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Pitt RB James Conner: This is our state now

Connor O'Gara

By Connor O'Gara

Published:

Whoever won Saturday’s battle for Pennsylvania was going to have major bragging rights.

Unfortunately for Penn State, those now belong to Pitt after falling 42-39. Already, the postgame brags are flying.

Pitt running back James Conner, who is a fan favorite after returning from Hodgkins Lymphoma, delivered perhaps the toughest words for PSU fans to hear:

Penn State’s alumni base might disagree with that. Lions fans can play the historical card, saying that they have the overall advantage in the series and they obviously have more all-time success as a program.

But PSU hasn’t won a game against their intrastate rivals this century. Saturday was the first time the two teams met since 2000.

On the bright side, the Panthers come to Happy Valley next year. We’ll see if the Panthers are still claiming Pennsylvania after that showdown.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.