Others would rather not acknowledge that school’s football program even exists.
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“We’ve got to keep both guys fresh”.
For more than 100 years, Pitt and Penn State participated in one of the nation’s greatest college football rivalries, with national rankings and state bragging rights on the line almost every time they played. They will have tailgating booths, games, music and more as part of the ACC Tailgate Tour starting at 9 a.m. Scott seems poised to break a kick return for a touchdown, something that has not happened for Penn State since the opening week of 2011.
“One of the things that I thought was really interesting that I didn’t know, 68 of the 96 games have been played in Pittsburgh”, Franklin said. “Theirs and ours through, like, 2025 or 2026. One of the attractive things that we do is, when someone wants to line up fast on [us], we can do just about anything to counter”.
While any performance against a FCS opponent is usually tempered, the way that the secondary played on Saturday transcends any team they could face.
Penn State coach James Franklin has downplayed the rivalry aspect in recent weeks, referring to the matchup as important but not unlike the way his team approaches every game while Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi has shut off his players from the media and closed his practice doors.
Penn State opened its season last week with a 33-13 home victory over Kent State. The athletic department’s preference would be to play all three nonconference games in a given season at Beaver Stadium, and away games against Virginia Tech (2020), Auburn (2022) and West Virginia (2024), respectively, virtually eliminate a game at Pittsburgh as a possibility in those seasons.
“It was the game everyone looked forward to”, she said. “We’ve got every trick play and every formation they’ve run over the last three years at Fordham”. The second-year coach isn’t anxious about his players littering the walls in Happy Valley with bulletin board material.
“We keep talking about this”. In fact, Franklin explicitly said so. “I don’t think they’re going to win by much, but I do think they’re going to win”.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt he’s inspired their team”, Franklin said. “I want to make sure they get it the first year”.
Penn State leads the all-time series, 50-42-4, but dominated from 1960-2000, the last time the teams met. “I know last week a lot of questions were asked if we were focused or not”. McSorley also seems to have developed chemistry with tight end Mike Gesicki, who got the 2016 season off on the right foot by catching three passes for 49 yards and a late touchdown to seal the game. If not, it’s Tuesday. The good news is that he’ll have plenty more chances on Saturday as Pitt stacks up the box hoping to slow down Barkley.
“It means a little more that I know my dad played there”, Apke said.
Both Schwann and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Kevin Givens, the other player who left with an injury Saturday, are listed as starters on the depth chart released this week.
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As Michigan State’s defensive coordinator in 2014, Narduzzi’s defense yielded just 233 yards – and only 38 on the ground – in a 34-10 victory in the regular-season finale of Penn State coach James Franklin’s debut season. 2. We’re so consumed with getting our players ready to play and be successful on the football field and make great decisions in the community.
