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First Call: Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne to appear on ESPN's 'College GameDay’; key Ravens injury before Steelers game | TribLIVE.com
Pirates/MLB

First Call: Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne to appear on ESPN's 'College GameDay’; key Ravens injury before Steelers game

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (center) and his girlfriend Olivia “Livvy” Dunne (bottom right), who helped LSU win the 2024 NCAA gymnastics national championship, cheer on their former school at a game in Baton Rouge, La., on Oct. 12.

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

We look at bounceback opportunities for Pitt and Penn State, while Duquesne and Robert Morris square off for first place in the NEC.

Pick ’em Paul

Pirates All-Star Paul Skenes is going to be the celebrity guest picker at the end of ESPN’s “College Gameday” on Saturday in Baton Rouge in advance of LSU-Alabama.

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

She confirmed the news herself on social media.

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

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

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

Not for Najee

Steelers running back Najee Harris has been known to hurdle a defensive player or two during his time in the NFL.

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

As impressive as that move was, Harris says he is not going to try to replicate it.

“I’ve always been a fan of Saquon. I’m not trying that, though. … That’s the play of the year,” Harris told reporters Thursday. “That was wild. To see a guy catch the ball in space, do a spin, then jump over somebody backward. I never tried that. I’m never gonna try that. Just having that type of athleticism is freaky.”

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

‘Not 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, though, they lost Kyle Hamilton.

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

He was able to leave the game under his own power, but the Notre Dame product was ruled out for the rest of the contest in the third quarter. After the game, head coach John Harbaugh characterized the injury as a sprain and “not serious,” adding he didn’t know how long he’d be out.

The Ravens play the Steelers in Pittsburgh next week. Hamilton was an All-Pro last year. Baltimore’s pass defense — last in the league at 294.4 yards allowed — is bad enough with him present. Thinking of it with him out has got to be concerning for Harbaugh.

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College comebacks?

Pitt and Penn State are both looking to bounce back from very different — but equally soul-crushing — losses last weekend.

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

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

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

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

The two squads haven’t played since 2019. That was before RMU left the NEC to join the Big South-OVC for a short time. Duquesne won the NEC title last year. This is RMU’s return season to NEC competition after a five-year absence. The Colonials last won the championship in 2010.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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