Under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has made a habit of scaling back the offense in the Panthers' opener. Last year, the strategy seemed to pay off. The team comfortably won a largely boring contest over Villanova, 28-7. More importantly, James Franklin and Penn State seemed to be caught off guard by a dynamic Pitt offense a week later that showed a new arsenal of plays.
This year, the Panthers clearly took the same approach to the opener this year against Youngstown State. Unfortunately for the team, it nearly came back to bite them. Pitt blew a 21-0 and, after going scoreless in the second half, allowed the Penguins to tie the game, sending it to overtime.