Pitt accepts invitation to Quick Lane Bowl
Following weeks of speculation, Pitt's postseason destination has been finalized. The Pitt football team will head to Detroit for the Quick Lane Bowl and take on Eastern Michigan of the Mid-American Conference according to Brett McMurphy of Stadium.com. The game is set for December 26th, and will be televised on ESPN with kickoff being set for 8:00 p.m.
Pitt will be making its 35th all-time bowl appearance in program history, and will be going bowling for the 11th time in 12 years. The Panthers have a 13-21 record in bowl games and will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak in the postseason. This will mark the fourth bowl appearance for the program under the guidance of head coach Pat Narduzzi during his five year tenure. He will be in search of his first bowl victory as a head coach.
In 2015, Pitt lost the Military Bowl to Navy by a score of 44-28. The 2016 season ended with a 31-24 loss to Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl. After failing to reach the postseason in 2017, Pitt made the Sun Bowl last season losing to Stanford 14-13.
The Quick Lane Bowl has been in existence since the 2014 college football season and is held in downtown Detroit at Ford Field, home to the NFL's Detroit Lions. The current version of this bowl game replaced the former Motor City Bowl, which was later known as the Little Caesar's Bowl. Pitt played in the 2013 Little Ceasar's Bowl and defeated Bowling Green by a score of 30-27, which also marks the last bowl win for Pitt.
The Panthers enter this game with a 7-5 record, and will be looking to win 8 games for the first time since 2016. The offense is guided by junior quarterback Kenny Pickett, as he has thrown for 2,737 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season. He will be going up a an Eastern Michigan defense that ranks 92nd in total defense as it surrenders 428.3 yards per game.
The Pitt defense proved to be one of the best in the ACC, and it is led by a pair of first team all-ACC standouts in sophomore defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman and sophomore safety Paris Ford. That defense will be challenged by dual threat senior quarterback Mike Glass III, as he has thrown for 22 touchdowns and rushed for seven more in 2019.