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    • First call: Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne to appear on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’; Key Ravens injury ahead of Steelers game
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    First call: Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne to appear on ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’; Key Ravens injury ahead of Steelers game

    Umito Posted on

    Friday’s “First Call”» presents some fun for Pittsburgh Pirates starter Paul Skenes. The Ravens may have lost a key player before their game against the Steelers next week. Najee Harris shares his thoughts on Saquon Barkley’s jaw-dropping highlight last week.

    We look at bounce-back opportunities for Pitt and Penn State, while Duquesne and Robert Morris battle it out for first place in the NEC.

    Choose them Paul

    Paul Skenes, Pirates star player go be the celebrity guest picker at the end of ESPN’s “College Gameday” Saturday in Baton Rouge before LSU-Alabama.

    Skenes is an LSU alumnus. He will be joined on set with his girlfriend Livvy Dunne. She is a Tigers gymnast with 5.3 million followers on Instagram.

    She herself confirmed the news on social networks.

    At the end of each “College GameDay” broadcast, just before noon, ESPN usually invites a celebrity onto the set with a few sort of Hometown school connection to make a batch of predictions. In this case, Skenes and Dunne are teaming up for Saturday’s show.

    Last week at Penn State, for example, actor/comedian Keegan-Michael Key was the celebrity picker. He earned a master’s degree from PSU.

    The Pirates drafted Skenes No. 1 overall out of LSU in 2023 after he began his college career at Air Force.

    Not for Najee

    Steelers running back Najee Harris has been known to prevent one or two defensive players during his time in the NFL.

    However, he has never jumped over a defender back in the middle of a rush like Saquon Barkley did for the Philadelphia Eagles last weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    As impressive as this decision is, Harris says he not going try to reproduce it.

    “I’ve always been a fan of Saquon. But I’m not trying that. …It’s the play of the year,» Harris told reporters Thursday. “It was wild. Seeing a guy catch the ball in space, do a spin, then jump over someone back. I’ve never tried this. I will never try that. Having that type of athleticism is weird.

    Harris has three straight games of over 100 yards rushing. He is 14th in the NFL with 592. Barkley is second to Derrick Henry (1,120) with 925.

    “Not very serious”

    The Baltimore Ravens (7-3) may have won the game of the year so far in the NFL, beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night by a score of 35-34. Along the way, however, they lost Kyle Hamilton.

    The All-Pro safety appeared to injure himself when he rolled his right ankle while attempting to close on a pass from Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

    He was able quit the game under own power, but the Notre Dame product has been excluded for the rest of the contest in the third quarter. After the game, head coach John Harbaugh called the injury a sprain and “no big deal,» adding that he did not know how long he would be gone.

    The Ravens will face the Steelers in Pittsburgh next week. Hamilton was All-Pro last year. Baltimore’s pass defense — last in the league with 294.4 yards allowed – that’s bad enough with him present. Thinking about it without him must be worrying for Harbaugh.

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    Returns to university?

    Both Pitt and Penn State are looking to bounce back from very different — but equally heartbreaking — losses last weekend.

    The No. 18 Panthers (7-1) host Virginia (4-4) at home on Saturday at 8 p.m. night. Pittsburgh is a 7.5-point favorite.

    As for PSU, the sixth-ranked Nittany Lions (7-1) also host an evening game. Washington (5-4) enters Beaver Stadium at 8 p.m. as a 13.5-point underdog.

    After a bye week, West Virginia is in action at noon Saturday. The Mountaineers (4-4) are in Cincinnati. Kickoff takes place at Nippert Stadium, with the Bearcats favored by four points.

    Also, at noon, there is a huge game in the NEC. Duquesne (6-2) hosts Robert Morris (6-3). Both teams won their first three conference games. The winner will have the chance to advance to a conference crown and a spot in the FCS playoffs with two weeks remaining in Saturday’s showdown.

    The two teams have not played since 2019. This was before RMU left the NEC to join the Grand Sud-OVC for a short time. Duquesne won the NEC title last year. This is RMU’s return to the NEC competition after five years of absence. The Colonials last won the championship in 2010.

    Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via X. All tweets may be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless otherwise noted.

    Categories:
    Pirates/MLB | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast with Benz | Chronicles of Tim Benz

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