Pitt searches for first 4-0 start in 24 years as Youngstown State visits

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Pitt searches for first 4-0 start in 24 years as Youngstown State visits

2024-09-19 23:52 Last Updated At：09-20 00:00

Youngstown State (1-2) at Pittsburgh (3-0), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)

BetMGM College Football Odds: No line.

Series record: Pitt leads 4-1.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

The Panthers are seeking their first 4-0 start since 2000, heady territory for a program coming off a 3-9 mark a year ago. Pitt is one of the nation's early-season surprises behind redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein, who has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his first three games. The Penguins are coming off a 28-25 loss to Duquesne last week.

KEY MATCHUP

Youngstown State's offensive line vs. Pitt's front seven. The Panthers are young along the defensive line and at linebacker and while the inexperience has shown early, the aggressiveness that's become the program's calling card during coach Pat Narduzzi's 10-year tenure hasn't gone anywhere. Pitt has 10 sacks through three games, good enough for 16th nationally. If the Penguins can't protect quarterback Beau Brungard, any chance of an upset like the one they pulled against the Panthers 12 years ago vanishes.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Youngstown State: Brungard. The sophomore is blossoming into a dangerous dual threat in his first season as a starter. Brungard leads the Penguins with 315 yards rushing on an average of 8.3 yards per carry, a number that would be even higher if sacks didn't count against Brungard's rushing total. He is also completing 70% of his passes (48 of 68) for an offense that is averaging a healthy 415 yards per game.

Pitt: RB Desmond Reid. The 5-foot-8 Reid leads the ACC in all-purpose yards (564) and touchdowns (five) through three weeks. He's a threat in the passing game, hauling in a pair of scores in last week's thriller against West Virginia. The only real question is durability. He found himself on the sideline late against the Mountaineers because he was “dinged up,” according Narduzzi.

FACTS & FIGURES

The Penguins have not been an easy out for the Panthers. Youngstown State upset Pitt in the 2012 season opener and tested the Panthers again in both 2015 (a 45-37 setback) and 2017 (a 28-21 overtime victory for Pitt). ... Narduzzi's father Bill was head coach at Youngstown State from 1974-85, twice leading the Penguins to the NCAA Division II playoffs, including a berth in the 1979 title game. Pat Narduzzi was a freshman linebacker for his father at Youngstown State in 1985. ... Holstein is the first freshman QB in Pitt history to top 300 yards in each of his first three starts. ... Pitt has overcome double-digit second-half deficits in each of the last two weeks, rallying from 21 down in the third quarter to stun Cincinnati then scoring 14 points in the final 3:15 to surge past the Mountaineers in the 107th edition of the Backyard Brawl.

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Man City loses a fourth straight game in its worst slump under Guardiola

2024-11-10 04:08 Last Updated At：04:10

Manchester City is in its worst slump in Pep Guardiola's reign.

The English champions lost a fourth straight game in all competitions as Brighton came from behind to win 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday.

City hasn't lost four games in a row in all competitions since 2006 — two years before the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club.

Guardiola has never lost four straight matches anywhere in his illustrious managerial career. In his time at Bayern Munich, Guardiola's team lost three straight games after a penalty-shootout defeat in the 2014-15 season.

Erling Haaland put City in front in the 23rd minute with his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign, but Brighton fought back as Joao Pedro equalized in the 78th and set up Matt O'Riley for the winner in the 83rd on his Premier League debut.

Second-placed City stayed two points behind Liverpool, which hosted Aston Villa later.

Guardiola's team's losing run started at Tottenham in the English League Cup last week, before a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the league and a 4-1 reverse at Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, when City also took the lead but fell apart in the second half.

Earlier, Wolverhampton secured its first win in the league and climbed off the bottom of the standings by beating Southampton 2-0 to ease the pressure on manager Gary O'Neil.

Brazil forward Matheus Cunha set up Pablo Sarabia for a second-minute goal and scored himself in the second half to inspire Wolves at Molineux.

Southampton dropped to last place and has lost nine of its 11 matches since returning to the top flight.

Harry Wilson scored another late goal to help Fulham continue its impressive season by winning at 10-man Crystal Palace 2-0.

Wilson's two stoppage-time goals earned Fulham a dramatic win at Brentford on Monday. This time, he built on Emile Smith Rowe's opener by netting in the 83rd minute, after Daichi Kamada was red-carded for Palace. Wilson had another goal ruled out for handball in stoppage time.

Brentford bounced back from that painful loss to Fulham with a 3-2 victory over Bournemouth, thanks to Yoane Wissa's double and a 50th-minute winner from Mikkel Damsgaard.

West Ham drew at home with Everton 0-0 in the other game, with England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford producing a breathtaking save in stoppage time to preserve a point for the visitors.

This story has been corrected to say Fulham won 2-0, not 3-0.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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