First, let me say, I see where Penn State is coming from. I don't agree with it, but I can understand why they feel the way they do. Penn State can't officially say this but this is their thoughts on the rivalry.
"We don't need Pitt. A win does nothing for us. A loss helps their program, which in turn hurts our program, especially in regards to recruiting. We are a better program. We see ourselves as equals to Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. We see no reason to stoop down to Pitt's level. We don't need it and we don't want it. We have big games against Ohio State and Michigan every year and for our 1 P5 OOC game, we can schedule anybody we want."
That is how they feel. They view Pitt as a threat. Its easy to understand why they feel that way. Playing the game certainly helps Pitt more than it helps Penn State.............but I am going to tell you why playing the game helps Penn State a lot, and I mean potentially A LOT.
1. OK, its an easy sellout, something that rarely happens anymore at Beaver Stadium but that's a small reason, lets just get that out of the way.
2. Penn State needs to keep the best PA kids home. Franklin has done a better job of this but they lose out on a lot of players to Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. Of course, you can't get everybody but I've always felt that for what is supposed to be a "big-time program," PSU historically gets a low percentage of top PA players compared to say OSU getting Ohio recruits, Georgia getting GA recruits, LSU getting Louisiana recruits, etc.
By opting not to play Pitt, Pennsylvania kids don't really grow up with a sense of a Pitt/PSU rivalry. Having an annual rivalry game that is one of those "don't schedule plans, don't plan any weddings for that day" for the state is really huge for PA football. PSU vs OSU and PSU vs Michigan are big games but they aren't that emotional type of rivalry. Pitt and PSU is personal. Familes are divided. Friends are divided. Elementary school classes are divided. Yea, its mostly in the Western half of the state but lets not pretend like the Western PA isn't important to Penn State. More Penn State alums live in Allegheny County than any other county in the country.
What I am trying to say is having the game on an annual basis makes everyone choose a side. As a 10 year old kid. Are you blue and gold or blue and white? Or do you switch allegiances like little kids often do. You grow up watching it, wanting to be a part of it. Its more than a game. I mean the Hamilton kid from PSU was crying on the sideline..........for a "non-rivalry" September non-conference game? That, more than anything shows you how much this game means to both schools. Yes, the game will always be bigger for Pitt but that doesn't it mean it can't or isn't big for Penn State.
Every year we see Ohio State, Michigan, ND, and others come into PA and get the top players. Pitt and PSU make convincing sales pitches but the one thing that they can't pitch to these PA kids is "come to our school and you can play in one of the best rivalries in the country." These kids would have grown up their entire lives watching these games and getting to play in Pitt/Penn State could be the one thing that sways a recruit to pick Penn State over Ohio State or Pitt over Notre Dame. From Penn State's perspective, they can still sell playing in the Big Ten, playing OSU, playing Mich, the fact there are 107,000 numbers painted on metal bleachers at Beaver Stadium..........but then they throw in the opportunity the players have to play in the Pennsylvania version of Alabama/Auburn. I mean from a Penn State perspective, they have a lot to sell, but they don't have that rivalry game to sell.
In summing this up, I guess my entire point is this. Maybe that kid from Central Catholic, who grew up watching and going to Pitt/PSU games his entire life, who has friends, classmates, family from each school, maybe a lifetime of Pitt/PSU games resonates with him enough to realize that everything he wants or needs in a college football experience is in Pennsylvania and he doesn't need to go to Columbus, South Bend, or Ann Arbor. Maybe playing in the epic Pitt/Penn State series is that icing on the cake that helps him choose to play at Penn State (but hopefully Pitt).
Penn State is just too short-sighted to see that playing Pitt helps their program too and quite honestly, the better Pitt is, the better it is for Penn State. Its no coincidence that when both teams were competing for national titles simultaneously in the 70s and 80s. Do people really think that was an accident? That game was Alabama/Auburn and very few kids left the state. Pitt was good for Penn State and Penn State was good for Pitt. And that is still the case. If Penn State's administration had the ability to think clearly and rationally, they would play this game forever just like Florida/Florida State, Clemson/South Carolina, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Louisville/Kentucky (which actually hasn't been played a whole lot historically), and Iowa/Iowa State.
