UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. _ It probably wasn't the degree of revenge Penn State craved, and it almost certainly wasn't the most impressive performance the Nittany Lions will produce this season.
Still, they played well enough to defeat Pitt, 33-14, at Beaver Stadium Saturday, even though neither of their marquee offensive players _ running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley _ had particularly impressive showings.
Barkley carried 14 times for 88 yards while McSorley was 15-for-28 passing for 164 yards and ran for 65 more on eight attempts.
Penn State, ranked No. 4 in the nation, is 2-0, while the Panthers are 1-1.
The game attracted a crowd of 109,898, largest in the 98-game history of the rivalry and seventh-largest in Beaver Stadium history.
Penn State snapped a two-game losing streak against the Panthers, who recorded a 42-39 victory at Heinz Field a year ago.
Penn State needed only one offensive play to take a lead it never surrendered, after cornerback Grant Haley returned an interception of a Max Browne pass 42 yards to the Pitt 8 early in the opening quarter.
McSorley, using Barkley as a decoy, hit tight end Mike Gesicki with a touchdown pass just two minutes, seven seconds into the game.
McSorley and Gesicki teamed up for another touchdown at 10:40 of the opening quarter, that one on a 10-yard completion.
Penn State was unable to capitalize on a interception by Mt. Lebanon's Troy Apke midway through the second period, and Pitt's Alex Kressman converted a 28-yard field-goal attempt with 72 seconds left in the opening half to make it 14-3.
That field goal was the first score allowed by Penn State this season.
Penn State had the ball for just eight minutes, nine seconds of the first half, which might explain why it generated just 108 yards of offense.
Thirty-six of those yards came on a run by McSorley, the longest of his career.
The Nittany Lions' second possession of the second half lasted just nine seconds, but that was all the time to took for McSorley and Barkley to connect on a 46-yard catch-and-run scoring play that allowed Penn State to take a 21-3 lead.
Kressman added a 24-yard field goal at 8:57 of the third quarter, but Barkley appeared to put the game out of reach with an eight-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth.
Pitt didn't wilt, however, and cut Penn State's lead to 14-12 when backup quarterback Ben DiNucci scored on a three-yard run. The Panthers then added a two-point conversion on a pass from DiNucci to Qadree Ollison.
Safety Marcus Allen, though, put an exclamation point on Penn State's victory by tackling Pitt running back Darrin Hall in the end zone for a safety with just under six minutes left in regulation.
Tyler Davis tacked on a 24-yard field goal about 2 { minutes later to up Penn State's advantage to 33-14.
Penn State will close out its non-conference schedule against Georgia State Sept. 16 at Beaver Stadium at 7:30 p.m., while Pitt will face Oklahoma State at Heinz Field at noon that day.
