These two teams have played 96 times. At one time, this was the preeminent Northeastern football game, year after year. It is enshrined at the CFB HOF as one of the 10 best college football rivalries of all time. I've heard people say that this game can't and won't recapture what this rivalry once meant.
This is because, generally, most people are very bad and have very bad ideas about things. Do not listen to people. Live your life. Hate Penn State.
The Coaches:
Pat Narduzzi - Pros: is Italian. Cons: n/a
James Franklin: Pros: is eminently hateable in all ways. Cons: seems to spellbind very talented 17 and 18 year olds and convince them to sign for 4 years of highly dangerous and largely unpaid labor, despite scant evidence of gameday management skills.
The QBs:
Nate Peterman: Pros: seems like a nice guy. Cons: does any Pitt fan like their odds, down 4, with 3 minutes left and the ball on the Pitt 35 and Nate leading the drive?
Trace Mcsorley: Pros: is quick and/or fast? Is probably really annoying to catch/tackle after 3 qtrs of him running around in 90 degree weather. Cons: is named Trace, almost assuredly a dck.
The RBs:
James Conner: Pros: is an x-man. Cons: given what he has been through both in rehabbing a torn MCL and chemo, does he give Pitt the best chance to win at RB, right now, right this minute? Or is that Ollison, or Hall, or Moss?
Saquon Barkley: Pros: is an x-man. Cons: uhhhhh, the OL is still a question mark?
Marketing slogans:
Pitt is it!; H2P: Both are clean and easy, and fun to say.
Unrivaled: the dumbest marketing slogan in some time. Change it to "No one cares about us that much, apparently" for clarity.
Saddest fans of this weekend, at least before the game:
UWV fans. Sorry guys.
Worst fans:
Pitt: Me. And @NAN. Mainly @NAN.
UPS: All of you on this board are terrible people who don't deserve any CFB-related happiness.
Famous moments from rivalry games past:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYQR4UJQR_A
Mike Gottfried chasing Billy Owens down the Pitt Stadium turf after his pick six for a 10-0 win is one of the best moments in Pitt history.
This game was one of the best Pitt teams, with Marino at QB. #1 Pitt goes up 14-0 at home vs. #9 UPS, and never scores again, losing 48-14.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k3r7Cuv6Sk
Prediction:
I have no idea. Dopes like Paul Zeise keep saying that the kids on the teams don't care about this like a rivalry game, and that UPS doesn't even recruit much west of Harrisburg anymore, etc. This is nonsense. Once they get out there, and there are 70K people losing their minds at an intense, late-season, hateful level ("DURR BECAUSE THE CROWD WILL BE ALL UPS FANS" - DK), things will go 0 to 60 real quick. Plenty of these guys were recruited by both schools, and I think that the intensity will be through the roof.
UPS leads at half 13-7. I pee myself a little bit and PM the mods to delete this entire website.
H2P