Final Penn State vs. Pitt football game?
Saturday marks the 100th contest on the gridiron between Pitt and Penn State all-time and the fourth since the football series picked back up in 2016.
After the Panthers won that game, 42-39, Penn State has rolled to a pair of easy wins, 33-14 and 51-6.
What will happen Saturday?
The Nittany Lions opened as a 17-point favorite and the forecast calls for around a 50 percent chance of rain.
The public, albeit different, approach of the two head coaches in the game tells the story heading into the contest.
Pitt鈥檚 Pat Narduzzi said his players were off-limits to the media this week as a sign of how focused he wants them to be while James Franklin has given the media availability to his players almost every day this week.
It is well-known that Narduzzi has tried to build the game up as a national-level rivalry while Franklin looks at the contest as just the next game on Penn State鈥檚 schedule.
Does anyone else think that Franklin鈥檚 stance is partly to get under Narduzzi鈥檚 skin?
The hype for this game has been minimal compared to the first three, and could it be because of the obvious talent discrepancy between the two teams?
While Penn State is deep, it is young and could feed into Narduzzi鈥檚 hype.
A win would mean much more for Pitt, and if the Panthers win, hopefully it would help the team in the area it is severely lacking, and that is recruiting.
If Penn State wins, it will hold a 53-43-4 advantage over the 100 games in the series.
We will find out Saturday, and who knows if, or when, the two schools will square off again.
Pitt rebounds
After its opening week ACC loss to Virginia, Pitt bounced back with a win over Ohio.
Brian Skokowski, an online reader and Pitt season ticket holder, shared his views.
鈥淧itt seemed to get a lot better in a lot of areas in game two,鈥� he said. 鈥淭heir defense is legitimate despite having two defensive linemen out for the year.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not a lot to say about the offense, and on Saturday, Pitt鈥檚 defense can keep it close but they will have to capitalize of turnovers and a short field to win.鈥�
Penn State wakes up
After a 79-7 rout of Idaho in its opener, Penn State trailed at the half against Buffalo.
The team woke up in the second half and pulled away for a 45-13 win.
One of the coolest things when attending games at Beaver Stadium is seeing the reactions of fans who are there for the first time.
Scott and Kim Blackburn of were at the opener to watch their son, redshirt sophomore linebacker Christian Blackburn.
They flew on a redeye from Seattle and arrived at 10 a.m. on Friday.
鈥淓verybody has been so nice and accommodating everywhere we have gone,鈥� Kim said. 鈥淓verybody is really nice and the kids have never played at a place like this.鈥�
鈥淭his is just amazing and nothing compares to this,鈥� Scott said pointing around Beaver Stadium. 鈥淓veryone has been super cool.鈥�
Christian recorded a pair of tackles in the game.
WVU in for long season?
The Mountaineers squeaked by James Madison by a touchdown in their opener before losing at Missouri, 38-7.
In talking with several WVU fans, they are all expecting a long season.
Will the team be able to pull it together and get to six wins so they can make a bowl game?
鈥淚t will depend on how long it takes the team to adjust to Neal Brown, the new head coach,鈥� said Nick Bell of Connellsville. 鈥淭he team lost a lot from last year and it could be a long year.鈥�
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