To quote Wes Miller, "I am fired up" for this game on Saturday afternoon. First off, it's a noon kickoff. I love noon kickoffs. Get up, get to the stadium and let's play some football.

Not only that, but this is a rivalry game on Saturday. Tight end Joe Royer talked about it on Saturday after the Bearcats win over Towson, head coach Scott Satterfield talked about it on Tuesday and so did quarterback Brendan Sorsby. They know what this rivalry means to the program and fanbase. They know the importance of defending the Nip on Saturday.

With that, here are my Players to Watch on Saturday on the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Head Coach: Pat Narduzzi is a name synonymous with the "River City Rivalry." He was Cincinnati's defensive coordinator from 2004-2006 under head coach Mark Dantonio. Now in his 10th season as the Pitt head coach, he's facing a similar situation that Scott Satterfield is facing in Cincinnati. Narduzzi and the Panthers are coming off a 3-9 season in 2023, but they showed signs of life in their first game of 2024 against Kent State with a 55-24 win that included 554 yards of total offense.

Narduzzi has taken the Panthers to six bowl games in his first nine seasons, including the Peach Bowl in 2021 when Pitt won the ACC.

Quarterback: Eli Holstein showed that he can play on the College Football stage. The redshirt-freshman threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns against Kent State last week, becoming the first redshirt-freshman to start a season-opener for Pitt since Luke Getsy in 2003.

Running Back: Desmond Reid wasn't even supposed to be the Panthers starting running back this season. But with Rodney Hammond academically ineligible, Reid is now the leading man in Pitt's backfield. He was all-around great in Week 1, rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Reid also added a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown to total 231 all-purpose yards. The Bearcats struggled to stop the run in their season-opener against Towson, allowing 194 rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry. Facing Pitt won't get any easier for the Bearcats work-in-progress run defense, especially if Dontay Corleone isn't going to play on Saturday.

Wide Receivers: Kenny Johnson (No. 2) caught seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown last week against Kent State. He's Pitt's leading receiver through the first game. Censere Lee (No. 11) had six catches for 72 yards, Konata Mumpfield (No. 9) had five catches for 56 yards, and Raphael Williams (No. 5) had four catches for 31 yards with two touchdowns.

Tight End: Gavin Bartholomew (No. 86) had five catches for 66 yards in the season-opener. He is Pitt's starting tight end on this week's depth chart. Backup tight end Jake Overman (No. 87) had two catches for 15 yards.

Offensive Line: A key reason for Pitt's success running the ball is the experience they have on their offensive line. Pitt's offensive line has 63 combined starts. Left tackle Branson Taylor (No. 78) leads the Panthers with 40 games and 16 starts.

Defensive Line: Six different players had at least a half-sack in last week's win over Kent State. Pitt had five sacks and 12 tackles for loss in Week 1. Under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt is 27-2 when they have five or more sacks in a game. Pitt's starting defensive linemen this week are Nate Matlock (No. 2), Nahki Johnson (No. 4) or Francis Brewu (No. 95) or Anthony Johnson (No. 50), Nick James (No. 11) or Isaiah Neal (No. 97) and Jimmy Scott (No. 44).

Linebackers: Pitt's starting linebackers for this week are Kyle Louis (No. 9), Brandon George (No. 30) and Braylan Lovelace (No. 0) or Rasheem Biles (No. 31)

Secondary: Pitt's four starters in the secondary include safeties Donovan McMillan (No. 3) and Javon McIntyre (No. 7) or Phillip O'Brien Jr. (No. 5). Ryland Candy (No. 10) and Rashad Battle (No. 15) are the two starters at cornerback.

Special Teams: Kicker Ben Sauls (No. 90) went two-for-two on field goals last week, including a long of 50 yards. Caleb Junko (No. 91) punted twice for 47 yards and 43 yards respectively against Kent State last week.

FRANKIE’S GAMEPLAN TO VICTORY

1) Stop the run. This goes without saying. Pitt is going to bring a dynamic offense into Nippert Stadium on Saturday, one that ran up 554 yards on Kent State last week. The Bearcats gave up over five yards per carry against Towson last week. That won't go over well on Saturday.

2) Let Sorsby cook. I really liked the way Sorsby played last week. He looked poised, got out of the pocket to make some plays and looked like a quarterback the Bearcats offense can revolve around this season. In a game that could be high-scoring, Scott Satterfield needs to load up Sorsby's plate with as much responsibility as possible

3) Control your emotions. Satterfield has talked vehemently about playing at Nippert Stadium and defending home-field advantage. This is a rivalry game taking place on Saturday. Not only that, the Bearcats winning on the road at Pitt last year has added fuel to the fire in this rivalry. Pitt will come out ready to play, especially in the new offense that offensive coordinator Kade Bell leads.

SCORE PREDICTION: Pitt 31 - Bearcats 24