PITTSBURGH PANTHERS
Heinz Field (65,050/Natural Grass)
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Television
BIG EAST Network Game of the Week - AFFILIATES
Mike Gleason, John Congemi and Eamon McAnaney
Louisville Radio
WHAS-AM 840 (flagships)
Sirius 129
Pittsburgh Radio
KDKA-FM 93.7 (flagship)
Sirius 127; XM 203
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the 14th meeting between Louisville and Pittsburgh in a series that dates to 1976 … The Cardinals hold a 7-6 series lead, but the Panthers have taken the last two matchups … The teams have split two previous meetings at Heinz Field … Louisville is 3-2 against Pittsburgh in five BIG EAST meetings … Last year’s game saw Pittsburgh QB Bill Stull throw for 242 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 35-10 win.
LOUISVILLE (4-3, 1-1 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas ’82)
4-3, first season
NOTES
Louisville picked up its first BIG EAST win of the season — and the first conference win for head coach Charlie Strong — with a 26-0 victory against Connecticut last Saturday … The win marked Louisville’s first shutout of a BIG EAST opponent and was the Cardinals’ second whitewash in their last three games … Louisville ranks second in the BIG EAST in total offense (442.1 yards per game) with an average of 211 rushing yards and 231.1 passing yards … RB Bilal Powell enters Saturday’s game as the nation’s fourth-leading rusher (143.3 yards per game) … Powell has rushed for 1,003 yards and nine touchdowns and has joined Michigan’s Denard Robinson, Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter and Auburn’s Cam Newton as the only 1,000-yard rushers in the nation …. QB Adam Froman ranks second in the BIG EAST in passing (221.6 yards per game) and total offense (234.9 ypg) … Froman has thrown for 1,551 yards and 11 touchdowns against four interceptions … WR Doug Beaumont is the leading receiver with 24 catches for 308 yards … WR Josh Bellamy has a team-high four touchdowns … DT Rodney Gnat has a team-high 6.5 sacks, while CB Johnny Patrick has a team-high three interceptions.
PITTSBURGH (4-3, 2-0 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Dave Wannstedt (Pittsburgh ’74)
39-29, sixth season
NOTES
Pittsburgh stands as the only unbeaten team in BIG EAST play after the Panthers improved to 2-0 with a 41-21 win against Rutgers last weekend …Pittsburgh has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and has averaged 43 points in its two BIG EAST wins … Pittsburgh has averaged a BIG EAST-leading 30.3 points per game … The Panthers rank ninth nationally in both rushing defense (92.4 yards per game) and sacks (3.0 per game) … DE Brandon Lindsey ranks seventh nationally in sacks (1.14 per game), while DE Jabaal Sheard is 10th (1.00 per game) … RB Ray Graham is third in the BIG EAST in rushing (107.5 ypg), while RB Dion Lewis is seventh at 69.0 ypg … Lewis, who had 10 100-yard games last season, reached triple figures for the first time in 2010 last week against Rutgers … In the two BIG EAST games, QB Tino Sunseri has completed 74.5 percent of his passes (38 of 51) for 588 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception … WR Jon Baldwin, who had a season-high 139 receiving yards last week, has 30 receptions for 525 yards on the year and ranks third in the conference in receiving yards (74.6 ypg).