Bowl season review
It was a forgettable bowl season for the three local Division I teams as each lost.
Let鈥檚 take a look at each team in chronological order of when it played its bowl game and where the program is moving forward.
Changes in Morgantown
West Virginia was facing an uphill battle even before its 34-18 loss to Syracuse in the Camping World Bowl as quarterback Will Grier announced two weeks prior that he would not play in the game.
Then, to make matters worse, head coach Dana Holgorsen left the Big 12 program to head to Houston, a Group of Five (G5) team.
How bad of a look is it for West Virginia when its coach leaves the Power Five (P5) program to head to a G5 team?
It isn鈥檛 all that surprising when you look at the recruiting factor.
First, recruiting in the Houston area is much easier than recruiting in West Virginia as there are countless more studs in Houston than Morgantown.
Secondly, recruiting players to Houston will be much easier than bringing them to Morgantown. It has been expected that West Virginia was going to take a step back next year, and considering he money that Holgorsen is being paid in Houston, it was a no-brainer in terms of deciding.
Pitt drops Sun Bowl
The Panthers dropped a 14-13 decision to Stanford despite limiting the Cardinal to 208 yards of total offense for the game.
The defensive effort was stellar from the Panthers and a late fluke score for Stanford was the difference in the game.
Pitt loses 11 starters, including four offensive linemen, and will look to improve on the bounce back season the team had this year.
A key will be the development of its younger players.
Will Pat Narduzzi look to make another prediction next year like the one he made before this season that Pitt would play in the ACC Championship game?
A major question mark will be at the quarterback position as Kenny Pickett does not seem to be the answer.
PSU drops another close game
As has been the case during the James Franklin era, the Nittany Lions dropped another close game as it fell to Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, 27-24.
It was the seventh time over the last three seasons (and nine total losses) that Penn State lost by a touchdown or less.
A perplexing move, not Franklin鈥檚 first, was going for a field goal with 4:12 to play.
The 32-yard kick was on a fourth-and-five from the Kentucky 15-yard line.
Franklin decided to kick the field goal instead of going for it with Trace McSorley, who quarterbacked Penn State to 31 career wins with a gunslinger mentality, on the field.
For as long as Franklin is the Penn State coach, this one call may go down as the biggest regret he will have.
How could you not let McSorley, who won countless games in the fourth quarter, give it one last try?
Moving forward, Penn State only loses three senior starters but five underclassmen have declared for the NFL Draft, so the team will have new faces in important roles.
BVA grad interviewed at Temple
Wisconsin Offensive Coordinator and former Belle Vernon Area standout Joe Rudolph interviewed with Temple for its head football coach opening.
Crazy stat of the week
Thanks to Clemson鈥檚 domination of Alabama Monday night to win its second national championship in three years and its third overall, the two teams have now combined to win the last four national championships.
During the four-year run, the two teams have played four times in the College Football Playoff, including in three championship games with both teams winning twice.
Both teams have identical 55-4 records over the last four seasons.
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