PITTSBURGH (8-4) vs. #21/22 NAVY (10-2)
MILITARY BOWL PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN
December 28, 2015 • 2:30 p.m., ET
Annapolis, Md. • Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000/FieldTurf)
PITT BOWL GUIDE LINK (PDF): Pitt Military Bowl Media Guide
Pitt’s ‘pump-up’ for this season…
Here is “The Journey “- the “pump-up’ to Navy’s 2015 season…
GAME STORYLINES
* Pitt makes its 32nd all-time postseason appearance when it faces nationally ranked Navy in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman.
* Led by first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi, the Panthers finished the regular season with an 8-4 record, their best 12-game mark since 2009. A bowl victory would give Pitt nine wins, its most since that 2009 edition finished with a 10-3 mark.
* The Panthers and Midshipmen are not unfamiliar foes. In a series that dates back to 1912, Pitt leads, 22-14-3. The teams split the past four meetings, the most recent occurring in 2013 when host Navy defeated Pitt, 24-21, on a field goal as time expired.
* A victory over Navy would give Pitt its first win over a ranked opponent since a 28-21 decision over No. 24/25 Notre Dame in 2013.
* Playing in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, this bowl will essentially be a road game for the Panthers. Pitt went 5-1 on the road this season, its best away mark since 2008. Pitt’s lone road defeat came at Iowa on a 57-yard field goal on the game’s last play.
* The Military Bowl will be a classic case of strength vs. strength. The Panthers rank 20th nationally against the run, surrendering just 126.1 yards per game. The Midshipmen boast the nation’s No. 3 rushing offense, producing an average of 319.2 per contest.
* Pitt became the first school in ACC history to sweep the league Rookie of the Year awards. The media voted freshman safety Jordan Whitehead the Overall and Defensive Rookie of the Year, while redshirt freshman tailback Qadree Ollison earned the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. The ACC coaches voted Whitehead and Ollison Co-Rookie of the Year winners.
PITT-NAVY SERIES NOTES
Pitt holds a 22-14-3 advantage over Navy in a series that began in 1912…the Panthers and Midshipmen have split the past four meetings…Navy claimed the most recent encounter, 24-21, in Annapolis during the 2013 season…Pitt scored victories in 2009 at Heinz Field (27-14) and on the road in 2008 (42-21)…in 2007, Navy defeated the Panthers, 48-45, in two overtimes…
… the ‘07 encounter marked the first meeting between the two teams since 1989…Pitt and the Midshipmen played 19 consecutive times between 1961-79, followed by seven consecutive meetings from 1983-89…Pitt’s longest win streak in the series is six games (1914-16; 1933-34; 1954), while Navy’s is four games (1965-68)…two of the most famous games in the Pitt-Navy series took place in Annapolis…
… on Oct. 23, 1976, Tony Dorsett broke the NCAA career rushing mark on a breathtaking 32-yard touchdown run in a 45-0 Pitt victory…
Dorsett would win the Heisman Trophy that season and Pitt would claim the 1976 national championship with a 12-0 record…on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum from a Pitt perspective, the Panthers suffered their only loss of the 1963 season with a 24-12 setback to the host Midshipmen and quarterback Roger Staubach, who would win the Heisman that year…
Pitt finished the 1963 season with a 9-1 mark and ranked as high as No. 3 in the final polls, while Navy went 9-2 and ranked No. 2.
PITT-NAVY HISTORY IN BRIEF
Series Began: 1912
Series Overall: Pitt leads 22-14-3
At Pittsburgh: Pitt leads 12-4-2
At Navy: Pitt leads 10-7-1
At Neutral Sites: Navy leads 3-0
OT Games: Navy leads 1-0
Last Meeting at Navy: Oct. 26, 2013 (Navy 24, Pitt 21)
Last Meeting at Pitt: Sept. 19, 2009 (Pitt 27, Navy 14)
Current Series Streak: Navy has won 1 (2013)
Longest Pitt Series Win Streak: 6 games (1914-16; 1933-34; 1954)
Longest Navy Series Win Streak: 4 games (1965-68)
Largest Pitt Victory Margin: 46 points (52-6, 1988)
Largest Navy Victory Margin: 23 points (32-9, 1962)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television • ESPN
Eamon McAnaney, play-by-play, Rocky Boiman, analyst, Quint Kessenich, reporter
Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & the Pitt IMG Sports Network
Bill Hillgrove, play-by-play, Pat Bostick, analyst, Larry Richert, reporter
National Radio • ESPN
John Brickley, play-by-play, Mike Golic, analyst, Mike Golic, Jr., analyst
SiriusXM Satellite Radio
Sirius Channel 80, XM Channel 80
For Fun: Here is a piece in The Pitt News about sports in outer space.
