Pitt “Drops” Road Game At Penn State, 33-14
“I know last year for their win it was like the Super Bowl, but for us this was just like beating Akron.” These were the thoughts uttered by Penn State Head Football Coach James Franklin shortly after Penn State beat Pitt 33-14 on Saturday at State College, PA.
Could have fooled DreamBackfield.com. Penn State had “its seventh-largest crowd ever and the largest since 2009, as 109,898 packed Beaver Stadium,” a game that apparently only meant something to the state of Pennsylvania but not to the Penn State players or coaching staff.
Pitt did all it could do to give the game to the Nittany Lions. Much of the blame fell on the play of Pitt graduate transfer senior QB Max Browne and the Panther wide receivers.
On the Panthers first series, Pitt struggled to get their offense going namely due to Browne’s errant passing.
After Pitt junior WR Quadree Henderson returned the opening kickoff 17 yards to the Pitt 19, Browne started the series by handing the ball off to junior tailback Qadree Ollison. He would gain 3 yards to the Pitt 22 after which Browne would connect a 5 yard short pass to Henderson to the Pitt 27.
On the ensuing snap, Ollison gained a couple more tough yards before Browne sailed a pass way above Henderson’s head and into the arms of Penn State’s Grant Haley who returned for 42 yards to the Pitt 8.
On the next play, Penn State QB Trace McSorley found All-America TE candidate Mike Gesicki (Manahwakin, NJ) for an 8 yard TD pass. Penn State 7 Pitt 0.
After the teams traded punts, Pitt punted again before Penn State’s McSorley busted a big run for 36 yards to the Pitt 18 yard line. A few plays later, McSorley connected with Gesicki again for a 10 yard TD strike. Penn State 14 Pitt 0.
Browne would get intercepted again after the teams traded punts when he sailed a pass into the arms of Nittany Lions safety Troy Apke.
Pitt did, though, manage to get on the scoreboard late in the first quarter when Panther sophomore kicked Alex Kessman booted a 28 yard field goal (his first of the season). Penn State 14 Pitt 3.
Just before half, McSorley attempted one final heave that was deflected into the hands of Pitt sophomore cornerback Dane Jackson at the Pitt 7 yard line. It was Penn State’s only turnover of the day.
By the 3rd Quarter, the teams would trade punts again before the Pitt defense got burned on a simple post route as McSorley found Penn State superstar tailback Saquon Barkley out of the backfield on a wide-open 46 yard TD pass. Penn State 21 Pitt 3.
On the next series, Pitt countered with a 24 yard field goal by Kessman and trimmed the Penn State lead to 21-6.
The teams would trade punts again before Barkley capped the ensuing Nittany Lions possession with an 8 yard TD run. Penn State 28 Pitt 6.
Pitt would not quit however.
The Panthers decided to counter with the depth and talents of its backfield. Panther sophomore tailback Chawntez Moss got into the act with runs of 11 and 1 yard to the Pitt 37 yard line.
This set up perhaps Pitt’s biggest play of the day when Browne completed a shovel pass to Ollison for 30 yards to the Penn State 33. This was followed up by another shovel pass, this time to junior tailback Darrin Hall for 13 yards to the Nittany Lions 20.
Hall then took the next snap 4 yards to the Penn State 16 before Browne finally found Senior graduate transfer (Rutgers) TE Matt Flanagan on an 8 yard pass to the Nittany Lions 8.
Ollison tacked on 3 more yards before Browne inched closer with a 2 yard QB sneak of his own. Browne’s helmet would come off and he would be forced to sit a play.
This placed the Pitt scoring drive into the hands of Pitt’s back-up QB, sophomore Ben Dinucci who ran it 3 yds for the Pitt TD. Dinucci followed that up with a short pass to Ollison for the 2-point Conversion. Penn State 28 Pitt 14.
The Panthers would get no closer.
After the Pitt defense forced a Penn State punt, the ball was downed inside the Pitt 5 yard line.
Browne tried to pass Pitt’s way out of danger where he then missed on a screen pass to Hall. Unfortunately, Browne did connect with Hall on the next snap in which Hall was tackled in the end-zone and this resulted in a Pitt safety. Penn State 30 Pitt 14.
The Lions then added a Tyler Davis 24 yard field goal on the resulting drive. Penn State 33 Pitt 14.
This set up Pitt’s final drive in which Dinucci took the control of the offense.
Ollison would start the drive with a 2 yard loss but this set up a Dinucci pass to junior WR Rafael Araujo-Lopes for 8 yards to the Pitt 31.
Dinucci’s next pass to Flanagan went incomplete, but he did tuck it and ran the ball 15 yards to the Pitt 46 yard line. He showed nice speed and mobility for a QB his size.
Dinucci then completed two passes to Araujo-Lopes for 11 yards and 1 yard respectively before he found senior WR Jester Weah for 8 yards to the Penn State 34 yard line.
Moss would tack on a run of 6 yards before DiNucci hit Weah again for a 21 yard strike to the Penn State 7 yard line.
DiNucci had a sure TD but couldn’t quite connect with sophomore TE Chris Clark (who dropped an earlier pass in a critical 3rd down situation). Dinucci then inched closer with a 3 yard run to the Nittany Lions 4 yard line.
But then, DiNucci was sacked on consecutive plays. First, by Penn State’s Koa Farmer for a loss of 4 yards and then by the Nittany Lions Robert Windsor for a loss of 9 yards to the Penn State 17 yard line.
Pitt’s last drive of the day ended when Dinucci fumbled, which was forced and recovered by Penn State’s Windsor to close out the game.
Penn State 33 Pitt 14 FINAL.
Notes:
• Penn State now leads the all-time series with Pitt 51-43-4. The two teams will meet again for the final 2 games of the series in 2018 (at Heinz Field/Pittsburgh, PA) and 2019 (at Beaver Stadium/State College, PA). There are currently no further games planned between the two schools.
• The schools will play against each other in Men’s Basketball this fall in the Legends Classic at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY on November 20, 2017.
• In Men’s Hoops, Pitt and Penn State have met 147 times, most recently last season’s Pitt’s 81-73 victory in the Never Forget Tribute Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Pitt has won the past seven games in a row, but Penn State holds a 75-72 edge in the all-time series.
• Next game: #9 Oklahoma State at Pitt, Sat Sept 16, 2017 at 12pm Noon EST; ESPN (TV).
• Oklahoma State beat Pitt last year (2016) 45-38 in the teams first-ever meeting.
