At a barbecue
several years ago, I became engaged in a discussion/argument/fist fight
with an avid Penn State fan about the merits of our respective favorite
college teams. Being from Pittsburgh and an alum of Pitt’s
medical school, I really had no argument. Penn State’s football
program has enjoyed much more success that Pitt’s. I am not much
of a college football fan, but what interests me most about the college
game is the success of each school’s players in the pros. It
started innocently enough, comparing Dan Marino to Todd Blackledge,
then Tony Dorsett to Franco Harris. Eventually, we had to build
rosters. The team that I was able to put together with Pitt NFL
alumni is pretty impressive, certainly blowing away Penn State’s
alumni. Here’s what we came up with:
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
QB
|
Dan Marino |
Kerry
Collins, Todd Blackledge |
Hall of fame QB vs a couple
journeymen. No comparison here. Advamtage Pitt.
|
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
RB
|
Tony
Dorsett, Curtis Martin |
Franco
Harris, Curt Warner, Larry Johnson |
| It pains me to say this, but I would take
Dorsett over Franco any day (huge Steelers fan). Curt Warner had
a few good years in Seattle, but Martin is now number five on the all
time yardage list for running backs. Larry Johnson may prove to
be the best of them all, but he has only done it for half a
season. This is no contest, Pitt wins. Even more impressive
is the list of Penn State running back who were high first round
busts: Curtis Enis (5th overall by the Bears), Blair Thomas (2nd
overall by the Jets), Ki-Jana Carter (1st overall by the
Bengals). Advamtage Pitt. |
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
OT
|
Jimbo Covert, Mark
May, Bill Fralic
|
Ron Heller, Andre
Johnson
|
C
|
Mark Stepnoski , Jim
Sweeney
|
Jeff Hartings
|
| OG |
Russ Grimm, Reuben
Brown
|
Marco Rivera, Mike
Munchak
|
TE
|
Mike Ditka
|
Kyle Brady
|
| Again, no contest even though Hartings
and Munchak are Pro Bowlers. Johnson was a first round bust for
the Redskins, drafted by Charlie Casserly (How did this guy ever get a
reputation as a decent general manager?) Penn State is known as
linebacker U, but Pitt during the late 70’s and 80’s was O line U. Advamtage Pitt. |
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
WR
|
Larry
Fitzgerald, Antonio Bryant
|
Kenny
Jackson, Bobby Engram, Joe Jurevicious, OJ McDuffie
|
| Larry Fitzgerald is a future Hall of
Famer (I know he still has lots of years). Bryant is good, but
not elite. Jackson and Engram were both about as good as
Bryant. Jurevicious and McDuffie are both decent possession type
receivers. Advamtage Pitt. |
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
DL
|
Chris
Doleman, Marc Spindler, Tony Siragusa, Sean Gilbert, Bill Maas, Burt
Grossman
|
Courtney
Brown, Tim Johnson, Michael Haynes, Jimmy Kennedy
|
| Pitt’s defensive line is very good.
No Hall of Famers on that list, but a few pro bowlers. Michael
Haynes currently plays on a very good Chicago Bears D-line. Tim
Johnson was solid for the Steelers. Jimmy Kennedy and Courtney
Brown are both recent highly drafted busts. Advamtage Pitt. |
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
LB
|
Hugh
Green, Ricky Jackson, Ricardo McDonald
|
Jack Ham,
Shane Conlan, Matt Millen, Lavar Arrington
|
Linebacker U gets the edge in this one.
Matt Millen was an all pro for several teams before screwing things up
in Detroit as its current general manager. Arrington is good, but
has not lived up to his potential. Conlan was part of the great
Buffalo defense of the late 80’s. Ham played alongside Jack
Lambert and Andy Russell for the Steel Curtain to form one of the
greatest linebacking corps ever. He’s now in the Hall of
fame. Hugh Green was a monster DE in college who was a Heisman
finalist. He played LB for Miami in the pros and had a solid, but
unspectacular career. Ricky Jackson was an all Pro for New
Orleans. McDonald was a solid LB for the Bengals. Though
good, this group cannot compare to Penn State’s lineup. Advantage Penn State
|
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
DB
|
Carlton
Williamson, Steve Israel,
Louis Riddick, Tim Lewis
|
Kim
Herring, Darren Perry, Bhawoh Jue |
| I can’t think of any other Penn state
DB’s. Pitt’s group is solid, but no pro bowlers. Advamtage Pitt. |
|
Pitt
|
Penn State |
K
|
Dave Trout |
Matt Bahr |
| Bahr enjoyed a good career with several
teams starting with the Steelers. Trout played one or two seasons
for the Steelers before Bahr arrived. No contest. Advantage Penn State |
P
|
Can’t think of one for either team
that made it in the Pros. |
If these teams were able to play against each other Pitt would win by a
country mile in this one. This would be no contest. Four
Penn State linebackers would never be able to get near Marino with that
offensive line. Pitt’s lack of a decent kicker would not be a
factor because Marino would be constantly tossing TD’s.
|
