Penn State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Pitt Panthers

After losing to Pitt last season, Penn State football looks primed to take game two of a four-game series. Here are the bold predictions for the rivalry.

For much of the 1970s and 1980s, the in-state rivalry between Penn State and the Pittsburgh was one of college football’s greatest games.

Players like Todd Blackledge, Dan Marino, Kurt Warner and Tony Dorsett all helped to cement their college football legacies, as well as boost their eventual NFL draft stock in these contests across the Keystone state.

This rivalry not only took place on the field, but off of it as well.

Pitt and Penn State are arguably the two biggest colleges in the state of Pennsylvania, with nearly the entire state’s population having some sort of connection to either college — be it through friends, family members or co-workers. In a state filled with a bevy of high-profile high school players, Penn State and Pitt often find themselves fighting for the same recruits, and therefore possess a unique insight into the makeups of each other’s roster composition.

So when Penn State and Pitt stopped playing their non-conference games in the year 2000, it took away one of the bigger, more interesting rivalries in all of college football. After facing off 96 times between 1893 and 2000, the rivalry laid dormant for much of the 21st century.

At least until 2011, when the two schools agreed to a four-game home and home series from 2016 through 2019, culminating in the pair’s 100th overall meeting.

Much like last season, Pitt and Penn State will face off in Week 2, but this year’s game takes place under much different terms.

Last season, when Penn State and Pitt face off in week two, neither team was ranked, and few expected either team to make a serious push for their respective divisions. But after the Nittany Lions loss to Pitt, Penn State surprised the college football world by winning 10 of its next 11 games and making an appearance in the Big Ten championship game, beating Wisconsin by a score of 38-31.

While Pitt still looks like a distant runner-up to the likes of Clemson, Louisville, Florida State and Miami in the ACC this season, Penn State is currently ranked fourth in the nation by the AP Poll, and has serious College Football Playoff aspirations.

With that in mind, here are three bold predictions for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game in Happy Valley.