Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi: Penn State football ‘won’t play us’

The in-state rivalry between Penn State football and Pitt is back in the news following comments from Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi at the 2024 ACC Football Kickoff press conference on Tuesday morning. According to Narduzzi, the responsibility for discontinuing the series, first played in 1893, rests solely on James Franklin and the Nittany Lions.

Asked about the renewal of the Backyard Brawl with West Virginia at the ACC media days event, Pat Narduzzi took the question as an opportunity to discuss another rivalry game.

“It’s great to have that rivalry back,” Narduzzi said. “You know, at Pittsburgh, we embrace rivalries, okay? We’d love to play Penn State if they would play us. But they won’t play us.

We’d love to play West Virginia as many times as we can play them. Two years ago, we got them at home. They got us last year. They’re coming back to Pittsburgh. Our kids couldn’t be more excited. I think they got an idea of really, after two years, what a real rivalry game is.”

Last August, Pat Narduzzi made similar remarks regarding the matchup with the Nittany Lions. 

“You’d have to ask James Franklin that,” he said on local Pittsburgh radio when asked why Penn State and Pitt no longer play annually. “My call is ‘let’s go.’ We’ve called, we’ve asked.”

What would it take for Penn State football to play Pitt again?

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

A discussion that comes up at least once a year, the question of renewing the Penn State-Pitt rivalry isn’t new for James Franklin or Penn State football. The last time the Nittany Lions head coach was asked about the topic, he expressed that there could be an outcome beneficial for both sides.

“To me, it needs to be an even exchange, and it needs to make sense,” Franklin said last September. “But I think our ADs should get on the phone and work it out. I’ll tell them that if it’s important to you, and we’ll see if it makes sense for both programs.

“If it’s the right thing to do for our conference, if it’s the right thing to do for Penn State, then I’m more than open to doing it. I think our ADs can get on a conversation, get on a call, and talk about it.”

However, Franklin was also quick to note that, from a financial perspective, the game is viewed differently for the two programs. 

“The thing I do know is, when we went and played at Pitt, it was the second-largest, if not the largest sporting event, in the history of Heinz Field,” he said. “And I don’t think you could buy a Penn State single-game ticket unless you bought their season tickets. So, it was a very different deal. For us, it was an increase of 2,000 fans.”

Penn State football holds a 41-38-4 lead over Pitt in the series since 1915. After a 16-year hiatus, the rivalry was brought back for four games between 2016 and 2019, in which the Nittany Lions went 3-1. 

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