Narduzzi on why no Pitt-Penn State game ‘ask James Franklin’
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi asked why the Nittany Lions and Panthers aren’t playing, what he said & if there is potential for a future matchup
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Football Should Pitt / PSU bring back their series? Narduzzi chimed in.
- Thread starter Richie O
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Eh, who cares. I want to see PSU improve their future schedules - and they definitely need to be adding some bigger name opponents - but playing Pitt ain't exactly all that interesting. PSU really needs to fix 2025-26 by buying out Temple and scheduling a proper home and home versus a P5 school.
Lets see what the Big Ten schedules look like before we need to add high profile teams. We could very well see 3 typical top 20 teams regularly in league play.
Eh, who cares. I want to see PSU improve their future schedules - and they definitely need to be adding some bigger name opponents - but playing Pitt ain't exactly all that interesting. PSU really needs to fix 2025-26 by buying out Temple and scheduling a proper home and home versus a P5 school.
Seriously, with expansion, the schedules are completely up in the air. If I have to chose between Pitt and any of the west coast teams (USC/UCLA/O/Washington), I'd rather play them in another B1G matchup.Narduzzi on why no Pitt-Penn State game ‘ask James Franklin’
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi asked why the Nittany Lions and Panthers aren’t playing, what he said & if there is potential for a future matchup
There will probably be room for a couple of cupcakes and one good out of conference teams. Pitt doesn't fit either category. If we need a cupcake, we'd rather play a MAC team. If we need a good team, Pitt isn't good (or hasn't been good) so they don't really help us.
Aside from that, I do enjoy the games against Pitt but don't really want to give them exposure or relevancy in the region.
If I’m Franklin, I reply to NarDouche like this “we’d love to play Pitt every year. And we will sign the contract right now if it’s a 2 (home) for 1 (home) series that renews with the same terms until both schools have played an equal amount of home games. What do you say Douche?”
I would like JF to respond by saying NO, we're too scared to play Pitt. They're too good and we're afraid we'd lose to them. Maybe that would make the annual whining by Pitt coaches, players and fans go away.
EDIT:
I'm sure many have posted this before. Those around Pitt think we set our schedule with them in mind, then have the nerve to claim we are holier than thou. I enjoy reading other message boards while on flights or waiting in airports, etc. Every one of our former Eastern foes (and RU and MD before they joined the BIG) for years whined about the same thing. Guess what? We can't support all of their cash strapped programs.
There are a lot of reasons we don't play them, not just one. The least of which is spite. They keep citing the games agains the Delaware's and 'Nova's as a comparison. Our economics dicatate we have a space for one OOC home/home series at time. Ok, we're in a small town that depends on the revenue. NOT changing that. We support a gagillion sports with that $. Blame it on whatever they like, that is a fact. Fans don't want that one home/home to be the same team for eternity. Spite comes in way down the line and if it made financial sense for PSU to do it, I'm sure the AD would make it happen.
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I'd like it but there is no benefit or value to PSU to play them so it's not going to happen. Beating them means virtually nothing, losing to them might hurt recruiting for a bit. Not likely but maybe, so why bother taking the chance.
Or just simply play in the Beave until the series is even.
With Rutgers and UMD in the B1G, PSU has eastern rivalries now, so theres less of a reason to schedule Pitt. Add in the 9 conference games which means only one P5 matchup available. Its just unwanted to have a locked in, yearly OOC matchup in this era.
Narduzzi reminds me of Prince Harry. He flounders around, always moping, and nothing is ever his fault. His public comments always revolve around complaining about how other people have snubbed him.
Every time I see a thread title about Narduzzi I’m thinking what the hell is he complaining about now and who has offended him this week?
Every time I see a thread title about Narduzzi I’m thinking what the hell is he complaining about now and who has offended him this week?
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I have been a PSU football fan since I saw my first game in 1975 when I was 8 years old. I also am a law school graduate of Pitt. With that said, I used to believe that Pitt and PSU should play every year just like Clemson-USC and UGA-GT do. However, based on the outrageous and provocative behavior of Pitt's current coach, I now am against it. PSU should not consider doing anything that possibly would help that other program until that current blowhard is gone; let them continue to whine and beg while the power programs in the ACC eventually leave that conference, which further will sink that program.Narduzzi on why no Pitt-Penn State game ‘ask James Franklin’
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi asked why the Nittany Lions and Panthers aren’t playing, what he said & if there is potential for a future matchup
Boring. If Penn State doesn’t want to play in Pittsburgh, we need to find an equivalent for the Battle at Bristol that Tennessee and Virginia Tech did a few years ago. Poconos might be too big, though… it’s a shame because that’d make for a fun weekend getaway.
