Pitt football fans, it’s time to take off those blue and gold glasses

Let’s get right to the facts shall we. If you are a Pitt football fan, age 40 or younger, Pitt has not finished in the top 10 at the end of any season nor won a major bowl game in your lifetime.

The last time Pitt finished a season ranked in the top 10 was 1982 and the last major bowl game Pitt won was the 1982 Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

After the 2022 football season on Pitt message boards, some Pitt fans went so far as to think Pitt was elite because they won 20 football games total in 2021 and 2022. Elite! Pitt fans need to take off those myopic blue and gold glasses and face reality.

When you haven’t finished in the top 10, nor won a major bowl game in more than 40 years, you are as far from elite as elite is to zyzzyva in the dictionary.

This is a list of some schools that have finished in the top 10 at a season’s end since Pitt last did in 1982: Air Force, Arizona (3x), Arizona State (2x), Arkansas, Baylor (2x), Boise State (4x), Boston College (2x), Brigham Young (3x), California (2x), Cincinnati (3x), Colorado (6x), East Carolina, Georgia Tech (2x), Houston, (2x), Illinois (2x), Iowa (7x), Iowa State, Kansas (2x), Kansas State (7x), Louisville (2x), Marshall, Michigan State (5x), Minnesota, Mississippi (3x), Mississippi State, Missouri (3x), North Carolina (2x), Northwestern (2x), Oklahoma State (3x), Oregon State, South Carolina (3x), SMU, Stanford (5x), Syracuse (2x), TCU (7x), Tulane, UCF (2x), UCLA (6x), Utah (4x), Virginia Tech (7x), Washington State (5x), and West Virginia (3x).

How many of those schools do you consider a football power? How many of those schools do you feel have a more successful football program than Pitt? Yet they all managed to finish at least once ranked in the top 10 since the last time Pitt did it, 41 years ago. Even the University of Nevada has finished ranked higher than Pitt in more than 40 years when they were ranked 11^th in 2020.

Not enough evidence for you to re-evaluate how good Pitt’s football program is? Here is a list of some schools that have won a major bowl game since Pitt last won their major bowl game, the 1982 Sugar Bowl versus Georgia. Some of these football “powers” may surprise you: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas (2x), Baylor, Boise State (3x), Boston College, Brigham Young, Colorado (3x), Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State (2x), Iowa, Iowa State, Louisville (3x), Michigan State (4x), Mississippi (5x), Missouri (3x), Oklahoma State (2x), Oregon State, SMU, Stanford (3x), Syracuse, Texas A&M (4x), Tulane, UCF (2x), UCLA (5x), Utah (2x), Virginia Tech (2x), and West Virginia (3x).

Again, ask yourself, how many of those schools do you consider a football power? How many of those schools do you feel have a more successful football program than Pitt? Yet they all managed to win a major bowl game at least once, if not multiple times, since the last time Pitt won one 41 years ago. Puts Pitt’s football program in a better perspective, doesn’t it? It should.

Is it then any wonder why when there’s discussion of a future 28 or 32-team super league of college football, that Pitt is not listed as one of those schools?

Want more proof? Pitt has played in just three major bowl games since they last won a major bowl game. Those three bowl games were: the 1983 Cotton Bowl – a 7-3 loss to SMU; the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, a blowout 35-7 loss to Utah; and the December 2021 Peach Bowl – a 31-21 loss to Michigan State. That averages out to making a major bowl game appearance once every 13 years or so.

The last time Pitt football had a season that it didn’t lose three games was 1981. That was 42 seasons ago! FORTY-TWO! Only these P5 “football powers” have a longer streak of consecutive three-loss-or-more seasons than Pitt: Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. None of those schools is thought of as a football power. Pitt managed to keep that ignominious streak going after just week four in 2023.

But, but, 2021 Pitt fans will say. Well, in Pitt’s ACC championship season of 2021, the Panthers did not face a ranked opponent until the ACC Championship Game against 18^th-ranked Wake Forest. That’s how weak the ACC was in 2021.

One would be hard pressed to find schools that went from a 11-win conference championship season to only three wins in two years, but not surprisingly Pitt did just that. Both are outlier seasons for Pitt as the Panthers usually do manage to win six to eight games a year.

