The game is scheduled for a noon start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. But those matchups are nothing quite like the one between the two schools, Piatek added. “We grew up seeing the Pittsburgh side, but we are Penn State fans at heart”. Trying to convey decades of antagonism to players who were in preschool the last time the Nittany Lions and Panthers shared a football field is another matter. The return of this in-state rivalry was a doozy. But a third-down sack by linebacker Quintin Wirginis — the first of his career — prevented the Lions from tying the game up, as Penn State settled for a 38-yard field goal to cut the Pitt advantage to four with 12:04 remaining. Penn State assistant Terry Smith, a former Nittany Lions player and Pittsburgh native, said on Thursday that it wasn’t a rivalry.
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Then a Penn State 68-yard drive punched right back.
“They don’t like us, and we don’t like them”.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Deondre Francois threw three touchdown passes and Dalvin Cook ran for two more scores in Florida State’s victory over depleted Charleston Southern.
Conner, who gained 117 yards on 22 carries, proved just too strong for defenders to bottle up.
Aston bulled his way over the goal line from a yard out to complete a 99-yard opening drive for the Panthers and it got easier for them on their next drive.
Penn State figures to show off more playbook and speed levels on offense, possibly significantly so.
It’s a drive that came so close to being a legendary one for Penn State, but instead Pitt escaped with the win and the bragging rights, making it back-to-back wins over the Nittany Lions in 2000 and 2016, with that long gap in between. But remember, the visiting team has won four straight in this series.
The feeling of that perfectly thrown pass from quarterback Trace McSorley hitting his hands, then falling to the grass near the Pittsburgh 25-yard line, still rated as fresh in his mind; part of it, he knows, always will. Plays like that are the difference in games like this, the nailbiters. If the Nittany Lions can’t contain this offense, perhaps it will be Franklin putting the muzzle on players next week.
Even if everybody in the program didn’t share the same view, the idea that some around Penn State didn’t consider Pitt a rival angered a number of Panthers players.
Against Kent State, the offensive line didn’t produce enough space for Barkley, who had to showcase a few Superman moves just to avoid losses. “Pitt is proud to have participated in the “It’s On Us” campaign since its inception, having gathered more than 5000 pledges from individuals committed to joining in this effort”. Joining him on offense are weapons Saquon Barkley, DaeSean Hamilton and Chris Goodwin.
There’s also the increased emphasis on scheduling one marquee opponent among the three nonconference games, a need Penn State presumably has filled through 2025 with home-and-home series with Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Auburn. This pertains to the turnover battle as the more composed team will be less likely to make the big mistake to swing momentum in what should be a tight ballgame. You get to do a lot with the travel and the bowl games. Both Barkley and Conner should make an impact against stout defenses, but the more productive back may end up being on the winning team because his performance will be crucial to the success of his quarterback. The two connected on the 40-yard touchdown to bring Penn State within seven points.
McSorley had a 17-yard run to open PSU’s next drive. I want to make sure they don’t do the same. “Penn State fans live here, and Pitt fans live here, so it’s kind of a home environment for both of us”.
“We have to find out why we couldn’t finish [the game] off faster”, Narduzzi said. That wasn’t an editing error, it needs to be re-stated, because it’s the second moment of horror that sealed Penn State’s doom.
Down 21 – 35, the defense clamped down while the offense cleaned up its game, which slowed down Pitt’s running attack.
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Fourth down: Prediction time… “We had some guys on the field that aren’t typically on the field, and we ran a wrong route”.