"We don't need Pitt. A win does nothing for us. A loss helps their program, which in turn hurts our program, especially in regards to recruiting. We are a better program. We see ourselves as equals to Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. We see no reason to stoop down to Pitt's level. We don't need it and we don't want it. We have big games against Ohio State and Michigan every year and for our 1 P5 OOC game, we can schedule anybody we want."
That is how they feel. They view Pitt as a threat. Its easy to understand why they feel that way. Playing the game certainly helps Pitt more than it helps Penn State.............but I am going to tell you why playing the game helps Penn State a lot, and I mean potentially A LOT.
1. OK, its an easy sellout, something that rarely happens anymore at Beaver Stadium but that's a small reason, lets just get that out of the way.
2. Penn State needs to keep the best PA kids home. Franklin has done a better job of this but they lose out on a lot of players to Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, etc. Of course, you can't get everybody but I've always felt that for what is supposed to be a "big-time program," PSU historically gets a low percentage of top PA players compared to say OSU getting Ohio recruits, Georgia getting GA recruits, LSU getting Louisiana recruits, etc.
By opting not to play Pitt, Pennsylvania kids don't really grow up with a sense of a Pitt/PSU rivalry. Having an annual rivalry game that is one of those "don't schedule plans, don't plan any weddings for that day" for the state is really huge for PA football. PSU vs OSU and PSU vs Michigan are big games but they aren't that emotional type of rivalry. Pitt and PSU is personal. Familes are divided. Friends are divided. Elementary school classes are divided. Yea, its mostly in the Western half of the state but lets not pretend like the Western PA isn't important to Penn State. More Penn State alums live in Allegheny County than any other county in the country.
What I am trying to say is having the game on an annual basis makes everyone choose a side. As a 10 year old kid. Are you blue and gold or blue and white? Or do you switch allegiances like little kids often do. You grow up watching it, wanting to be a part of it. Its more than a game. I mean the Hamilton kid from PSU was crying on the sideline..........for a "non-rivalry" September non-conference game? That, more than anything shows you how much this game means to both schools. Yes, the game will always be bigger for Pitt but that doesn't it mean it can't or isn't big for Penn State.
Every year we see Ohio State, Michigan, ND, and others come into PA and get the top players. Pitt and PSU make convincing sales pitches but the one thing that they can't pitch to these PA kids is "come to our school and you can play in one of the best rivalries in the country." These kids would have grown up their entire lives watching these games and getting to play in Pitt/Penn State could be the one thing that sways a recruit to pick Penn State over Ohio State or Pitt over Notre Dame. From Penn State's perspective, they can still sell playing in the Big Ten, playing OSU, playing Mich, the fact there are 107,000 numbers painted on metal bleachers at Beaver Stadium..........but then they throw in the opportunity the players have to play in the Pennsylvania version of Alabama/Auburn. I mean from a Penn State perspective, they have a lot to sell, but they don't have that rivalry game to sell.
In summing this up, I guess my entire point is this. Maybe that kid from Central Catholic, who grew up watching and going to Pitt/PSU games his entire life, who has friends, classmates, family from each school, maybe a lifetime of Pitt/PSU games resonates with him enough to realize that everything he wants or needs in a college football experience is in Pennsylvania and he doesn't need to go to Columbus, South Bend, or Ann Arbor. Maybe playing in the epic Pitt/Penn State series is that icing on the cake that helps him choose to play at Penn State (but hopefully Pitt).
Penn State is just too short-sighted to see that playing Pitt helps their program too and quite honestly, the better Pitt is, the better it is for Penn State. Its no coincidence that when both teams were competing for national titles simultaneously in the 70s and 80s. Do people really think that was an accident? That game was Alabama/Auburn and very few kids left the state. Pitt was good for Penn State and Penn State was good for Pitt. And that is still the case. If Penn State's administration had the ability to think clearly and rationally, they would play this game forever just like Florida/Florida State, Clemson/South Carolina, Georgia/Georgia Tech, Louisville/Kentucky (which actually hasn't been played a whole lot historically), and Iowa/Iowa State.
