PSAC West teams battles rain throughout the week but many teams still managed to post impressive performances. Four PSAC West teams came away with victories, some needing a late-game hero and others a little bit of luck. Clarion 27, Millersville 21 The Golden Eagles built a 13-0 first-quarter lead and held off a late Millersville comeback to pick up their second win in as many weeks on Thursday at home. Millersville scored a touchdown with just 1:10 showing on the final game clock. After ... Read More
Panthers defense comes up big at Akron
Feasting on smaller programs from the neighboring state of Ohio, the Pittsburgh Panthers have rather quietly opened the 2015 season to a 2-0 start under new head coach Pat Narduzzi. Following last week's season-opening victory at Heinz Field against Youngstown State, Pitt (2-0) visited the University of Akron (0-2) on Saturday evening in an attempt to avenge what was considered an upset loss last season to Terry Bowden's Zips. The Panther defense, which surrendered 37 points last week to ... Read More
Who is the next great Pittsburgh-born NHLer?
Almost everyone knows about Ryan Malone, R.J. Umberger, Josh Gibson, J.T. Miller, Vince Trocheck and other current NHL players that are from the Pittsburgh region. But what about the next generation of Pittsburgh hockey talent? Just like Malone idolized Mario Lemieux, and Miller grew up during Jaromir Jagr's reign as the best player in the world, there is a group of young players that have developed in Western Pennsylvania since Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have taken up the Penguins ... Read More
Penn State battles slow first half, rain to top Buffalo 27-14
The Penn State Nittany Lions (1-1) overcame soggy weather and used a dominating second half to top the Buffalo Bulls (1-1) by a final score of 27-14. Penn State started the afternoon with a 58-yard return on the opening kickoff. Despite DaeSean Hamilton’s two catches, the Lions failed to convert on the fourth down. Buffalo’s first offensive possession ended with a three-and-out after quarterback Joe Licata was sacked, and the Bulls were forced to punt. Several quick penalties gave Buffalo ... Read More
Column: Gonchar provides little value to Pens blueline
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced the signing of Sergei Gonchar to a professional tryout contract in early August, giving the veteran blueliner a chance to earn a spot on the final roster. While Gonchar enjoyed five productive seasons in Pittsburgh, scoring 259 points in 322 games and winning a Stanley Cup in 2009, at 41 years old, the team needs to break the habit of recycling veteran players and instead, finally allow a younger defensive corps to develop. With the innate ability to ... Read More
Nittany Lions to face off against Buffalo Bulls in home opener
The Penn State Nittany Lions (0-1) will open a five-game home series against the Buffalo Bulls (1-0) on Saturday at 12 p.m. ESPN2 will provide live coverage of the game. After the Lions fell 27-10 and allowed Temple to snap a 74-year losing streak last week, head coach James Franklin is eager to get his team back home in front of friendly crowds. "We are looking forward to being back at home in front of our friends and family and our supporters," he said. "I think it's going to be really, ... Read More
Pitt vs. Akron: Preview, Prediction and more
The Pitt Panthers started things off with a win to open the Pat Narduzzi era, but it certainly wasn’t pretty against Youngstown State. “A win is a win is a win,” said Narduzzi after the game. The Panthers will look to sure things up against MAC opponent Akron in Week 2, a Zips team that defeated Pitt at Heinz Field a season ago. Who has the advantage? Let’s take a look. When: Saturday, September 12 Where: InfoCision Stadium, Akron, Ohio Time: 6:00 pm EST Watch: ... Read More
COLUMN: Enigmatic Steelers must learn quickly from mistakes
Forget, if you can, for just a few minutes about how much you loathe Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. No matter your opinions or beliefs, or mine, they were the better, more complete football team on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. With all of the focus on the many alleged cheating tactics used over the years, it is not likely these 2015 Patriots participated in any illegal acts on that wet field in this game. Brady, the ... Read More
Steelers Report Card: Grading Steelers Week 1 loss to Patriots
Many expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to get blown out Thursday night to begin the season against the defending Super Bowl champions. And while that wasn’t the case, they did come up short on the scoreboard. Despite starting the season out on a bad note, there were some positive things coming from the black and gold. With that being said there were also plenty of negatives. Let’s take a look at how the Steelers graded out in our first Steelers Report Card of the 2015 ... Read More
W&J’s Lis and Torrance earn PAC Weekly honors
Week 1 of the 2015 college football season is in the books and local Division III teams like W&J and Waynesburg got off to very strong starts to the season with Week 1 victories. A pair of W&J players earned President's Athletic Conference honors in the process as they took apart Wooster 56-10. Junior linebacker Ryan Torrance, a Latrobe native, was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week. Torrance turned in a dominant Week 1 performance with 11 solo tackles, while playing just ... Read More