Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi got a laugh out of the
crowd at his weekly news conference earlier this
month when he revealed that he vacations with
Penn State's James Franklin in the off-season.
As it turned out, Narduzzi was talking about the
Nike coaches' trip.
"I would call that a vacation," he insisted. "So we
do vacation and socialize."
Maybe so, but when they met up again on Sept.
14, it wasn't in Cozumel or Puerto Vallarta or
some other exotic port of call in which the Nike
yacht had dropped anchor. It was in Beaver Sta-
dium, where Franklin's team escaped with a 17-10
victory. Coaches may not always be as steeped in
the grudges and resentments of college football
rivalries as the rest of the world assumes they are,
given their near-total immersion in the
schematic concerns of the actual games. But the
animosity that accompanies any big rivalry game
has a way of lingering in the air that everyone
breathes.
Penn State, Pitt and their respective fan follow-
ings have been breathing that air for quite a while.
The two schools have a long history of getting on
each other's nerves – a history that predates
Franklin and Narduzzi by decades but one that's
NEWS & NOTES
CRUNCH TIME
Penn State
linebacker
Micah Parsons
clamps down
on Pitt running
back A.J. Davis.
Parsons fin-
ished with nine
tackles, and the
Nittany Lions
held Pitt to 24
rushing yards in
a 17-10 victory
at Beaver Sta-
dium on Sept.
14. Photo by
Steve Manuel
F O O T B A L L
Pitt series comes to ambiguous end
|
