The Penn State Nittany Lions met up with the Pittsburgh Panthers for the first time since 2000 as they renewed their historic rivalry. Penn State was in it until the last minute of the game until McSorley lofted a ball into the end zone between two Nittany Lions receivers, but Ryan Lewis was there to haul in the interception and seal the victory for Pitt. I want to make sure (his players) don’t do the same. “I heard the crowd cheer, but I didn’t even know where I was”. “I know I’m supposed to let it go and move on to the next one”.
Advertisement
By decree of head coach Pat Narduzzi, the Panthers aren’t speaking with reporters this week.
“That’s what a lot of my teammates were telling me, that you’re going to be on the next highlight tape (for Pitt-Penn State)”, Lewis said. “He was another hero”. But Hamilton dropped a potential go-ahead deep pass from McSorley early in the drive, the first of two costly mistakes with the game on the line.
By game’s end, the Panthers (2-0) had put together 432 yards of offense, 341 of which came on the ground.
It’s been 16 years since Penn State and Pitt have squared off.
Quarterback Nate Peterman felt the Panthers did not need to throw the ball much since the running game was running on all cylinders. They went 99 yards in 10 plays, with 99 rushing yards. “Again, we’re so consumed with graduating our players”. “We still had a lot of football left to play, so to turn the ball over in that situation was hard”.
“Everybody was hyping us up a little bit and we came in feeling pretty good about ourselves”, O’Neill said about Pitt’s opener. Running back James Conner led the way with a big day, rushing for 117 yards and a touchdown. Pitt’s offense seemed about as bland as it could get and whether Whitehead is out there or not this weekend, I think that you’ll see a much more complex style when the Panthers have the ball.
“We just wanted to run downhill and get into a rhythm”, Conner said.
Penn State continued to claw, though, as an incredible one-handed catch by wideout DeAndre Thompkins set up another one-yard touchdown run by Barkley, his fourth score of the game.
For Penn State, the offense revolves around its sensational sophomore running back.
The loss still stings, and there were certainly some bad moments, but head coach James Franklin can take several positives away after watching his team claw back.
“It was a big surprise because we were expecting we had them figured out”, Brown said. Two different approaches on game week, to say the least, but what matters is what happens on the field on Saturday.
“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. But he scored four touchdowns on the ground and another on a 40-yard pass reception. Two plays later, Peterman connected with Henderson for a seven-yard touchdown to give Pitt a 14-point lead. Aston picked up 13 yards on one run, and Conner added six yards for a first down on the final play of the first quarter.
Defensive line: They’re young up front, and Pitt has a very big, experienced offensive line that dominated, as expected.
The Nittany Lions and the Panthers have played a total of 96-times dating back to 1893. Barkley rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown last week against a solid Kent State defense.
Pitt ran the ball nine times on the 10-play drive that spanned more than four minutes.
Pitt defeated Penn State, 42-39, on Saturday in the first meeting between the teams in 16 years.
Advertisement
Penn State tightened things up on defense eventually, and the offense found a rhythm for a few crucial drives and made a few big plays, with McSorley throwing for 332 yards. The interception though, proved to be costly as it snuffed out the Lions’ chance to tie or win the game.
