Penn State playing "yellow belly" with Pitt?


… Narduzzi reiterates desire to play every year 

The Pitt-Penn State rivalry was once one of the great inter-state football battles in the U.S. It was right up there with Alabama-Auburn, Florida State-Florida, Oregon-Oregon State, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, Arizona-Arizona State, Oklahoma-Oklahoma State.

There are also some other great intra-state rivalries like Ohio State-Michigan and Notre Dame- Southern Cal.

Penn State devoid of a rival

Here is the situation in which Penn State finds itself with a stadium that holds 107,000 fans. It has no rival at a time when the school cannot fill the stadium unless they have OSU, MSU, or the Wolverines on tap.

Today, and well into the future, Penn State is still seeking a rival. Pitt is also struggling in that area since WVU went west to join the Big 12. Once Pitt went to the ACC, great move overall, that "Backyard Brawl" became moot.

So, Pitt, PSU, and WVU are all wandering through the desert like a pauper, trying to pump some excitement into their football programs.

Not the Buckeyes

Some Penn State Milennials contend that Ohio State is the great rival game for the Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes just yawn. "Are you kidding! We own them. We could care less about the Nittany pussycats."

The Buckeyes have indeed dominated that series: 16-7 (.695) since PSU entered the Big 10, and 8-2 (80 percent) over the past decade.

No rivalry there.

Narduzzi v. Franklin

Second year Coach Pat Narduzzi of Pitt has made clear his position on the rivalry. At the ACC Media Day last week, Narduzzi said "I think it should be played every year. It just makes sense to me," .

When Franklin was hired at Penn State in 2014, he made clear that he was going to "dominate the state," a statement that angered many Pitt fans. Narduzzi was still the DC at Michigan State at the time, but he did one thing much better in his first season than Franklin has: win football games.

The Panthers were 8-5 overall last year, 6-2 in the ACC. The Nittany Lions are 14-12 in Franklin's first two years, 6-10 in the Big Ten, and 1-1 in bowl games.

The PSU coach had expressed some positive feelings about the Pitt-PSU rivalry when he was hired. Is he becoming a "yellow-belly" about it today?

Making that more challenging is that the Panthers are favored to win the 2016 game, making Franklin's tenure at PSU more tenuous.

Game benefit Pitt more than State?

Let me be blunt with this. For Pitt to be taken seriously as a football program, they need more than just Penn State on their schedule.

That credibility rests on filling that stadium every weekend. Right now, Pitt fans buy tickets and then try to sell them on eBay or other outlets to make a few bucks. There may be more Penn State fans at the game on Sept. 10 than Pitt.

That is terrible. First, the students live a distance from the off-campus venue, and being off-campus is a drag for students. You cannot generate enthusiasm off campus as well as you can on-campus.

Pitt fans and alums has been searching for a place for this. Here is my recommendation. At one time, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their baseball games at Forbes Field. Why not use that area for a new football stadium?

Well, because that area is now being used by the Pitt law school. I have attached a picture of the former Forbes Field. They could easily make that area into a football stadium.

As for the law school, it is not that big a deal. The school could be relocated any where on campus or even down town.

It's not UPMC that is generating tens of millions of dollars, for crying out loud.

Just an idea.

Generating excitement

One thing that has been missing from both Pitt and Penn State football games is excitement. That can change with the renewal of that series. The teams ended their series in 2000 with a Panther win.

Why did that interesting, exciting inter-state series end? Stay tuned. I will go in-depth on that as we build some excitement for the Sept. 10 at Heinz Field. Noon kick.

Pictures of Forbes Field

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/forbes-field/

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/forbes-field/

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