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Pittsburgh Panthers |
Penn State Nittany Lions © |
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Played November 22, 1986 at Beaver Stadium University Park, Pennsylvania |
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Teams' Belt Records
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Team |
Belt Reigns |
Overall Record |
Home Record |
Away Record |
Neutral Record |
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W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
W |
L |
T |
PCT |
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| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | ||||||||
| Penn State © | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | ||||
Previous Belt Meetings: None
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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Pittsburgh |
7 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
14 |
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Penn State |
10 |
7 |
10 |
7 |
34 |
First-year coach Mike Gottfried brought his 5-4-1 Pittsburgh Panthers to Happy Valley to meet the 2nd ranked, 10-0 Penn State Nittany Lions with coach Joe Paterno. Penn State's RB Blair Thomas scored 2 touchdowns including a 91-yard kick-off return as the Nittany Lions retained The Belt with a 34-14 win over the Panthers. Penn State took a 3-0 lead in the 1st quarter when PK Massimo Manca hit a 44-yard field goal but the Panthers responded with a 1-yard touchdown from RB Craig “Ironhead” Heyward making the score Pittsburgh 7 Penn State 3. Pittsburgh's only lead of the game lasted 14 seconds as Thomas took the ensuing kick-off back 91 yards for a touchdown giving the Nittany Lions a lead they would not relinquish. In the 2nd quarter, Penn State's All-American RB D.J. Dozier scored on a 26-yard touchdown run pushing the Nittany Lions’ lead to 17-7 at the half. It was clear that the Panthers had little chance of scoring on the Penn State defense & the Penn State offense continued to add on points. Manca’s 35-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter pushed the lead to 20-7 before Penn State's back-up QB Matt Knizner hit WR Eric Hamilton for an 82-yard touchdown pass giving the Nittany Lions a 27-7 advantage heading into the final quarter. Thomas’ second touchdown came on a 2-yard run to finish the scoring for Penn State & the Panthers finished their scoring with an 82-inteception return for a touchdown as CB Marcus Washington picked off Knizner. Shaffer threw for 52 yards while Knizner threw for 92 yards with a touchdown but an interception & Hamilton had 3 catches for 107 yards with his score. Pittsburgh's QB Joe Felitsky threw for 124 yards with an interception in the loss. Penn State finished the season 12-0 & National Champions while the Panthers finished 5-5-1. Pittsburgh would play for The Belt again in 2000.
