Pitt-Utah Game Is Throwback to Panthers' West Coast Openers of the Past

Jet travel is faster and more affordable than ever in the current era of college football, but few teams take advantage of the glamour and headline-making opportunities intercontinental matchups can provide.

When the Pitt Panthers make the 1,668-mile trip from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City to take on Utah, they will be retracing journeys made by the Pitt teams of the past.

Pitt squads coached by John Michelosen, Dave Hart, and Carl DePasqua regularly trekked across the country to kick off their seasons.

Pitt's first season-opening trip to California occurred on September 30, 1939 when the Panthers traveled to Seattle to meet the Washington Huskies. The Panthers prevailed 21-7 just as they had done in the 1937 Rose Bowl, when the Panthers clobbered the Huskies 21-0.

Fifteen years would pass before Pitt again journeyed to the West Coast for a season-opening game. In 1954 Lowell "Red" Dawson led a Pitt team coming off a 3-5-1 record in 1953 into the Los Angeles Coliseum to face Southern Cal. On their way to a 4-5 record in '54, the Panthers lost 27-7.

Forgotten now, the Pitt-UCLA game to open the college football season was a mainstay on the Panthers' schedule from 1958-1972. 

In the '58 game Pitt blasted the Bruins 27-6 under the guidance of John Michelosen. The '58 squad would finish 5-4-1.

Overall, the Bruins dominated the Panthers in the 14-game series, winning nine of the matchups, but two Pitt victories conjure up warm memories in the heart of Pitt fans old enough to remember.

Michelosen's best and often least-recognized squad was his 1963 Pitt team.

The "no bowl" squad lost an opportunity for a major bowl by postponing the season finale with Penn State. JFK had been assassinated on November 23. Pitt and Penn State decided to postpone their season finale until early December.

Major bowls were unsure Pitt would beat Penn State in the '63 finale even though the Panthers were 8-1 at the time. Pitt prevailed 22-21, but the Panthers declined a Sun Bowl invitation. They knew they belonged in a New Year's Day game.

The stage was set for a glorious '63 season when Michelosen took Paul Martha, Eric Crabtree, and company to Los Angeles to open the Panthers' 10-game schedule. There Pitt posted its most dominating win in the series, pounding the Bruins 20-0 en route to a 9-1 finish.

Another big Pitt victory stands out in 1971. The Panthers rallied in the Coliseum to upset the Bruins 29-25. Two weeks later, though, Oklahoma humiliated the Panthers 55-29 in Pitt Stadium, and the hopes Pitt fans had for a breakout season in 1971 were dashed.

The 1971 game was Pitt's last trip to California to play its season opener.

In 1973 Pitt's new coach Johnny Majors, working with AD Cas Myslinksi and Chancellor Wesley Posvar, decided to lighten the load. Hoping to pad the record with easier foes, they scheduled more Eastern and MAC schools as well as lesser-known football programs. Gone for the most part were USC, UCLA, Nebraska, and Ohio State except for an occasional meeting.

Tonight's game is not Pitt's first trip to Utah to open the football season.

In 1987 Pitt, led by Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, upset the BYU Cougars 27-17 en route to an 8-4 season and Heyward's rushing season total of 1,791 yards, third best in Pitt history for a single season. Coached by Mike Gottfried, the '87 squad would finish a successful season in the Bluebonnet Bowl, Pitt's first bowl bid since 1983.

Tonight's Pitt-Utah game is a throwback to Pitt's glorious schedules of the past when the Panthers were willing to cross the country to open their seasons. No Youngstown States, Eastern Michigans, or Grambling States in those days to give the Panthers a warm-up.

Win or lose, Pitt is all guts and grit tonight.