Had to work at 4 am today. Then deal with my kids on summer vacation. So, I go and take a nap and wake up to this?

On hiatus since 2000, the Pitt-Penn State series will again resume after the two universities signed a home-and-home agreement for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Pitt will host the initial game at Heinz Field on September 10, 2016. The Panthers will play at Penn State on September 16, 2017.

“This is an exciting day for college football fans,” Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said. “The tremendous history of this rivalry is well documented and the passion that fans have for this game is enormous. We are very pleased that this two-game series is now in place and a new generation of fans can experience the excitement of a Pitt-Penn State football game beginning in 2016.”

“As a young football fan in Texas, I used to love watching Pitt and Penn State play every November,” first-year Pitt head coach Todd Graham said. “The games were intense and featured some of the greatest players in the history of college football. The resumption of this series is great for the two schools and football fans everywhere.”

Just how long was I really asleep?

And from the Penn State side:

One of the nation’s fiercest football rivalries is set to be renewed, as old rivals Penn State and Pittsburgh will meet again on the gridiron in 2016 and 2017.

Tim Curley, Penn State Director of Athletics, and Steve Pederson, Pitt Director of Athletics, made the announcement today that the long-time rivals are scheduled to meet September 10, 2016 in Pittsburgh and September 16, 2017 in Beaver Stadium.

“We are very excited about renewing our rivalry with Pitt,” Curley stated. “We have worked our schedules to play some of our neighboring rivalries like Syracuse, Rutgers and Temple and are glad to have identified dates that worked for our schedules to play Pitt. The Penn State-Pitt game was one that football fans across the Commonwealth have been passionate about. There have been many memorable Penn State-Pitt games, featuring outstanding players and coaches, and we look forward to playing the Panthers again. “

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Not much right now. Boy, there isn’t much right now. I guess the quiet is good. Considering the programs getting the most attention for the past few weeks have been WVU and Ohio State, quiet is definitely preferable.

That seems to be what is still up for discussion.

Kevin Gorman talks to the top player in the WPIAL about what he has learned from the Terrelle Pryor stuff.

“I learned that at every college there’s something going on,” Hopewell star Rushel Shell said. “It’s just a matter of if you get caught.”

Now that’s cynicism I can get behind.

That brings us to Shell, the record-setting running back ranked No. 10 in the nation by Scout.com and No. 33 by Rivals.com. The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder, who should shatter the WPIAL career rushing record and is a good bet to break the state mark this fall, counts Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Pitt and Virginia Tech among his leaders, which change weekly.

Ohio State was considered Shell’s favorite last summer, when he wore a Buckeyes replica jersey with Pryor’s No. 2 to a WPIAL football media event. That was before the NCAA investigation involving players trading memorabilia for cash and tattoos, before it forced coach Jim Tressel’s resignation and Pryor’s premature departure.

The possibility of probation has soured Shell on the Buckeyes.

“Early in the recruiting process, they were up high, in the top two or three,” Shell said. “But I don’t want to go to a school where everything is uptight.”

Seeing Pryor become the scapegoat has shown Shell how fickle fans can be. Ohio State followers cheered the star quarterback as he led them to Big Ten titles and BCS bowl victories and chastised him for bringing a black eye to their Buckeyes, all while turning a blind eye to his behavior in between.

“No matter where you go, in-state or out-of-state, everybody will embrace you when you pick their school,” Shell said. “And they’ll do the opposite if something goes wrong.”

Yes, and? That shouldn’t be a shock to anyone.

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