Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/870401
P R E G A M E R E P O R T P I T T @ P E N N S T A T E T I M E 3 : 3 0 P . M . , S E P T . 9 | T V A B C PITT FACTS COACH Pat Narduzzi (Rhode Is- land, '90) COACH'S RECORD 17-10 in three seasons; career record: same 2017 RECORD 1-0 RECORD VS. PSU Pitt trails the all-time series against the Nittany Lions, 50-43-4. MOST RECENT MEETING The Panthers rushed for 341 yards as a team, overcoming Saquon Barkley's five touchdowns and holding off Penn State's second- half comeback bid in a 42-39 vic- tory last September at Heinz Field. GOOD NEWS Pitt's most recent road game against a top-10 opponent went surprisingly well. The Panthers faced then-No. 2 Clemson in Death Valley last November and came away with a 43-42 victory over the eventual national cham- pions. Their win snapped Clem- son's 21-game home winning streak, the longest in the country at the time. BAD NEWS The Panthers have lost their past four games at Beaver Stadium, falling to Penn State in 1990 (22- 17), '92 (57-13), '97 (34-17) and '99 (20-17). Their all-time road record in the series, which dates back to 1893, is 6-17. DID YOU KNOW? Pitt will be attempting to win its third in a row against Penn State, a feat it has not accomplished since the 1940s. The last time the Panthers put together three con- secutive wins in this long-running series was from 1944-46, a stretch in which they outscored the Lions 35-7. M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Pitt didn't look particularly sharp in its season opener, but maybe that wasn't so surprising. The Panthers had suffered significant graduation losses, they endured a turbulent off-season that put several key players on the shelf for some or all of the 2017 campaign, and it's reasonable to assume that they were holding a few things in re- serve with a road trip to in-state rival Penn State coming up in week two. In other words, there was a nonzero chance of an underwhelming start to the season. Still, it's doubtful that anyone expected them to need overtime to put away Youngstown State. The Panthers squandered a 21-point lead and missed a field goal that would have won the game in regulation before hitting a touchdown pass in 1 KEYSTONE STATEMENT Lions and Panthers get set to renew their longstanding rivalry S E P T E M B E R 6 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State defenders wrap up Qadree Olli- son during last year's game at Heinz Field. The then-sophomore running back gained 36 yards on nine car- ries in Pitt's 42-39 victory. Photo by Steve Manuel