Pitt heading to the Sun Bowl
Pitt has been invited and has accepted a bid to play in the Sun Bowl. The game will be played on Monday December 31st in El Paso (TX) and will be televised by CBS at 2:00 p.m. Pitt’s opponent will be Stanford out of the Pac-12. The Sun Bowl has been played annually since 1935, and is tied as the second oldest bowl game in existence with the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl, only the Rose Bowl has been played longer.
This will mark the fourth time Pitt will play in the Sun Bowl. In 1975, the Panthers led by head coach Johnny Majors and running back Tony Dorsett defeated Kansas 33-19. That win propelled the team to a national championship the following year.
In 1989, Pitt defeated Texas A&M 31-28 to cap off a 8-3-1 season under head coach Mike Gottfiend. More recently, Pitt traveled to El Paso in 2008 behind head coach Dave Wannstedt, the Panthers lost 3-0 in a defensive struggle to Oregon State.
This marks the 34th time Pitt will head to a bowl in program history, as the Panthers hold a 13-20 record all-time in postseason games. This will be the third bowl game in four seasons for Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. He guided the Panthers to the Military Bowl in 2015, a 44-28 loss to Navy. In 2016, Pitt went to the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City, and lost to Northwestern 31-24. Pitt has now reached a bowl game in 10 of the past 11 seasons, with last year being the only season the team failed to qualify for the postseason.
Pitt and Stanford have met three times in history, but this will be the first meeting since 1932 when Pitt defeated Stanford 7-0 at Pitt Stadium. The Panthers lead the series with the Cardinal 2-1. Pitt is 22-26 all-time against current members of the Pac-12 conference.
Stanford is led by head coach David Shaw, who will be wrapping up his eighth season in Palo Alto. He has led his program to five 10-win seasons during his tenure. The 2018 Stanford team enters the game with an 8-4 record following a 23-13 win over rival Cal on Saturday. The Cardinal feature running back Bryce Love, who was a Heisman candidate entering the season, but injuries have limited him to just 739 yards this season. Love’s lack of production has led to junior quarterback K.J. Costello to having a career-year with 3,435 passing yards and 29 touchdown passes.