Some don't find games at Penn State boring - like the vast majority who would attend the games. Were all those games played at your place boring?
Put me in the minority as I would like to see the series back on. PSU/Pitt was one of the greatest CFB rivalries in the 70s and early 80s. I get the argument it’s not helping us to play Pitt since they have nothing to lose and they win even in losing, but that makes us look scared of losing. We absolutely dominated and humiliated Pitt the last time we played there so we should want to do that again. We really don’t have a true rival so let Nardouche talk smack and have CJF say playing Pitt is like playing a MAC team. Let’s get it on!
I should’ve put my post in purple text because the idea of playing a football game in the Poconos was made in jest.
On a serious note, I’d imagine Penn State was OK with the scheduling arrangement considering they agreed to it. Respectfully, New Beaver Field/Beaver Stadium had a much smaller capacity and playing the games in Pittsburgh made more sense. It’s the same reason why we’d move games to 3RS for TV purposes before Pitt Stadium had lights installed.
It’s not about ‘not wanting to play in Pittsburgh’. It’s about the realities of scheduling with 9 conference games and a need to 7 home games to support the athletic department. It’s also about trying to schedule some new schools OOC every once in a while.
There’s only an opening for 1 home/away series each year. Plus, who knows what the scheduling will be now that Washington and Oregon have joined. Everything needs to be reworked, again.
As for Pocono, are Pitt fans really going to drive to Long Pond in the Poconos? Plus it’s a triangle shaped track, not conducive to football and from what I see it holds only 76,000. The Beav can hold up to 110,000. It would make no sense.
See my post above; it was not meant to be a serious suggestion. I absolutely get why the the series is dead, especially with the Big Ten likely going to ten conference games. It is what it is.
Pitt had their chances to make this a rivalry and blew it.
Being married to a Pitt grad, my vote is No!! I have no loyalty to my couch.
No problem. I was typing when you posted that and didn’t see it until after.
Bristol is a unique track and the 150,000 or so who were at that game made it impressive.
It’s really an economic issue. Penn St isn’t going to give Pitt its 1 home/away series every year. Pitt isn’t going to play at Penn State without a return game. It is what it is.
Narduzzi always frames it as Penn St being the block but the reality is neither side will give. He could agree to play in State College and the game would likely return. Should Franklin hold a yearly press conference saying Narduzzi is the block and the reason the series isn’t played?
Unless Narduzzi is willing to change his position, will someone in Pittsburgh please explain it to him with crayons….. or a pop up picture book…. or whatever it takes so that he stops whining every year?
Since Paterno's first year as head coach in 1966, I believe Pitt has beaten PSU a grand total of 6 times (1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 2016). Even in the last 4 game series when PSU just was beginning to emerge from the dark years, Pitt went 1-3 against PSU, and very easily could've gone 0-4. Therefore, this has been a pretty one-sided series for well over 60 years if you want to go back to the Rip Engle years. My guess is that PSU would continue to beat Pitt every 4 out of 5 times, which really wouldn't make this series that much better than playing Temple.
Agreed, minus the jab at Narduzzi (on principleNo problem. I was typing when you posted that and didn’t see it until after.
Bristol is a unique track and the 150,000 or so who were at that game made it impressive.
It’s really an economic issue. Penn St isn’t going to give Pitt its 1 home/away series every year. Pitt isn’t going to play at Penn State without a return game. It is what it is.
Narduzzi always frames it as Penn St being the block but the reality is neither side will give. He could agree to play in State College and the game would likely return. Unless Narduzzi is willing to change that will someone in Pittsburgh please explain it to him with crayons….. or a pop up picture book…. or whatever it takes so that he stops whining every year?
). Honestly, I think it’s all water ‘under the bridge’ because I wouldn’t be surprised if non-conference games go by the wayside entirely. If the B1G and SEC continue to expand, it could get to the point where each have eleven conferences games and then a twelfth regular season game against the other; think of it as a B1G/SEC Challenge like you see in college hoops. Who knows what the future holds for collegiate athletics.OMG. The playing Pitt idea pops up again. Please, no way.
