Pat Narduzzi Calls for Revival of Storied Rivalry Between Penn State and Pittsburgh

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Pittsburgh's head coach, Pat Narduzzi, is as much of an old-school football coach as we have left in college football. He is one of the good ones left in the sport, and on Friday, he added another feather in his cap.

At ACC Media Day, Narduzzi was asked about the potential of getting the Penn State game back on the schedule, and he said that he "wants to fire that up" and "if they want to schedule that 13th game, we'd play it right now."

The Pitt and Penn State Rivalry is one of the greatest in-state rivalries in all of College Football, and it features two old-school, football-loving fan bases. 

From 1935 until the year 2000, this game was a staple in every single college football season. Then, the game stopped for 15 years before it was restarted in 2016 for four years and then went back on pause for the last six.

The first-ever matchup between these two teams was all the way back in 1893, further establishing this matchup as a historical rivalry.

Penn State has the advantage in the rivalry with a 53-43-1 record and has won 10 of the last 12 games dating back to 1989. 

It has become increasingly harder to get a game like this on the calendar with the way that conferences have been established and how critical it is for teams to not slip up during the regular season, but this one seems like a no-brainer.

For the good of college football, I think that just about everyone would rather see Penn State versus Pitt instead of Penn State against Villanova, Buffalo, Marshall, or any of the other openers that Penn State rolls out there.

There is a pocket in the near east coast that has three tailor-made rivalries in it. The trio of Penn State, Pitt, and West Virginia has to be games that are played every year. They just have to be without any debate.

Especially when the College Football Playoff increases to 24 teams, and it becomes much easier to make it into the postseason, games like these need to be put back on the calendar.

Narduzzi has his foot on the gas pedal. He is in communication with Penn State's Athletic Director Pat Kraft about getting it back on the calendar, and it seems like something Matt Campbell would be all about.

Getting a historic rivalry back on the calendar should be a top priority for all teams, and this is one of those that falls into that category.

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