Who wins a Penn State-Pitt matchup?

Q: We all know that Penn State has been unwilling to schedule Pitt for a number of years. Given that Penn State just lost to Iowa, a team that Pitt beat, is it safe to say that Pitt would win that matchup if they played? Just wondering. Matthew Mills, Granbury, Texas
MUSSELMAN: Matt, interesting question, but there is no real answer. Two totally different games. Pitt won at home against Iowa, 21-20, and Penn State lost on the road, 24-23. Ironically, the guy who kicked the winning 31-yard field goal against the Nittany Lions Saturday -- Daniel Murray -- had been benched for nearly two months since missing a 35-yarder against the Panthers back in late September. Penn State is ranked No. 7 in The Associated Press poll and Pitt No. 21. The Lions would be favored whether they played the Panthers home or away.

Give me a break. Actually, since you lost to Bowling Green you would get destroyed by 40 points against Penn State.

over 3 years ago BSD 22 comments 0 recs |

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But the transitive property is 100% accurate in college football!!!

and by that property, we would also beat USC by (on avererage of the 2 common opponents) 6 points. Therefore, Pitt would beat USC by 8 points! It all makes sense to me now!

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 10, 2008 3:28 PM EST reply actions

Love how the question is worded

Of coures we are the ones unwilling ot schedule Pitt. Actually, we’re just unwilling to give Pitt a home-and-home series on a long term basis. If Pitt were willing to do a two-for-one I’m sure we could work something out. But WE’RE the ones unwilling to make this happen.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Nov 10, 2008 3:49 PM EST reply actions

lol

I love the 2-for-1 deal we propose to them, since it is such a slap in the face, but in Pitt’s defense, that is basically our way of saying “no” to them.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 10, 2008 4:36 PM EST up reply actions

Do you think

Pitt would bite if we did a 3-5 with them and Syracuse where it would switch every 5 years who gets the extra home game? What about a 3-4 just with Pitt?

by whiteoutonly on Nov 10, 2008 7:01 PM EST up reply actions

Trust me

I was at the Pitt game this weekend and I truely believe that if we show up with any type of effort better then we had against Iowa, then we would kick their asses! They are slow. That is the best way I can put it, they just do not have the athletes that we have.

JoePa in '09

by JGuiher on Nov 10, 2008 5:29 PM EST reply actions

penn state definitely

All of my pitt friends after the game were claiming they could beat us. What a joke. Granted, anyone could beat us if we play like we did Saturday, but as long as we execute on even 60% of our plays we would win. They lost to Bowling Green and play in the Big East. Come on. The Big East is so irrelevant right now that no one even bothers arguing about it. Their top team is what 21st in the polls? wow.

Let's Go State

by rmcmillen50 on Nov 10, 2008 5:37 PM EST reply actions

A nice consolation prize

If we fail to make the Rose Bowl, I wouldn’t mind going to the Orange Bowl and beating up Pitt should they win the Big East.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Nov 10, 2008 5:39 PM EST reply actions

It would suck from the perspective that we’d have to lose to make that happen, but I would enjoy the prospects of that. Especially this year, since we’re pretty darn good and Pitt thinks they’re good but aren’t any better than Baylor. (no offense Baylor, you fiesty bunch of Bears you)

by blogue20 on Nov 10, 2008 6:12 PM EST up reply actions

right, and therefore it wouldn't happen anyway

I don’t see a 2-loss Penn State going to the BCS.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 11, 2008 11:12 AM EST up reply actions

Prefer

I would love to face Pitt. Not only would it shut up that side of the state, but it would give us a nice Western PA recruiting boost. Everyone knows the Mustache can’t coach in big games (last years WVU game being the exception to the rule)

PSU Softball

by QBsneak12 on Nov 11, 2008 11:30 AM EST up reply actions

He has a tendency to do alright in big games, its the little ones (Bowling Green, Rutgers) that bite him in the arse.

John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...

by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Nov 12, 2008 2:12 PM EST up reply actions

Face it

Penn State is the party that has quashed this series through arrogance and greed. And we need it back. Even before the Iowa loss, you could see how we were going to get screwed in the polls for strength of schedule. What would be better for our SOS, a one-point win over Big East contenders or 66-10 wins over the Coastal Carolinas and Eastern Illinois of the world?

by Joe 96alum on Nov 11, 2008 6:33 PM EST reply actions

Here's the problem with a PSU-Pitt rivalry right now

Neither school has their hands clean when it comes to an agreement on a rivalry renewal. Yes, PSU wants 2 home games for every away game at Pitt, but is that so unfair? For the Pitt fans and their home field advantage, sure. But money is obviously a driving factor here. Pitt needs Penn State for ticket-selling purposes, as West Virginia is the only game they are going to sell out if they even sell that out, and thats only because WVU will bring a ton of their own fans to the game. I was at the ‘04 WVU-Pitt game, and the ENTIRE upper deck on the WVU side was WVU fans. Penn State sells virtually the same number of tickets no matter who we’re playing, Pitt obviously does not. One of the things I know that PSU doesn’t like about a renewal of the series is how PSU fans would get tickets – outside of the standard alottment that Penn State would get, Penn Staters would have to buy an entire season ticket package through Pitt just to get tickets for the one game. Thats ridiculous. PSU knows they have the ace in the hole when it comes to renewing the rivalry, and Pitt is going to have to budge if they want it back. You don’t see Temple crying for a one-and-one do you? Because they know their limitations, and are happy to get the profit from an occasional home game with PSU in exchange for traveling to Happy Valley twice just to get that one. And yes, Temple and Pitt are both comparable in reference to their struggles selling tickets right now.

