What to expect from Pitt, WVU, Penn State
James Franklin and Mike Tomlin have plenty in common for the 2025 football season.
Both are winning but highly criticized head coaches who will be feeling the pressure with high expectations locally.
Tomlin’s Steelers don’t open up until next week but when it comes to the area’s big three in college, the Nittany Lions, Pitt and West Virginia all played their openers at home Saturday, each as at least a five-touchdown favorite, and all three won handily.
The Panthers pounded Duquesne, 61-9, the Nittany Lions romped over Nevada, 46-11, and the Mountaineers rolled over Robert Morris after a lackluster first half, 45-3.
What are we to expect from this trio the rest of the season?
Here’s one opinion on how their seasons will go.
PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions could’ve reached the CFP championship game last year but a panicked, ill-advised throw by quarterback Drew Allar led to a Notre Dame interception and a late field goal sent the Fighting Irish on to play eventual champion Ohio State.
Allar is back and is regarded as one of the top QBs in the country even though his performance in big games mirrors Franklin’s record against highly-ranked teams. He does have the build and skills to perhaps even be in the Heisman mix though.
Penn State does have a powerful running game again with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen to take pressure off Allar, and the Nittany Lions play basically a preseason schedule (Florida International and Villanova following Nevada) before hosting Oregon in the spectacle that is the Beaver Stadium White-Out Game.
Besides the Ducks’ game, Ohio State is the one all PSU fans will have circled on their calendar (Nov. 1), a team that’s been a thorn in Franklin’s side for years. The Buckeyes will come away with the win again this season at home, and if the Nittany Lions are looking ahead at all, they could be coming in off a loss at Iowa, always a tough place to play.
Forecast:: Penn State will go 11-1 in the regular season, qualify for the CFP tournament but fall short of the championship game again. How Nittany Lions fans react to such a scenario will be interesting to watch.
PITT
The Panthers and coach Pat Narduzzi have their own comparison to Tomlin and not in a good way. Both teams collapsed down the stretch in 2024, the Steelers falling in their last five games after a 10-3 start, including their usual first-round playoff loss, and Pitt dropping its final six games after a 7-0 start, including a bowl loss.
Eli Holstein was brilliant early on but, like the Panthers, faded late in the season until an injury finished his year. He’s back again and a lot will be riding on his performance.
Every opponent can be a challenge for the unpredictable Panthers but their two biggest games are at WVU on Sept. 13 and against Notre Dame at Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 15. Look for the Mountaineers to get revenge for their late-game meltdown and loss at Pitt last year. As for the Fighting Irish, the Panthers have a history of playing well against them but have been no match the last two times they’ve met, being pummeled by a combined score of 103-10. I don’t see that recent trend changing this year.
Forecast: Pitt will squeak out a 6-6 record then lose in a bowl game.
WEST VIRGINIA
Rich Rodriguez makes his return to the Mountaineers and the change in coaching staffs makes this another team that’s hard to figure out for 2025.
WVU went 6-6 under Neal Brown a season ago before losing to Memphis in a bowl game.
Rodriguez will get the Mountaineers on an upward trajectory at some point but it’ll take at least a year to get his system running smoothly in Morgantown. Still I see a 3-0 start to the season heading into a key game at Kansas. West Virginia does have a tough closing stretch against Colorado, at Arizona State and against Texas Tech. I see an 0-3 finish out of that.
I’m biased here, but I’d like to see Laurel Highlands’ graduate Rodney Gallagher given the opportunity to get even more involved in the offense this season which I think would give the Mountaineers a boost. We’ll see how Rodriguez intends to use him, although he only had one touch against RMU, a 9-yard run that set up a touchdown on the following play..
Forecast. WVU will end up with a 6-6 record and win a bowl game.
Rob Burchianti is sports editor of the TikTok成人版 and can be reached at rburchianti@heraldstandard.com