(Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)
Being that he's a Penn State product, Pat Freiermuth is not shy about bragging that he was 2-0 against Pitt during his college career. In fact, it's something that he likes to often remind Pitt quarterback legend Kenny Pickett.
“Kenny’s a great guy, but I mean I always give him crap because he’s never beaten Penn State before," Freiermuth said at OTAs on Wednesday. "I have no hard feelings toward him, he never beat my alma mater so I’m good."
Freiermuth relishes his two wins over Pitt so much that he almost nailed the exact scores.
“We played two years, I think we beat them 51-6 here [Heinz Field] and then 17-3 at my place [Beaver Stadium],” Freiermuth said. The 2019 game was actually a 17-10 win by Penn State.
Pitt and Penn State don't play each other often, but it's still an intense rivalry given the proximity of the two schools, especially between the fan bases. After 15 seasons of not playing each other, Pitt and Penn State played every year from 2016-2019. Penn State won three of the four games.
Freiermuth also mentioned at OTAs that he wasn't pleased with his 8.2 yards per catch average last season. Perhaps the former Pitt quarterback could help him improve in that area, as the Steelers relied on a dink-and-dunk offense with Ben Roethlisberger under center in 2021.
"I think my yards per average was atrocious. In my opinion, 8.2 yards, that is pretty bad on my end," Freiermuth said. "I think if I have 60 catches, I should be more in the range of 800-900 yards. I think I definitely need to get that higher and maybe we push the ball downfield more this year."
Comments