“It’s hard on Saturdays”, Pitt fan Bryan Ellis said.
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Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi also is looking for a boost during a re-building phase.
Penn State and Pittsburgh renew their rivalry for the first time since 2000 on Saturday, when the Panthers host the Nittany Lions at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. “I heard the crowd cheer, but I didn’t even know where I was”. Pitt will play North Carolina, Miami and Clemson in ACC games this season.
The Panthers got a physical and emotional lift in their opener against Villanova thanks to running back James Conner, who was declared cancer-free after beating Hodgkin lymphoma in May.
But a long return by Quadree Henderson for 84 yards once again gave Pitt a short field to work with and an eventual touchdown in the fourth quarter. Henderson credited offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s offensive system in spreading the ball around. It’s close because Pitt has Conner, but there are more weapons on this Nittany Lions unit.
James Conner breaks loose for a run.
The Panthers’ first drive stared with the ball at their own one yard line. They went 99 yards in 10 plays, with 99 rushing yards.
“That was huge”, Peterman said. I think it’s going to be something you’ll see every week.
The mistakes helped Pitt score its first two touchdowns within 47 seconds in the opening quarter, and its second two TDs in a span of 1:44 early in the second. Quarterback Trace McSorley, who threw a game-ending interception in the endzone, was seen consoling his favorite target. He had three rushes of 20-yards or more. Penn State managed just 354 yards of total offense and ran just 54 plays, numbers that Franklin expects to go up as the season progresses.
Between 1976 and 1986, the Panthers and Lions won three national titles. Narduzzi wanted this win.
“There’s probably going to be a lot of things screamed at our buses when we drive in”, Franklin told reporters in State College on Wednesday. It may be too much to ask quarterback Nate Peterman to win this with his arm.
Conner isn’t a game breaker in the sense that a Christian McCaffery is -he won’t break off an 80-yard TD- but he’ll grind you down over the course of a game.
“When you talk situational football and critical things to winning, you want to win the turnover battle”, said linebacker Mike Caprara, who recovered two fumbles.
Safety Jordan Whitehead said tackling Barkley was among the toughest assignments of his career. “The more and more we do it, the better we’ll get”.
Penn State had no answer for the Panthers’ most diverse weapon.
A little after one o’clock Friday afternoon, Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes sent out a tweet that the “visiting team” had returned some of its ticket allotment for Saturday’s Panthers home football game at Heinz Field. “But you also have to remember that our players were either two, three or four years old the last time this game was played”. 10 plays and 109 yards later, (they took a penalty), George Aston rumbled into the end zone to give Pitt an early lead. “I was mad at myself, though. I hope the game it good”, Kaspernik said.
Final thoughts from Penn State’s 42-39 loss to Pitt.
“All week during practice we weren’t really practicing that”, Brown said of the jet sweeps. “It’s my job to make sure they embrace it and understand what it’s all about”, Narduzzi said heading into the game.
It appeared that Penn State was going to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, as McSorley lofted a ideal deep ball to DaeSean Hamilton with no one in front of him.
Penn State played the game without two key starters.
Penn State got the ball to start the second half and McSorley finally got something going through the air when he found Barkley on a scat route.
“We have to play cleaner and score touchdowns”, Franklin said.
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Running back James Conner led Pitt with 117 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
