UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State coach James Franklin did not intend it as an insult.
Far from it, actually.
Indeed, shortly after his team defeated Pitt, 33-14, Saturday at Beaver Stadium, Franklin called the Panthers “a good football team” and predicted “they’re going to win a lot of games this season.”
Still, that doesn’t mean that beating Pitt had any special significance for him, even though the Panthers had beaten Penn State, 42-39, just one year earlier.
“For us,” Franklin said, “this was just like beating Akron.”
Well, not exactly.
Penn State had defeated the Zips, 52-0, a week earlier, and Pitt offered a whole lot more resistance than Akron did, even though Penn State went in front just over two minutes into the game and stayed there the rest of the way.
The Nittany Lions controlled the game even though their two dominant offensive talents, running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley, did not put up the kind of numbers they do most weeks.
Barkley carried 14 times for 88 yards, while McSorley was 15-for-28 passing for 164 yards and ran for 65 more on eight attempts.
“Trace missed some throws early in the game that he normally doesn’t,” Franklin said.
Even so, McSorley accounted for three passing touchdowns, while Barkley recorded multiple touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — for the 10th time in his Penn State career.
Barkley’s receiving score came on a 46-yard pass-and-run play that gave the Nittany Lions a 21-3 lead early in the third quarter.
“Overall, I thought we played a very complete game,” Franklin said. “Our offense is very explosive, and that’s kind how we were again today.
“I’d like to see us sustain some more drives, but overall, we showed that we could score at any moment.”
Franklin said Pitt’s defense was structured to take away Penn State’s inside running game, and the Panthers did a good job of limiting sustained drives by the Nittany Lions.
Penn State had the ball for just 21:40; that’s a reflection of Penn State’s quick-strike offense, but also the defensive efficiency with which Pitt played for much of the game.
Franklin said he is “mainly worried about the scoreboard,” but seemed to acknowledge that Pitt controlling the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game was a cause for concern.
“Time of possession is a stat people used to look at for a long time,” Franklin said. “It was a major factor in wins and losses. I don’t think it’s as much of a factor any more.
“Obviously, you’d like it to be a little bit more balanced. Whenever you get to extremes, that’s when there are problems. It’s no different than anything else in life.”
While Franklin volunteered that “we’d like to create a little more three-and-outs,” and that Penn State had problems defending against shovel passes, the Nittany Lions didn’t allow Pitt to get a touchdown until backup quarterback Ben DiNucci scored on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.
What’s more, Grant Haley’s interception of a Max Browne pass on Pitt’s opening drive —– he returned it 42 yards to the Panthers 8 — set up the touchdown that put Penn State in front to stay.
“The early interception was huge,” Franklin said. “Kind of set the tone, right from the beginning.”
Pitt had an 86-52 edge in offensive plays, but was limited to an average of 4 yards per play.
“All the offensive players have to give huge credit to our defense today,” Nittany Lions offensive tackle Andrew Nelson said. “They played lights-out.”
Kind of like they did against Akron.
Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.
First Published: September 9, 2017, 11:11 p.m.
