#4 Penn State 33 – PITT 14
Since losing to Pitt last September, Penn State has evolved into a National Title Contender, while Pitt has remained Pitt and is headed towards another irrelevant season.
The Nittany Lions played off the Pitt game Saturday afternoon as just another game and took some parting shots of how Pitt acted after last years win.
“I know last year for their win [against us (PIT 42-39)], it was like the Super Bowl,” PSU coach James Franklin said. “But for us, this was just like beating Akron.”
Added star running back Saquon Barkley, who had 133 yards of offense the Nittany Lions 33-14 win.
“I think there’s a point where they took it too far,” said Barkley. “That’s the only part that I felt disrespected with. Other than that, losing the game, obviously [they’re] supposed to celebrate. But it was Week 2 and they acted like they won a national championship. They held onto that win all season. Obviously that game’s in the past and this game is in the past.”
Penn State came into Saturday’s game a 22.5 point favorite and won by 19.
However, it wasn’t a completely lopsided game like many anticipated coming in.
Pitt came up small on a number of key plays and if they had any resemblance of decent QB play, Max Browne averaged 4.3 yards per pass and was picked twice, this might have been a closer game than it was.
The Panthers controlled the ball for 38:20 but lacked the ability to move the ball downfield and have nowhere near the explosive weapons Penn State has at their disposal.
