As the College Football season approaches, more eyes are turning to the renewal of an instate rivalry between Pitt and Penn State. The last meeting between the two took place on September 16th, 2000. The Panthers secured a 12-0 victory over the Nittany Lions at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA in the last rivalry game played back in 2000. Now almost exactly 16 years later, the top 2 college teams in the state of Pennsylvania will begin the next installment of their rivalry when Penn State travels to Heinz Field on September 10th 2016. This will begin a 4-year home and home series between the rivals with games in State College in 2017 and 2019, and the second Pitt home game to be played in Pittsburgh in 2018.

Penn State leads the overall series that dates back to 1893 with a record of 50-42-4. However, Pitt holds the longest win streak between the rivals, winning 14 straight games over Penn State spanning 1922 to 1938. The rivalry began to fall apart when each team joined a conference during the 90’s. When they were both independents it was very easy to make sure the instate rivalry was scheduled each year, but joining a conference (Pitt-Big East, PSU-Big Ten) meant they each had less scheduling flexibility and were not able to keep the tradition going. Let’s hope they can keep the series going and battle it out for the PA bragging rights every year down the road.

Now second year Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and third year coach James Franklin have renewed the rivalry a bit early in the recruiting aspect of things, and added a bit more intrigue to the matchup. Franklin and Narduzzi are constantly battling it out to sign the top recruits in Pennsylvania. In the 2016 class, Franklin secured the number 1 PA prospect Miles Sanders, while Narduzzi signed Damar Hamlin the number 4 ranked player in PA. The two coaches have done their part to reignite the rivalry between the schools, and it should make for a fun four years of football. The two have even gone as far as taking subtle jabs at each other. Narduzzi was quoted in a press conference, “You could have a talented quarterback with a bad play caller and make him look bad. You see that around the country, some closer than others” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This is believed to be a shot at the Penn State coaching staff’s use of highly rated QB Christian Hackenberg. James Franklin made his intentions to “dominate the state” clear and that includes beating his instate rivals in the recruiting game and hopefully on the field when the two finally meet. Narduzzi and Franklin still have the utmost respect for each other, and whether you a PSU or Pitt fan, you should enjoy the rivalry that’s brewing.

The excitement is at an all time high as we get closer to game day, and if one thing is certain, September 10th, 2016 will be a monumental day for Pennsylvania football.

Follow @ACAllAmericans for quality, up-to-date sports reporting