Eh, who cares. I want to see PSU improve their future schedules - and they definitely need to be adding some bigger name opponents - but playing Pitt ain't exactly all that interesting. PSU really needs to fix 2025-26 by buying out Temple and scheduling a proper home and home versus a P5 school.
A Narduzzi jab is always required when discussing Pitt on this board.Agreed, minus the jab at Narduzzi (on principle
True, the college system is more screwed up and unpredictable than ever before. Scheduling is totally in limbo until the dust settles, (at least long term scheduling). Personally, I’m not a fan of what’s happening. I like the idea of playing teams like USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington but I don’t like how the regional nature of the game, including many long standing rivalries, is being torn apart.
I hate to bring up bad memories, but I think I remember a 12 to zip loss to them in 2000. It was a night game and I was drunk.
Sure. Narduzzi always frames it as somehow PSU being "afraid" instead of it being a simple economic decision. But okay, if it is so important for PSU and Pitt to play every year, would he agree to either of the following:
1. All games at Beaver stadium
2. Alternating between State College and Pittsburgh but PSU keeps all the stadium revenue (tickets, concessions, parking) for all games at both locations.
Is Narduzzi willing to allow this to happen to make the economics viable for PSU for it to make sense? If he's not, then he just likes to whine not to actually address the reality.
Pretty sure you couldn't put a gridiron here. Not with stands anyway. There are various race tracks embedded in the infield. It's not all grass.
Pocono overhead
Pocono overhead
I’m right there with you. Every conference had its own playing style and unique quirks about them. Even the eastern independents were this way. Nowadays, it’s one big hodgepodge that feel like ‘NFL Lite.’A Narduzzi jab is always required when discussing Pitt on this board.
True, the college system is more screwed up and unpredictable than ever before. Scheduling is totally in limbo until the dust settles, (at least long term scheduling). Personally, I’m not a fan of what’s happening. I like the idea of playing teams like USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington but I don’t like how the regional nature of the game, including many long standing rivalries, is being torn apart.
I’ll still watch, of course, but I miss the traditions and pageantry that surrounded the game across the country.
Right..first look at high profile teams like ND or the Auburn series. When we get to adding cupcakes like Delaware St or Pitt, perhaps slot them in. ;>)
You're correct; I forgot that one. I actually was there; it was played at Three Rivers in the last season of football at that stadium. So Pitt has beaten PSU 7 times in well over 60 years.
I am more of a “water over the dam” kinda guy. And I looked at the time as I read this and it was 409!Agreed, minus the jab at Narduzzi (on principle
Poconos... Lol... Great place for a youth church camp. Seriously, Pitt should seek refuge in the MAC. That is where the program belongs.
We can play Pitt after they sellout all their league games and sell 90% of the tickets for their OOC games. And if we schedule them they must sell them as single game tickets and not require a season ticket.
No reason why we should help them sell tickets and give them one sellout crowd to bring recruits and lie to them about how exciting Pitt football is.
No reason why we should help them sell tickets and give them one sellout crowd to bring recruits and lie to them about how exciting Pitt football is.
Our future schedules include Bowling Green, Temple, Villanova, Kent State, and Delaware. We don't need to add another similar team like pitt. Let's beef up the schedule a bit instead of playing OOC creampuffs.Narduzzi on why no Pitt-Penn State game ‘ask James Franklin’
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi asked why the Nittany Lions and Panthers aren’t playing, what he said & if there is potential for a future matchup
Narduzzi on why no Pitt-Penn State game ‘ask James Franklin’
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi asked why the Nittany Lions and Panthers aren’t playing, what he said & if there is potential for a future matchup
The offer was on the table. 2 for 1 until the series is evened out.
Go back and check history- PSU held 32,000 and Pitt held 56,500.
PSU asked PITT to play a PSU home game in Pittsburgh to gain more revenue. Pitt actually let PSU use their facility to gain more revenue. That is why there is an imbalance in where games where played.
PSU asked PITT to play a PSU home game in Pittsburgh to gain more revenue. Pitt actually let PSU use their facility to gain more revenue. That is why there is an imbalance in where games where played.
I wouldn't even agree to that. If they want to come to Penn State we'll play them.
Never, ever play Pitt again. Don't do them any favors. We gain nothing. Let those yinzers rot. Why should the Pennsylvania state FLAG SHIP schedule a team and its fans that are so resentful, hateful, and jealous of being Pennsylvania's "other" team?
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