Here is George Hill talking about his verbal to Pitt.
Finally, here are two talking heads’ thinking on the “Pittsburgh University” vs Navy match-up. I have no idea how I found this but would you bet a penny on their “knowledge”?
Guy sitting on the John while ANALyzing!
Married in Bogata? How much did she cost you?
Too funny.
Pitt will win outright.
So I was indoctrinated early.
Don’t know how he did it, as we were as middle class as middle class could be, but I had the good fortune of being at two of Pitt football’s biggest moments.
Sugar Bowl against Georgia for the N.C., and he took me and my brother to Annapolis for the game where Dorsett broke the record.
I can’t remember sprecifically if we went because he thought he’d break the record, or if we just went because it was so close.
My memories are still pretty good as a youngster at those games, but I have noticed
as you get older, the memories move from a running video in your mind, to they start becoming snapshots in your mind.
Still have the ticket stubs, and a couple key chains. A car dealership made key chains, yellow disc, in the shape of a record, LP, and had two cracks on it, either side.
A “broken record”, with a Pitt logo, and Tony’s yards against Navy, and the all time record yardage.
40 years ago……how can that be???
Thank you for letting me ramble, brought back memories the more I typed.
My best memories – aside from 1976 – was when I was a young boy and my parents, aunts and uncles sat high up on the 50 yard line and us cousins + little friends ran rampant in the endzone. Before the game my uncle, who was Chief of Pathology at Presby-University hospital just down Cardiac Hill from the stadium, would throw open the pathology labs and have what seemed like hundreds of adults and kids for the pre-game “tailgate” party…. and then, in those days, the post-game Pitt loss wake.
The lab sinks were full of beer, booze and sodas and we all cooked hot dogs on metal sticks over Bunsen Burners. We’d be on campus from about 9:30 until 5:00 or so after the game.
It WAS fun having an on-campus stadium but back in the 60s & 70s Pitt was still a relatively small commuter college – not the behemoth University it is now that has needed all the big space in Oakland to grow and to still keep growing.
The good old days sometimes are just that.
But as a fan … I became heads-over-heels with college FB when Majors arrived. Pitt and their chief rival both being Top 10 teams annually .. and of course, 1 National title and 3 straight 1 loss seasons. I’ve been hooked ever since … even in the mid 90s.
I just watched a bowl special on ESPN which ended with talk of the Military Bowl. Keenan Reynolds was the subject of conversation as you would expect, but the final minutes were focused on the fact that this will be Pitt’s 8 straight bowl game but HCPN will be the 6th different HC. And they wondered just how further this program would be if it had any stability. I would hope that we will soon find out.
It’s OK, keep it. Consider it Vintage.
What station are you watching the game on?
Hail to Pitt! Every Loyal Son! Beat Navy!
No matter, these guys have no idea what’s up in this matchup between Pitt & Navy. Both will be ancient history soon anyway.
Who gets married in Bogota Columbia in the first place for Christ’s sake? Mike will probably get kidnapped by some Columbian drug cartel and never be heard from again, then that leave sidekick Joe folding towels and whatnot in his Mom’s laundry room from here on out, cause Joe is definitely NOT in the know.
As Narduzzi says, “their going to know that they’ve been in a football game when they’re done playing the “University of Pittsburgh”!
Time to earn some respect, the #1 task is to kick Navy’s ass! H2P!
He is either a JUCO or a backup QB at Cal who’s
looking to transfer … I’ll try to get more info
LMAO!!! Good stuff.
@wbb, that’s a good enough reason to follow Alabama!!! Hell, I always liked Clemson when I was little simply because the paw on the helmet.
@Steve1, ha ha, that triggered a great memory of mine, as a kid Pitt fan in the 70’s. Always remember leaving the stadium, and as you left your seats (we were section 26, about 30 yd line), looking at all the empty glass bottles laying around under the seats. And cups!!!
Remember, sometimes they would give some pretty nice plastic cups out with Coca-Cola’s and I remember kids running around picking them up, and having a stack of like 20 or 25 in each hand.
Think I have a few somewhere in the house!! LOL
Playing a ranked team. Got some momentum with the fans attending a bowl game, over 8K now I believe??
And some networks and publications saying that after the playoff games and big 4 bowl games, the Pitt Navy game is probably the most interesting match up for a college football fan.
My initial pouting was incorrect.
Still don’t like how it went down a little, but overall, has worked out very well for Pitt.