The last time Pitt was even ranked in the top 10 during a football season was in 2009 at number eight late in the season. The last time Pitt was involved in a game between two top 10 teams was in 1989 when Pitt was ranked seventh and traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to face number-one ranked Notre Dame and Pitt lost 45-7.

It’s amazing the lack of overall success the Pitt football program has experienced since 1983 despite producing not only NFL stars, but players that have gone on to be amongst the best to have ever played their position, such as Aaron Donald, Larry Fitzgerald and Darrelle Revis. 

If you picked an all-time Pitt NFL team, it would be in the top 10 that any school has produced and look something like this: https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/2018/02/13/updating-the-pittsburgh-panthers-all-time-football-team/

It is truly an enigma that despite producing some of the greatest players in NFL history, that Pitt, unlike so many other schools, hasn’t been able to catch lightning in a bottle for a season, even once, or manage to lose less than three games in a year, or finish ranked in the top 10, or win a major bowl game in more than 41 years.

However, that’s the reality of Pitt’s football program when you take off those blue and gold glasses.

John Baranowski is a sports historian and contributor to newspapers, sports publications, and sports websites. This and other articles written by him can be found on his blog: https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/

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Has playing football off-campus helped Pitt football?

Pitt football’s four statues

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Pitt football’s four statues

At each of PNC Park’s gates, there’s a statue of a Pirate great: Bill Mazeroski, Honus Wagner, Willie Stargell and Roberto Clemente. Allow me to have a Nostradamus moment and look into the future.

When UPMC Stadium is being built in South Oakland, there will be four gates and like PNC Park, a statue of a Pitt football great will be erected at each gate through funds graciously provided by Pitt alum David Tepper.

The question is which four Pitt football players and/or coaches should have a statue in their honor?  It’s certainly not an easy task to choose only four individuals. Let’s consider those Pitt greats that are statue-worthy (in alphabetical order):

Mike Ditka – Does anyone embody and symbolize toughness from Western Pennsylvania more than Iron Mike? Named to Sports Illustrated’s NCAA All-Century team, Ditka went on to become one of the greatest tight ends in NFL history and went on to win a Super Bowl as coach of the Chicago Bears.

Aaron Donald – Winner of the Nagurski, Bednarik, Outland Trophy and Lombardi awards, Donald then went on to become an NFL all-time great.

Tony Dorsett – At one time Dorsett held the NCAA career rushing record, and is Pitt’s only Heisman Trophy winner, an NFL all-time great and quite simply, Pitt’s greatest football player.

Larry Fitzgerald – One of college football’s greatest wide receivers ever, Fitz finished second in the 2003 Heisman Trophy balloting and went on to become an NFL all-time great.

Hugh Green – Winner of the Lombardi, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards, Green finished second in the 1980 Heisman Trophy voting – unheard of for strictly a defensive player in modern times.

Marshall Goldberg – The biggest star of Pitt’s dream backfield, Goldberg led Pitt to two national championships and held Pitt’s career rushing record for nearly 40 years and finished in the top three of Heisman balloting twice finishing third in 1937 and second in 1938.

Dan Marino – A local kid from Central Catholic High School, Marino set nearly every major Pitt passing record and then went on to become an NFL all-time great.

Kenny Pickett – Holds many Pitt career and single-season passing records and had the finest season ever and the highest finish ever in the Heisman Trophy balloting for a Pitt quarterback finishing third in 2021.

Joe Schmidt – A product of Brentwood High School, Schmidt is another of Pitt’s players that is in the College Football Hall of Fame, Schmidt went on to become an NFL all-time great.

Jock Sutherland – Of the nine national championships that Pitt claims, Sutherland was the coach of five of them compiling a record of 111-20-12. 

Pop Warner – coached Pitt to three national titles and compiled a 60-12-4 record.

Some others to consider include: James Conner, Bill Fralic, Craig Heyward, Mark May, and others.

Who would be your four selections for a statue at Pitt’s future stadium?

John Baranowski is a sports historian and contributor to newspapers, sports publications, and sports websites. This and other articles written by him can be found on his blog:  https://johnbaranowski.wordpress.com/