Game Week: Panthers Set for Top-15 Challenge at UCF

Game Notes: Pitt at UCF (PDF)

Pitt (2-2, 1-1 ACC) at #13/14 UCF (3-0, 1-0 AAC)
September 29, 2018 • 3:30 p.m., ET
Spectrum Stadium (44,206/Bermuda Grass) • Orlando, Fla.
ESPNU • Pitt IMG Sports Radio Network

Game Storylines
• For the second time in September, Pitt will play an opponent ranked among the nation's Top 15. The Panthers travel to Orlando this week to face No. 13/14 UCF in an ESPNU televised contest.

• Pitt is coming off a disappointing 38-35 road loss to ACC foe North Carolina, a game the Panthers led at halftime. UCF ran its record to 3-0 with a 56-36 win over FAU.

• UCF owns the nation's longest active winning streak at 16 games. The Knights went 13-0 in 2017, earning a No. 6 final ranking and staking a claim to a national championship.

• This will be the second time in six games that Pitt will face an opponent riding the nation's longest active winning streak. On Nov. 24, 2017, the Panthers halted Miami's 15-game run of victories with a 24-14 upset.

• Pitt and UCF have met once before, a 52-7 Panthers win in 2006.
• The 2018 encounter is the first of two consecutive meetings between the Panthers and Knights. Pitt will host UCF at Heinz Field on Sept. 21, 2019.

• An argument can be made that Pitt is going against the grain of Power 5 non-conference scheduling trends. Of the Panthers' four non-ACC games in 2018, three are against FBS opponents whose combined record this season is 11-0 (4-0 Penn State, 3-0 UCF and 4-0 Notre Dame). Last season those three teams were a combined 34-5.

• Fourteen players on this year's Pitt football team hail from the state of Florida, the second highest total from any state (behind only Pennsylvania).

• Dating back to the 2008 season, the Panthers are 5-1 when playing road games in the state of Florida. During that stretch, Pitt went 3-0 at USF, 1-0 at FIU and 1-1 at ACC Coastal foe Miami. (The Panthers will visit the Hurricanes again this Nov. 24.)

Series in Brief
This is the second meeting between Pitt and the University of Central Florida...the lone prior contest between the Panthers and Knights took place on Oct. 13, 2006, a 52-7 Pitt road win...Dave Wannstedt was head coach of the Panthers for that game, while George O'Leary led UCF...current Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem was on O'Leary's staff that season as offensive coordinator...this will be Pitt's first game against an opponent from the American Athletic Conference (AAC) since the 2015 Military Bowl when the Panthers dropped a 44-28 decision to Navy...the Panthers are 77-46-5 all-time against current members of the AAC...14 players on Pitt's 2018 roster hail from the state of Florida.

Broadcast Information
Television • ESPNU
Mike Corey (play-by-play)
Rene Ingoglia (analyst)

Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & the Pitt IMG Sports Network
Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play)
Pat Bostick (analyst)
Larry Richert (reporter)

SiriusXM Satellite Radio
Sirius Channel 111, XM Channel 196, Internet Channel 958

WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM

Pitt IMG Sports Network Online Audio Options
PittsburghPanthers.com
Pitt Panthers Gameday App
TuneIn (free live and on-demand content)

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Game Week: Panthers Set for Top-15 Challenge at UCF

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