Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here’s your day in sports for Tuesday, September 8, 2015.
What’s on tap for today:
Penn State head coach James Franklin and WVU head coach Dana Holgorson will have their weekly press conferences this afternoon. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
The Pirates (81-55) will have another shot at the last-place Reds (57-79) in Cincinnati this evening. The Bucs remain 5.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
National headlines:
ESPN.com extensively reported this morning on a decade-plus of cheating by the New England Patriots and how this offseason’s drama is the tip of the iceberg.
Pittsburgh headlines:
The Bucs opened the series in Cincinnati with an error-filled 3-1 loss on Monday afternoon. Jeff Locke pitched well again, allowing only one earned run.
The Pirates also rearranged their starting rotation to make room for A.J. Burnett (right), who will be activated from the disabled list later this week. Ace Gerrit Cole will have his next start skipped.
Speaking of Cole, our Andrew Hodgson took a look at the developing chemistry between Cole and starting catcher Francisco Cervelli.
Our Gar Bercury has a breakdown of each player that made the Steelers 53-man roster for the season-opener at New England on Thursday, starting with the offense, and continuing with defense and special teams.
Pitt will be without All-American running back James Conner for the rest of the 2015 season, after he injured his MCL against Youngstown State on Saturday.
On this date in 1985, the Steelers beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-3 at Three Rivers Stadium, setting the stadium record for largest margin of victory. Mark Malone (right) went 21-for-30 and threw for 287 yards, five touchdown passes, and added another touchdown on a 1-yard run.
Wide receiver Louis Lipps was the recipient of three of those touchdown passes and he finished with nine catches for 154 yards.
He said it: “You just feel awful for him.” — Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi on losing star running back James Conner for the season.
Photo credit: US Presswire (main), USA Today (inset 1), Getty Images (inset 2)
