Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from rivalry win over Pitt in Week 3

2. The Penn State defense had mixed results

Despite a wet day in Happy Valley, Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett was able to finish the day with 372 passing yards in defeat. Of course, the veteran Panthers passer needed 51 attempts to compile that stat line, and he was unable to find the endzone on the day.

The Nittany Lions defense got three sacks on Pickett, but they were unable to ruffle him much in the process. Pickett did fumble the ball once, but it was recovered by Pitt on a day where neither team lost the football. His productivity slowed down in the second half, but Pickett still completed more than 68 percent of his passes, should give the Penn State defensive staff pause as they head into Big Ten play.

Where they should be far more satisfied is with the run defense. Pickett had to throw the ball so much precisely because the backfield was incredibly ineffective moving the ball. No Pitt run went longer than Shocky Jacques-Louis’s nine-yard gain, and the Panthers finished with 24 net yards on 25 carries as a team.

Thus all at once it was the best of times and the worst of times for the Penn State defense. They will need to shore up the issues in the defensive backfield before they face off against Josh Jackson and Maryland in their first conference showdown.