Penn State fans don’t really get along with Pitt fans, and Penn State players don’t really get along with Pitt fans either. In 2016, Pitt took down the Nittany Lions 42-39 at Heinz Field on the Panthers’ way to a Pinstripe Bowl loss to Northwestern.

In 2017, however, the Nittany Lions exacted their revenge with a 33-14 win, and even Saquon Barkley broke his usual character to talk about Pitt’s fans.

“Obviously you’re supposed to celebrate when you win a game, but when they won last year I think it was a little too much,” Barkley said postgame. “I think there’s a point where you can take it to, and I think they took it too far.”

Barkley also said Pitt fans “acted like they won the national championship” for the rest of the season. Barkley wasn’t the only one who’d developed a disdain for Pitt.

In any case, even if there isn’t a whole lot on the line in this matchup, there is a mutual disdain between programs that will almost certainly shine through.

The Team

When any team plays Pitt, there’s almost no way of knowing how the game will end. In 2017, the Youngstown State Penguins took Pitt into overtime but the Panthers were ultimately victorious. The Panthers also lost to three non-bowl teams last season.

Pat Narduzzi’s squad did, however, knock off a 10-0 Miami squad at Heinz Field, one season removed from toppling eventual Nation Champion Clemson on top of the victory over Penn State (which went on to win the Big Ten that season).

Pitt took down FCS side Albany 33-7 to open up the season, but that will really be no indication of what’s to come on Saturday. To some degree, it’s impossible to know how the Panthers will play on any given Saturday, but we can make some guesses.

The Offense

Kenny Pickett, a sophomore from New Jersey, leads Pat Narduzzi’s offense in 2018. Pickett played just four games in 2017, but did steer the offense in a victory over Miami. In that contest, Pickett completed 19 of 28 passes and scored two touchdowns, one in the air and another on the ground.

Pickett rushed in a five-yard touchdown against Albany for his first score of 2018. He tacked on two passing touchdowns in the first half to finish the opening two quarters 13-for-13 and with three total touchdowns. He’d finish the afternoon 16-for-22 through the air with two scores and an interception, tacking on 42 rushing yards on six carries.

Pickett isn’t really a scrambler a la Trace McSorley, but he certainly likes to tuck and run in relatively short-yardage situations. Wide receiver Jester Weah is no longer at Pitt, which is probably a good thing for the Penn State secondary.

Out wide, the Panthers do have Maurice Ffrench (not a typo), who returned the opening kick of the Albany game for a touchdown. The junior had a quiet game beyond that, other than a rushing touchdown on an end-around. Expect Rafael Araujo-Lopes and Taysir Mack to see the most targets among wide receivers in the passing game.

A.J. Davis carried most of the load at running back for Pitt last week with 13 carries for 46 yards, but it was Qadree Ollison’s 70 yards on just seven carries that was most impressive on the ground. These backs will be operating behind a line that lost four of five starters from 2017, including All-ACC tackle Brian O’Neill.

Narduzzi’s offenses tend to run misdirections and reverses while employing cut blocks and shovel passes to confuse defensive lines. Pitt ran for 238 yards against Albany. Don’t expect Narduzzi to stray away from that this weekend.

The Defense

The Pitt defense has been one of the more confounding aspects of Narduzzi’s reign in the ‘Burgh, especially last season, given the head coach’s experience as defensive coordinator at Michigan State.

Pitt ranked No. 75 in Bill Connelly’s S&P+ defensive rankings in 2017, although the Panthers did clean things up in the second half of the season. They allowed 6.7 yards per play in the first seven games of the season compared to just 4.9 during the final five.

Albany’s running game was completely shut down in the season opener as the Great Danes rushed for 60 yards on 28 carries. Quarterback Vincent Testaverde, however, put up 263 yards while going 18-for-29 in the passing game, bailing out the Pitt defense with two interceptions. If Testaverde’s name looks familiar, that because it is; his father, Vinny, lost to Penn State in the 1986 national championship game with Miami (FL) before beginning his 21-year career in the NFL.

In any case, expect McSorley to attack the Panthers’ secondary, which lost both Jordan Whitehead and Avonte Maddox to the NFL Draft, with some downfield shots.

Dennis Briggs and Demarri Mathis, who intercepted a pass in week one, should see a heavy load of the reps out at corner, hoping to be disrupting forces in the vein of both Maddox and Whitehead.

Saleem Brightwell and Anthony McKee, Jr. came up with five tackles and four tackles, respectively, and will anchor the linebacking corps on Saturday. Senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis totaled three tackles on Saturday and was apparently a standout in spring ball.

The defensive line should have the experience to cause some havoc for McSorley in the pocket. Sophomore end Keyshon Camp was among Pitt’s top five tacklers on the line last season and notched two sacks against Albany. Fellow sophomore defensive end Rashad Weaver also tallied a sack last week.

The passing game should be open for the Nittany Lions on Saturday given the press style of Pitt’s corners and key losses on the Panthers’ defense.

Catch the action at 8 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field or on ABC.