Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/724125
O T H E R M A T C H U P S THE LOWDOWNPitt might have a slight edge here because of Henderson, a talented kick returner who scored on a 96-yard return against Villanova. Pitt has a solid punter in redshirt junior Ryan Winslow, who averaged 42.3 yards per attempt last week. Penn State freshman Blake Gillikin averaged 47 yards per punt in his college debut, while redshirt sophomore PK Joey Julius was solid on kickoffs. Sophomore John Reid was a major improvement in the punt-return game, despite having a 29-yard return wiped out by a holding a penalty. Pitt senior PK Chris Blewitt missed on field goals of 39 and 42 yards against Villanova, but he's one of the top kickers in school history. Penn State redshirt junior Tyler Davis converted on field goals of 29 and 28 yards against Kent State. // EDGEPitt SPECIAL TEAMS THE LOWDOWNPenn State leads the all-time series, 50-42-4, but the last game played between these two teams – at now-defunct Three Rivers Stadium in 2000 –was won by Pitt, 12-0. Since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten in football in 1993, they have a 3-1 record against the Panthers. // EDGEEven THIS 'N' THAT THE LOWDOWN This is Pat Narduzzi's second season as Pitt's head football coach. The Panthers posted an 8-5 record last fall. Before taking the Pitt job, Narduzzi was Michigan State's defensive coordinator under Mark Danto- nio. James Franklin is in his third year as Penn State's head coach, having posted 7-6 records in both 2014 and '15. The fact that this game has been dubbed the Keystone Classic shows that, from a historical perspective, Pitt is still Penn State's biggest football rival. // EDGEPitt COACHING STAFF S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 5 receiver against Villanova was senior TE Scott Orndoff with five catches for 68 yards. Junior WR Jester Weah had four catches for 38 yards and a 16-yard TD reception. Sophomore WR Quadree Henderson had four catches for 35 yards, while Connor had three catches for 16 yards and a 9-yard TD catch. Peterman's longest completion covered 16 yards. Against Kent State, the Lions' secondary had an outstanding day. They allowed the Golden Flashes to hit only 14 of 28 passes for 129 yards, with a pick-six by redshirt sophomore CB Amani Oruwariye. Despite the depar- ture of three defensive linemen, Penn State had seven sacks for 54 yards. Leading the way was redshirt freshman DE Shareef Miller with two sacks for 18 yards. Eight defensive linemen and linebackers were credited with being part of Penn State's sack total. // KEY MATCHUP Bisnowaty will be looking to keep Sickels out of the backfield, while Orndoff will tangle with SS Malik Golden. // EDGEPenn State