Remember when Pitt last played Stanford? It was the apprentice vs the mentor.
Or how about when Pitt played in its first bowl game ever? It was the first of four Rose Bowls for the Panthers.
Neither do I. Neither does your father and probably neither does your grandfather.
That’s because Pitt hasn’t played Stanford since 1932. Its been 86 years.
But there’s an interesting connection between the two schools.
Pitt’s first legendary head football coach was Pop Warner (at right in photo). He left Pitt in 1924 to coach at Stanford. He coached Pitt to 3 National Titles.
His apprentice and former player, Jock Sutherland (at left in photo) took over the Pitt job in 1924.
Pitt would go on to lose to Stanford 7-6 in the 1928 Rose Bowl. The apprentice would face his mentor one final time in 1932. Pitt shut out the Cardinal 7-0. It would be Pop Warner’s last season at Stanford. Pop would end his career at Temple where he coached for 6 more seasons.
Jock would win the National Title in 1937 at Pitt.
Pitt leads the all-time series with Stanford 2-1. Pop defeated Stanford 16-7 in 1922 as Pitt’s head coach.
Fast forward 86 years. Today, it was announced the two schools would meet again on the gridiron. This time in the 2018 edition of the Sun Bowl on December 31, 2018 in El Paso, TX.
Pitt has played in the Sun Bowl 3 times prior:
1975 Pitt 33 Kansas 19
1989 Pitt 31 Texas A&M 28
2008 Oregon State 3 Pitt 0
For most Pitt fans, the painful 3-0 loss to Oregon State 10 years ago was the most recent memory of the Sun Bowl. Pitt couldn’t even kick a field goal on a day when there were incredible winds and below average QB play. Pitt quarterback Bill Stull was 7-for-24 for 52 yards with one interception. Pitt legend tailback LeSean “Shady” McCoy was held to just 85 yards.