Dominate The State: Why tonight's game will be great to watch.

Tonight is going to be a great game between Pitt and Penn State, but not for the reasons you might think. 

Yes the game will feature your standard football excitement, hard hits, long pass plays, controversial call and no calls and the like. 

But it will also feature two teams who really can't stand each other.

The crux of the talk is something like this.  The one school is the little brother of the other, and while one school has a seemingly mountain worth of prestige and money, the other little school has also had it's claim to fame for periods of time.

It was heightened by small words and phrases such as "Dominate The State" or "No different than beating Akron".

In all the is a real competitive dislike between the two schools.  No it's not the competition or tradition of say Ohio State vs. Michigan, but the level of dislike is almost certainly as real. 

This typically results in a very intense game with an inordinate amount of physicality and speed.  A level of near recklessness from the players playing as hard as they possibly can for as long as they possibly can.

And that is what really makes for good television. 

We don't watch sports solely to watch an outcome that we think will be decided.  We watch to see two team display maximum effort and to do so with unbridled joy for the game that they're playing. 

At 8 PM tonight all of Pennsylvania will likely be watching ABC as the Nittany Lions take on the Panthers for the 99th time under the lights.  The stats will line up and through it all the Nittanly Lions hold virtually every historical and statistical edge. 

But that won't matter for tonight. 

Because tonight will feel like a near National Championship type feel to the home team.  They will feel like they get their chance one last time to show they aren't just a little brother program.  How will the Lion respond if that is the case?

I expect they will show more the same character that they've always shown through the past however many years.  Unlike past teams, the current incarnation and vision of the Nittany Lions do not seem to care at all about what outsiders think and remained committed to playing their style and brand of football.  One that is a true team and fights through adversity.

I expect tonight's game to be one of true intensity through the first three quarters, only to see Penn State pull away late in the 4th.

Execution, tackling, and sense of composure will be key for the Nittany Lions to prevail, otherwise, Pitt may just steal this game and pull off what Appalachian State could not.



Final Score prediction

Penn State 34
Pittsburgh 24