PITTSBURGH – The Pitt football team opens the 2017 season 1 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Youngstown State.
(Photo: Jester Weah. Photo courtesy of Pitt Athletics)
Full game notes available here
Pat Narduzzi media conference (Video courtesy of UPMC Pitt Live Wire)
Below are the official team notes courtesy of the Pitt Athletic Department.
GAME STORYLINES
• Pitt opens its 128th season of intercollegiate football when the Panthers host Youngstown State at Heinz Field.
• Under the direction of third-year head coach Pat Narduzzi, the Panthers are looking to build off consecutive eight-win seasons. The Panthers have finished second in the ACC’s Coastal Division each of the past two years.
• Pitt is 82-43-2 (.654) all-time in openers. Since the 2000 season, Pitt is 12-5 (.706) in its initial game, including 2-0 under Narduzzi.
• Narduzzi has deep ties to Youngstown and YSU. His father, the late Bill Narduzzi, was the Penguins’ head coach from 1975-85, twice leading them to the NCAA Division II playoffs, including the 1979 national title game.
• Pat Narduzzi was a starting linebacker for his father in 1985, leading the Ohio Valley Conference in tackles as a YSU freshman.
• A member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Youngstown State is coming off an exceptional 2016 campaign. The Penguins finished with a 12-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Division I national championship game, where they lost to James Madison, 28-14.
• Youngstown State head coach Bo Pelini is in his third season with the Penguins. Like Narduzzi, Pelini is also a Youngstown native. Prior to YSU, Pelini was the head coach at Nebraska for seven seasons (2008-14).
• Narduzzi (Ursuline) and Pelini (Cardinal Mooney) starred at rival Youngstown high schools. In their last meeting against each other, Ursuline routed Mooney, 35-0, in a game that decided the 1984 Steel Valley Conference title.
• Pitt is 14-1 all-time against FCS opponents. The Panthers’ lone loss to an FCS foe came against Youngstown State in the 2012 season opener, 31-17.
SERIES NOTES
Pitt and Youngstown State meet for the fifth time in a series that began in 2005…the Panthers are 3-1 against the Penguins…the last meeting occurred on Sept. 5, 2015, a 45-37 Pitt victory…that 2015 game served as the head coaching debut for Pat Narduzzi…incidentally, Bo Pelini was making his YSU coach-ing debut in that same game…the Panthers’ lone loss in the series came on Sept. 1, 2012, when YSU upset Pitt, 31-17…the 2012 YSU game is Pitt’s lone loss to a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent…the Panthers are 14-1 all-time vs. FCS foes…on Sept. 5, 2009, Pitt rolled to a 38-3 victory over YSU to open the season….the inaugural game between the schools was on Sept. 24, 2005, when the Panthers defeated the Penguins, 41-0…the 2005 encounter is the only contest between Pitt and YSU that was not a season opener.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television • ACC Network Extra via ESPN3/WatchESPN
Robert Lee, play-by-play
Dustin Fox, analyst
Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & the Pitt IMG Sports Network
Bill Hillgrove, play-by-play
Bill Osborn, analyst
Larry Richert, reporter
SiriusXM Satellite Radio
Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 197, Internet Channel 959
WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM
Pitt IMG Sports Network Online Audio Options
PittsburghPanthers.com
Pitt Panthers Gameday App
TuneIn (free live and on-demand content)
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