Let the trash-talking begin: Penn State-Pitt now looks like it could be a dandy



… Lions struggled with Appalachian State?

On paper, Saturday’s Pitt-Penn State game looked to be one that the Nittany Lions should dominate. After all, Jeff Sagarin had the Lions ranked tenth in the power rankings while Pitt was 45th.

But, that was then, and this is now. Penn State escaped from Beaver Stadium with an overtime victory over Appalachian State on Saturday, and escaped was meant literally. The Nittany Lions down by a touchdown a minute and change left Saturday before pulling off an overtime win over the AppalachianState Mountaineers, ranked 71st by Sagarin.

Pitt, meanwhile, coasted to an was win over Albany, a former Northeast Conference power that was ranked 174th by Sagarin.

So much for the rankings, which are actually meaningless and based on previous years.

Now, with Pitt having a superb QB in Kenny Pickett to counter PSU’s alleged Heisman candidate, Trace McSorley, and seeing how vulnerable Penn State was in its opener, what could have been a yawner is now a bona fide hot ticket at Heinz Field. 

The good news for Penn State Coach James Franklin, after calling his win "ugly," is that the Lions earned a win. The bad news is just how ugly they looked at times in many areas. It took a great kickoff return by a young return man who did not know hether or not to even come out of the end zone to bring back the Lions. 

The good news for the Panthers is that two years ago, they defeated the Lions at Heinz Field, one of only two losses for Penn State that year, and one that kept them out of the national playoff chase. Playing again at home is a boost for them. 

Penn State won at Beaver Stadium last year, and it has back-to-back 11-win seasons.

Pitt fans have been saying all along that the Nittany Lions are overrated in the preseason polls, ranked 10th by the AP — or at least they were.

However, the Panthers are coming off a losing season and some had predicted a repeat of that, so how good is this Pitt team?

We shall see what we shall see. Could be an exciting one.

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