On the drive’s third play, McSorley spotted Hamilton in the clear behind the Pitt secondary but the pass went off his fingertips at the Pitt 20.
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Running backs: That was a unusual game from Saquon Barkley, who really got about one-third of his 90 rushing yards on one carry. A big reason for the stockpile of points came courtesy of the Panthers’ rushing attack.
Dominant offensive line saves the day for Pitt in 42-39 barn-burner.
The Panthers took advantage of that turnover as quarterback Nick Peterman connected with Quadree Henderson from seven yards out to put them up 14-0 early in the game.
Besides his only interception of the game, McSorley finished 24 for 35 and 332 yards passing with a touchdown.
“That guy is a dog, a fighter”, Barkley said of Conner, who was declared cancer-free in May after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma previous year. Neither offense is coming in with a lot of momentum and both teams have very physical defenses.
Pitt running back James Conner showed he was going to be just as impressive in his second game back from MCL surgery and cancer treatment as he set up the Panthers inside the redzone.
Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw a long touchdown pass against Fresno State last week but was just 5 of 10, and that led the Cornhuskers to rely heavily on the run. Charles got a little wide, giving Pitt cornerback Ryan Lewis clearance to the ball.
The game started to look like a blowout, but Penn State scored a touchdown on a Barkley 1-yard score in the final minutes of the second quarter to pull back into the game at 28-14.
Safety Jordan Whitehead said tackling Barkley was among the toughest assignments of his career. Penn State may have lost by three points on the scoreboard, but at no point did they ever seem to be out of the game.
With all of the excitement surrounding the revival of the most-played all-time series in program history, Penn State Football has remained steadfast in its approach to the game.
“It’s unfortunate because they are two great young men and great players, and we are going to miss them on the playing field”, Narduzzi said. As I predicted, he made a big impression returning kicks, taking a fourth-quarter kickoff 84 yards to Penn State’s 10 yardline.
“When we got out there, we said we had 99 yards to go”, said left tackle Adam Bisnowaty. “I was mad at myself, though”. I’m as thrilled as anyone that they won; I’m just concerned that some of these mistakes could be a problem in the future.
Pitt celebrates the win in front of the student section.
A series that began in 1893 is renewed for the first time in 16 years when the Nittany Lions face the Panthers at Heinz Field. “This was our real offense”.
“Jason played Mike linebacker, and I had played Mike linebacker”, Wartman-White said.
Two of the Panthers’ four touchdowns came on drives following McSorley fumbles.
Penn State has finally been able to stabilize the punt game thanks to the stellar play thus far of Gillikin.
Penn State was able to overcome the distance, as McSorley connected with Thompkins for a 34-yard pass. He led the team with 47 receiving yards and a touchdown in addition to his 58 yards on the ground.
“It’s hard on Saturdays”, Pitt fan Bryan Ellis said.
Prior to becoming Pitt’s head coach, Narduzzi was defensive coordinator for eight seasons at Michigan State, where he was introduced to in-state rival Michigan. He remembered his grandmother’s Hill District home, which was close to Pitt’s former on-campus stadium.
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Penn State returns home in Week 3 to take on the Kent State Golden Flash prior to opening up Big Ten play versus the Michigan Wolverines. Brent Pry has exactly one game to get his defense to perform at a high level from the start of the game, as the rest of the schedule won’t be as forgiving.
