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Penn State Legend Pat Freiermuth Gives his new QB a Friendly Reminder

By Alec Whitaker

Sep 29, 2018; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions tight end Pat Freiermuth (87) during the fourth quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium. Ohio State defeated Penn State 27-26. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 29, 2018; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions tight end Pat Freiermuth (87) during the fourth quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium. Ohio State defeated Penn State 27-26. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports /
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Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth made sure his new quarterback Kenny Pickett knew what his record against Penn State was in college.

Pat Freiermuth played two games against the Pitt Panthers during his time at Penn State. The Nittany Lions won both games by a combined score of 68-16.

Freiermuth’s new quarterback, Kenny Pickett, was the starting quarterback of Pitt during those two matchups.

Now, the former rivals are teammates with the Steelers, but that won’t stop Freiermuth from bragging about what happened in college. While meeting with reporters on Wednesday, this is what Freiermuth said when asked about Pickett.

(Via @Steelerdepot on Twitter)

"He’s a great guy, but I always give him crap that he’s never beaten Penn State before. So, I mean, I have no hard feelings towards him. He never beat my alma mater, so we’re good."

Penn State and Pitt matched up four times recently from 2016 to 2019. The Panthers won the first game in a shootout 42-39, but the Nittany Lions regrouped to win the next three.

Pickett had a brutal outing against Penn State in 2018, going 9-18 passing for 55 yards and an interception.  He was better in 2019, going 35-51 for 372 yards, but really struggled to move the ball when it mattered most as the Panthers mustered just 10 points.

Freiermuth’s first college catch actually came against Pitt and Pickett in 2018. It was a 5-yard catch in mop-up duty. Freiermuth at that point hadn’t broken out to become Penn State’s go-to tight end yet. He was also limited in the game the following year, catching just one pass for 16 yards. He may have had a touchdown in that game if the defensive back didn’t deck him, causing a pass inference call.

Despite not showing a lot when facing off, these two had great college careers. Freiermuth caught 92 passes for 1,185 yards and 16 touchdowns in just 29 games at Penn State. He did not become the full-time starter until midway through the 2018 campaign. As for Pickett, he exploded his senior year, becoming a Heisman finalist and the first quarterback drafted in last month’s NFL Draft.

The two will look to put the past behind them though as they set out to be the next great Pittsburgh quarterback-tight end connection, one that rivals Ben Roethlisberger and Heath Miller.

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