Coming up is a no-win daily double to me anyway: Navy, Davidson.
Blech-squared.
Great memories of Levance.
Never thought Pitt would be anything when I started school in ’68. Then came Majors and Tony Dorsett.
Must beat Navy to keep ol MO going.
10,000 fans in Annapolis will be a big party.
This bowl is the best thing that could have happened for Fan attendance. The Pinstripe bowl vs Indiana and we would have had our normal 2500. Does anyone know how many students are going? Great opportunity for them.
How do you start your season with UCLA and Oklahoma?
We won 11 games in four years. In 6 years including grad school, It was Dave Hart, Carl DePasqua, and then Majors came My final year of Grad School.
Not quite the same, but Narduzzi is giving hope that great things can happen again.
Time to start developing players for the long term.
As a recent graduate I hugged and kissed my fellow students as Tony Dorsett ran for 303 yards vs hated Notre Dame.
Rags to Riches!
This is a huge problem. Man could we use another Mark Scarpinato type JUCO or graduate transfer type player coming out of the woodwork to play on the DL for 2016. Either that or Rashad Gary decides he wants to start full time from the 1st day he steps on campus at Pitt when he commits to Narduzzi. Yeah, that’s going to happen!
Right now we don’t have enough bodies to field a scout team DL. Huge problem.
I agree that a JUCO DT would be welcome … but with Soto, Blair, Hendrix, Edwards plus incoming Gilbert, Jones and possibly Price available at DE … one of these guys are moving to DT.
Speaking of needed to earn respect, two posts on the ESPN ACC blog this week: 1) Coastal favorites for 2016, 2) best coaches in the Coastal. No mention of Pitt in the Coastal, Duzzer the 6 the best coach in the Coastal.
– Pugh may have played with broken hand that was hurt last week. It is wrapped and getting checked.
– this is the 16th straight week for Damar Hamlin and Central Catholic to play a FB game. Then his focus may be on his future .. maybe he moves quickly and finally commits (or not)
6 = 6th
I’d better start drinking
All the great D-Backs won’t help if we get gouged up the middle.
The point is Pitt and Narduzzi have work to do.
Kaezon Pugh rushed for a game-high 109 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
His 1-yard score capped a 7-play, 66-yard drive that gave the WPIAL champs a 6-0 lead just 1:50 into the game.
Shortly after he showed up with a football signed by the entire Sugar Bowl team. I thought that was pretty neat and of course had no concept of the importance of that 1956 game.
I think he told me the ball had been used in the game and as we had a close family friend who played, I guess it was possible, but it really doesn’t matter, as I could not resist the temptation of throwing it around and over time wore it out.
Don’t know what it might have been worth today, but I sure would love to have it sitting on my mantel.
Thanks Pap
Yepper we still need tons of help at DT….it will be interesting to see how our recruiting plays out because we probably have only 4 or 5 scholies left.
This Juco QB, who else has offered?
I might have actually thrown it away.
Me bad, very bad.
Hail to Pitt!
HTP
Hail to Pitt!
Didn’t watch the game after that, but Musberger’s statement may not have been that far out of line
What deserved me is that Purdue couldn’t hit a 3 vs Butler if their lives depended on it today but shot lights out against us at the Pete.
The bowl game almost didn’t happen because Grier was a “negro” player and Pitt refused to take the Bowl committee’s suggestion to leave him back home in Pittsburgh as a contingency for Pitt to play in the bowl. It was a major discrimination milestone that got national attention at the time. Ended up that Pitt pressured the powers involved and Grier ended up playing, although they had problems at every turn, like getting him into the hotel that the Pitt players were staying in. Very similar to issues Jackie Robinson had to deal with during the same period.
You had a bit of meaningful Pitt history there. Sorry for the bad news.
HCPN has infused the excitement back in Pitt football.
I look forward to witnessing Pitt defeat Navy in Annapolis. The “road warriors” will be 6-1.
HTP!
Hail to Pitt!
Also, they have several European players. This will be a tough game for the Panthers. Our bigs need to dominate the boards and the guards must guard the perimeter.
And we can’t afford to NOT be ready at the start. Maybe coach Duzz can deliver the pre-game speech.
100% class at the naval academy.
The third game Pitt was dominated by Ole Miss – the players were disengaged at that game and there weren’t many Pitt fans in attendance, but Ole Miss fans sure did travel well. It was like a home game for them.
I get your point though. Well taken…
Great time be a fan of Pitt FB.
Beat the Navy!!!
Remember when we beat MAC schools for recruits? PN
starts