Pitt needs just two wins in its final eight games to reach bowl eligibility, but the Panthers don’t just want to do enough to qualify. There are ACC aspirations.
Brett McMurphy of Action Network updated his bowl projections at the one-third mark of the season, and his Pitt projection continues to trend upward. He slates the Panthers to face off against Washington State in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Cal. on Dec. 27. Action Network sets Pitt as an early 0.5-point underdog.
McMurphy still projects Miami to win the ACC, and his new projection has Clemson joining Miami in the College Football Playoff with an at-large bid.
The Holiday Bowl is a long-running bowl game that has been played since the 1978 season, originally intended to give the Western Athletic Conference (WCC) a top bowl bid behind the Fiesta Bowl. The location moved from San Diego Stadium to Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres, in 2022.
Pitt has never played in the Holiday Bowl, but with a current tie-in that pits an ACC school against a Pac-12 school, the Panthers are in the mix as it stands. USC knocked off Louisville in the latest Holiday Bowl, led by a 372-yard, 6-touchdown performance from Trojans’ quarterback Miller Moss.
Pitt is coming off its most complete performance of the season in a 73-17 win against Youngstown State Saturday at Acrisure Stadium — and it meant a lot to Pat Narduzzi.
“That’s the way we scripted that win today,” Narduzzi said Saturday night. “Talked to our guys just about the attitude we take and making a statement in regards to who we played. We wanted to put the foot to the pedal and show who we are. You look back at 2012 and Paul Chryst’s first year and you think about how far we’ve come as a program. They got beat by that team coming in here in ’12. Then in ’15, my first game, we beat them barely. ’17, we go overtime with them.
“Again, wins are wins, but this third one is the way it was supposed to be. They may have preached all week about, hey, last time we took them to overtime. That was 2017. That was before a Coastal Division championship. I was proud of the way those guys went out there and played.”
Pitt is 4-0 for the first time since 2000, going undefeated in non-conference play for the first time in program history, and the vibes in Pittsburgh are pretty good.
Pitt is off this weekend, but the Panthers return to action in the first game of ACC play against North Carolina on Oct. 5 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Holiday Bowl? I’d make that drive. San Diego. I’ve made two Sun Bowl trips to El Paso. The beach sounds ok to me. Of course, the Fiesta Bowl is played three miles from my home. Visit me here, Panthers. H2P!
Hi Tim! Check out the “Phoenix Scottsdale Pitt Alumni Clib” on facebook. We meet for the games at The Attic in the Arcafia area!