Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi is throwing down the gauntlet at James Franklin and the Nittany Lions as to why the two rivals have met just four times since 2016 after a 15-year hiatus.
“You’d have to ask James Franklin,” Narduzzi said on 93.7 The Fan. “My call is, ‘Let’s go.’ We’ve called, we’ve asked.”
This isn’t the first time Narduzzi has publicly challenged his in-state rival. At ACC Media Day, the coach took a thinly-veiled shot at Penn State’s offense when talking about his own QB room which includes a Happy Valley transfer.
We’ve got a lot of faith in Nate Yarnell and Christian Veilleux. Christian is a guy that, well, things are brand-new for him. He’s coming from a one-word offense to a real offense. But it’s a totally different offense. This offense is NFL-style with sophisticated terminology. We’re going to see a different version of Christian. Nate has had a little taste of the offense, but he’s a baby.
Penn State has won three of the series’ last four meetings, dropping the first one as boos rained down from the Beaver Stadium stands seven years ago.
The Nittany Lions would end up finishing 11-3 that season so all was forgiven, but it wasn’t a great start for Franklin at the time coming off back-to-back 7-6 campaigns.
We’ll see if Narduzzi’s challenge ends up changing things beyond 2023.