University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Panthers Play at Utah in Huge Season-Opening Game
8/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2010
GAME NOTES LINK:
#15/15 Pitt (0-0, 0-0 Big East) vs.
# NR/24 Utah (0-0, 0-0 MWC)
Sept. 2, 2010 • 8:30 p.m., ET
Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,017/FieldTurf)
Salt Lake City, Utah
GAME STORYLINES
Pitt plays at Utah in one of the biggest opening games of the 2010 college football season. The game is a matchup of Top 25 teams, with the Panthers ranked No. 15 in both polls, while the Utes boast a No. 24 ranking (tied) in the USA Today coaches poll.
This will be Pitt's first season opener on the road featuring two Top 25 teams since its national title year in 1976, when the No. 9 Panthers won at No. 11 Notre Dame, 31-10.
Pitt hasn't opened a season on the road since 1993, when it defeated host Southern Mississippi, 14-10. The Panthers last opened a season in the state of Utah in 1987, when they defeated BYU, 27-17.
Pitt is 20-7 over its last 27 games, the Panthers' winningest stretch since the 2001-03 seasons when they went 21-6.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: The Pitt-Utah game will be a national telecast on Versus. Joe Beninati (play-by-play), Kelly Stouffer (color) and Lindsay Soto (sideline) form the broadcast crew.
PITT RADIO: The new radio home for Pitt football is 50,000-watt flagship KDKA-FM, Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan. Games are also carried on the Pitt Sports Radio Network. Rob King (play-by-play) and three-time Pitt All-American Bill Fralic (color) will call the action from Salt Lake City.
NATIONAL RADIO: The Westwood One crew of John Tautges (play-by-play) and Terry Donahue (color) will provide national radio coverage.
SATELLITE RADIO: The Pitt-Utah game will be aired on Sirius channel 152 and XM channel 203.
INTERNET: "Panthers All-Access" at PittsburghPanthers.com.
SERIES HISTORY
This is just the second meeting ever between Pitt and Utah, and the first regular-season game between the two schools...the only prior meeting occurred during the postseason when the Utes capped a 12-0 campaign with a 35-7 victory over the Big East champion Panthers in the Jan. 1, 2005 Fiesta Bowl...it was the final game for the head coaches at each respective school (Walt Harris at Pitt and Urban Meyer at Utah)...the Utes finished ranked as high as No. 4 in the final polls following their bowl victory, while Pitt finished 25th in the AP poll....following the 2010 game, Utah is slated to make a return trip to Pittsburgh for an Oct. 15, 2011 contest...the Panthers have played in the state of Utah once before, and that game also was a season opener...Pitt opened the '87 season at BYU and won, 27-17, over the host Cougars on Sept. 2, 1987.