Pitt's Narduzzi: Game vs. No. 6 Penn State 'not just another week'

Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi discusses Penn State, his team's next opponent, in a way that leaves no doubt as to how he feels.

"The Penn State game is a big game, because it's an in-state game," Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly news conference. "It's important not only to the guys that sit in this (meeting) room, but to the community out there, to the state of Pennsylvania, to the city of Pittsburgh. It's a pride thing, and that's why it's big. It's not just another week."

The Panthers will take on the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions on Saturday at Beaver Stadium in the 98^th meeting of the teams, and the first in Happy Valley since 1999. Pitt will look for a repeat of last year's result when it took a 28-7 second-quarter lead and held off a Penn State comeback for a 42-39 win at Heinz Field.

Narduzzi said that despite the sometimes contentious history of the storied rivalry, "there's no hate here … and I don't think there's any hate there, either."

But one thing that shows how Narduzzi feels is that he has decided for the second straight year not to make his players or his assistant coaches available to the media during Penn State week, at least until after Saturday's game.

"This has nothing to do with keeping you (media) out," he said. "It's just keeping our kids tight. All the talk should be about the game and the matchups. It's a big game, it really is, and I want our guys locked in. It's an in-state rivalry, at least for us, and we're going to prepare for it that way."

The Panthers won their season opener on Saturday, but needed overtime to do it after Youngstown State, last year's FCS runner-up, rallied from a 21-0 deficit to tie the score. Narduzzi blamed the collapse on "lack of focus, lack of fundamentals, feeling good about yourself."

Two players made their debuts for Pitt at key positions. Fifth-year senior quarterback Max Browne, who transferred from Southern California after losing his starting job to Sam Darnold, completed 17 of 24 passes for just 140 yards. Redshirt freshman Alex Kessman missed both of his field-goal attempts, including a 38-yarder at the end of regulation.

Narduzzi had plenty of praise for Penn State, which opened its season with a 52-0 rout of Akron. He singled out running back Saquon Barkley, but also gave credit to the entire offense.

"Everybody's got to be gap sound," he said of his defense against Barkley. "You've got to get penetration in the backfield. But then you load the box and then they've got the other things. They've got players outside, too."

The Panthers opened as a decided underdog with the oddsmakers, but the coach, who was part of three wins at Beaver Stadium as Michigan State's defensive coordinator, said he and his players aren't worried about what people are saying.

"They're a great football team, there's no doubt about it," he said. "We've got to go into a hostile environment, which we're done before and had success. But the odds are against us. We're not blind to that, and that's OK. It's nice to be the underdog. We were the underdog last year, too, so what's the difference?"