by blogue20 on Nov 12, 2008 12:10 PM EST up reply actions

In addition

Beaver Stadium capacity – 107,282
Heinz Field capacity – 65,050

Attendance for the Pitt home opener this season vs. BG, in which they were a preseason ranked Top 25 team and had lofty expectations? 45,063, 69.2% capactiy
Attendance for Saturday’s Louisville game, one week after they knocked off Notre Dame? 44,055, 67,7% capacity. Thats pathetic.

Attendance for PSU home opener against a D-1AA team? 106,577, 99.3% capacity. I would be willing to bet that even during the dark years, Penn State had at least 85% capacity crowds, during the lowest of lows for the program.

Bottom line is: Pitt needs Penn State financially, and Penn State doesn’t need Pitt. This isn’t about renewing the rivalry, to the athletic departments is all about dollars. Penn State knows that, which is why they aren’t willing to give in to Pitt’s demands. Pitt could make this happen if they acknowledged their place in relation to where each program is at right now. I can’t blame Penn State for not giving in, they don’t have any reason to. And I would certainly refuse to help out the Pitt athletic department by buying season tickets just to get a ticket to one game, no fan should have to do that.

by blogue20 on Nov 12, 2008 12:27 PM EST up reply actions

Entire Season Ticket Package?

Can there really be any truth to that?

In the era of StubHub and Craigslist, this game would be sold out and half Penn State if played in Heinz Field.

by The IC Lion on Nov 12, 2008 1:22 PM EST up reply actions

any ticket you bought off stubhug or craigslist

would be adjusted to reflect to “investment” the person made in buying the season package in the first place…and investment they likely made just to sell the PSU game. Since they won’t make any money, and might even lose money, on the rest of the tickets, they’ll try to subsidize all that loss in the sale of the PSU ticket, so in the end you’ll basically be paying as much as the package was in the first place (assuming demand would be high enough…and I think at least in the beginning years of a renewed rivalry it would be).

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 13, 2008 1:21 PM EST up reply actions

I'm not disputing

that it’s mostly about money. All I’m saying is that focusing on money will eventually cost Penn State a shot at the national championship because of the hit to the strength of schedule caused by scheduling the likes of Youngstown State. History books will talk about national championships, not the number of dollars pulled in on one side of the ledger.

by Joe 96alum on Nov 12, 2008 10:35 PM EST reply actions

I hear where youre coming from...

But, I don’t think pitt is the answer. Would they be a step up from Temple? Yes, but we would still need another ‘big name’ to get any kind of credit for a good non conference game. Look at Oregon State and our awful mileage out of that. I don’t see pitt getting any more respect than than the Beavers.

I’d also argue about history books only talking about NC’s. They also talk about undefeated seasons in the same breath.

Onward to the Rose Bowl!!!!!
Traped in the SF Bay area.....nothing like kickoff at 9 am.

by bconway6 on Nov 13, 2008 3:50 AM EST up reply actions

From a football standpoint

Pitt is a lose-lose situation. We won’t get any credit for beating them, and Pitt beating us (1 win every 10 games is still one big one) would be devastating on so many fronts. Sure, I’d love to shut up my Pitt-backing buddies by pummeling them over and over, but its just not worth it from a perceptional angle. They would get a shot at a huge win, and all we have is the potential to lose a damaging game. And as crappy as Pitt is and with the lameduck coach they have, he somehow figures out how to beat the teams they have no business beating.

by blogue20 on Nov 13, 2008 12:15 PM EST up reply actions

With 12 games now

there’s 4 OOC games and it’d be easy to schedule Pitt as one of them, a high-profile team as another as we’re doing with with Alabama, and do the best you can with the other two (maybe get someone like Navy or Boise St. to come here). Also, since a Pitt game would almost have to be in September, losing to them might not hurt much early in the season, much like losing to Ole Miss doesn’t seem to be hurting Florida right now.

by Joe 96alum on Nov 13, 2008 1:19 PM EST reply actions

right, but

a loss to Pitt would basically end any chance at a national championship (while not affecting Big 10 standings/championship chances)

a win against a 1-AA would not really hurt our NC chances, since a team basically has to go undefeated or have only 1 loss anyway for that to happen, and in the end the weakness of some ooc opponents doesn’t really come into play except as a talking point for someone to try to diss the team or discredit them.

Like this year, Texas Tech is undefeated, and #2 in the BCS. They played two 1-AA teams. Penn State has 1 loss and is behind 4 other 1-loss teams, all of whom have a 1-AA team on their schedule. Even if Penn State didn’t have Coastal Carolina, though, we’d still be back of the pack due to perceived weakness of the Big 10 and/or our loss coming to a “worse” opponent. Sure, if we had a win over a team like USC or Texas on our resume that would help, but a win over a team like Pitt wouldn’t help, and there would always be that outside chance that they’d beat us.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 13, 2008 1:27 PM EST up reply actions