It has been 16 years since Penn State and Pitt have met on the football field. Saturday’s game is starting to have a Bowl Game like atmosphere.
Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi will close practices and not allow players to speak to the media as the team prepares for the showdown against the Nittany Lions.
It’s not a typical game week and Narduzzi said he wants to be the only voice to allow his players to focus on the game.
GAME NOTES
LIONS & PANTHERS MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2000
• It is the first game of a four-game home-and-home series dubbed the Keystone Classic presented by Peoples Natural Gas.
• The Nittany Lions have met the Panthers more than any other opponent — 96 times — with Penn State owning a 50-42-4 series advantage.
• The teams first met in 1893 and played every season from 1900-31 and 1935-92, often in a compelling final game of the regular season.
• The teams did not meet from 1993-96, when Penn State began play in the Big Ten Conference, and then played a four-game series from 1997-2000, with the Nittany Lions winning the 1997-99 contests.
• The Panthers won the last meeting, 12-0, in Three Rivers Stadium in 2000.
• Penn State owns a 17-6 record against Pitt in State College, while the Panthers have a 35-28-4 advantage in games played on their home field.
• Penn State leads, 5-1, in neutral site games, the majority of which were played in Pittsburgh.
• Penn State senior WR Greg Garrity and Pitt sophomore LB Elijah Zeise played together at North Allegheny.
• Penn State sophomore S John Petrishen and Pitt freshman DB Daman Hamilton, freshman DB Bricen Garner, senior LS Pat Quirin and freshman DL Rashad Wheeler all played together at Pittsburgh Central Catholic.
• Penn State freshman RB Miles Sanders and Pitt senior DL Ejuan Price both attended Woodland Hills.
• Penn State junior DT Brenon Thrift and Pitt senior TE Jaymar Parrish played together at Gateway High School. Both played for Penn State assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach Terry Smith, who was the head coach at Gateway from 2002-12.
• Penn State freshman QB Jake Zembiec and Pitt freshman LS Conrad Brake played together at Aquinas Institute (N.Y.).
• Penn State junior CB Grant Haley’s parents met attending Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine. Haley’s mother, Carla Neal-Haley, attended Penn State and was a member of the track and field team.
