Aside from a four-game series in the late 2010s, Pitt and Penn State have not consistently played since the 20th century.
Pitt and Penn State played four times between 2016 and 2019, with a Pitt win in 2016 and three straight Penn State wins between 2017-19, but there are no plans — as it stands — to continue to series going forward. And Pat Narduzzi says it isn’t for a lack of trying on his side.
Why aren’t Pitt and Penn State playing?
“You’d have to ask James Franklin,” Narduzzi told the 93.7 The Fan’s PM team of Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller Tuesday night. “My call is, ‘Let’s go.’ We’ve called, we’ve asked.”
And this isn’t the first time in recent weeks that the embers of the Pitt-Penn State rivalry have been stoked by 93.7 The Fan. And it certainly isn’t the first time the rivalry has drawn headlines.
Whether it was Narduzzi and Franklin ranking the other’s school lowly in the final Coaches Poll of 2022, Penn State scheduling West Virginia on its 2023 schedule or Narduzzi’s sharp comments on Penn State’s offense at ACC media days last month, there is never a shortage of dialogue surrounding Pitt and Penn State. But the most recent instance came from a local radio host.
93.7 The Fan’s Adam Crowley said, “Oh, yeah, Penn State’s scared to play Pitt.” And of course, it sparked a lot of debate between Penn State fans who think Pitt is beneath them, and Pitt fans who agree with Crowley — surprisingly.
However, Narduzzi was certainly complimentary of the athletic director currently in place at Penn State.
“I have faith in Pat Kraft, the AD,” Narduzzi said.
Narduzzi, who worked in the same conference as Kraft when Kraft was Boston College’s athletic director from 2020 through starting at Penn State in July 2022, said Kraft is a “great guy.”
But Narduzzi doesn’t feel optimistic that the rivalry will return.
“These schedules are filled out for six, seven years (in advance)” Narduzzi said. “It’s going to be a while. I’ll be retired for 10 years, 20 years. I’ll be 70, 80 years old. I’ll be coming back in a wheelchair and maybe a cane.”
The first recorded Pitt-Penn State game took place way, way back in before the turn of the 20th century. Pitt and Penn State met in State College, with the Nittany Lions pulling out an inaugural win. But Pitt Athletics recognizes the series as beginning in 1915, which was a Pitt win in Pittsburgh.
The Keystone Classic — as the series is sometimes referred to — continued annually for almost the entire 20th century, with the exception of stretches between 1932-34 and 1993-96. The series saw both sides go on extended runs through the annual meetings. But after the 2000 edition of Pitt-Penn State, the series went inactive for 16 years.
It actually resumed under the watch of Franklin and Narduzzi themselves, beginning with a 42-39 Pitt win at Heinz Field in 2016 after almost two decades of inaction, but Penn State reasserted itself over the next three meetings.
Penn State won matchups in 2017, 2018 and 2019 — capping the four-game resurgence with a 17-10 win at Beaver Stadium in 2019. However, Pitt can also boast that its win in 2016 likely kept the Nittany Lions out of the College Football Playoff.
The all-time history according to Pitt Athletics, dating back to the 20-0 Pitt win in 1915, is slightly skewed in Penn State’s favor. The Nittany Lions hold a narrow 41-38-4 margin of victory over the history of the series.
There is no current timetable for a Pitt-Penn State matchup in the future. And if you ask Crowley, it’s because Penn State is scared.
The curse of Joe Pa,,, don’t play Pitt
Pitt should’ve thought about that when they decided that playing Georgetown, St. John’s…….. in basketball was more important then a all sports conference that included Penn St.
Pitt, WVU, Boston College, Syracuse….. made their decision & when they found out basketball can’t carry a conference now they want to complain about PSU won’t play them.
I wish they would play also, but Pitt needs to look in the mirror & finally admit it’s their own fault.
Exactly
PSU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by playing Pitt. They cannot afford a loss in any of their non conference games so they schedule accordingly.
True. Sad and true. But the Schools should play each other every year. Its should be an annual tradition like OSU/Michigan, USC/UCLA, ect…but CFB has so many issues its ridiculous
Why would Penn State fill Pitt”s stadium for them. Ask the Pitt coaching staff about their state champ keychains, or Tony Dorsett about yelling at a college kid in the hallway. There is no upside for PSU.
PSU fan here. Pitt vs PSU was a great rivalry when PSU was independent. But the “bigger fish to fry isn’t just OSU and Mich. It’s winning a conference title and playing Pitt does very little to help PSU in that regard. Of course, gearing towards conference games means a team needs a few patsies along the way so that the players are healthy for the conference games that count. Pitt is not a patsie – it’s a hard nosed team that can bang up an opponent. As a non-conference choice, it makes little sense. PSU already out-recruits Pitt in… Read more »
This really isn’t difficult or complicated.
PSU – and almost every other P5 team – gets one P5 out of conference game a year. Some years that game will be Pitt. Some years it won’t.
I guess Narduzzi thinks it makes him look better by pretending to not understand that.