The Ducks have one win over Montana State in the FCS but have then played three power-to-power-adjacent schools. Those come thanks to Oklahoma State, Northwestern in a conference game on the road, and Oregon State in the Pac-12, which have come by an average margin of 41.5 points.

Again, none of the seven teams that they have beaten have a winning record, with one of those having already fired a coach, with them combining to be 8-17 (.320). No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Oregon are then at that mark of 7-0 combined by an average margin between them of 39.9 points.

That said, the lack of competition played so far has only seemingly been a talking point when it comes to the Nittany Lions. That’s until this afternoon when Saban noted that the point stands just as much to him as far as who the Ducks have played too.

Saban trolls Penn State over 2011 White Out: ‘It didn’t help them much’

Penn State is preparing for its biggest game in quite some time at home against Oregon in Week 5. The Nittany Lions are breaking out their famed White Out for the Big Ten showdown.

That had Nick Saban take a walk down memory lane. During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. There, Saban recollected his experience during a Penn State White Out while with Alabama.

“We played in a White Out here, and it didn’t help them much,” he laughed. Saban, of course, was pointing back to the Crimson Tide’s 27-11 victory over the Nittany Lions back in 2011.

In that game, AJ McCarron led Alabama to a win with 163 passing yards and a touchdown. But Trent Richardson was the real star, rushing for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

Penn State will be hoping for a different result against Oregon. Saban provided some insight into how his teams handled raucous crowds like the Nittany Lions’ White Out, and perhaps the Ducks should take some notes.

Steve Samra contributed to this story