How some blades of grass helped turn the Oregon Ducks’ fortunes at Penn State

It is said that football is a game of inches. But on Saturday night, the margin that turned the Oregon Ducks ’ fortunes might have been even narrower than that.

Perhaps it was only the tops of some blades of grass that allowed No. 6 Oregon to bust open a tie game and go on to notch a hard-fought 30-24 double-overtime victory against No. 3 Penn State.

Oregon was battling White Out conditions in a place much more fearsome than it sounds — Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley — and the points were hard to come by. In the closing minutes of the third quarter, the game was tied at 3-3.

Dante Moore had led the Ducks into the red zone. On first and goal from the 9-yard line, the handoff went to Noah Whittington , who was bottled up but then tried to shake off the tackle for a second effort.

Bu