Pitt Football: Panthers Can Capture Spirit of Steeler Nation for Pitt Football

The Pitt Panthers have shared Heinz Field with the AFC champion Steelers for 10 years.

Will Pitt ever receive the kind of love 66,662 fans showered upon the Black and Gold in the bitter cold Sunday night after the Steelers turned back the Jets' rally?

Will Pitt ever make Heinz an intimidating home field like Pitt Stadium was during the first half of the infamous 1981 Pitt-Penn State game, when extra bleachers were brought in and an overflow crowd of 60,260 roared with approval as the Panthers flew off to a 14-0 lead?

Penn State stormed back to score 48 unanswered points.

That game didn't hurt Pitt's attendance the following season. The Panthers began the 1982 season as the nation's No. 1 team. Although they finished the season ranked No. 9 with three losses, they set the single season attendance record at Pitt Stadium with an average of 54,818 per game.

In 10 years of play at Heinz Field, big Pitt wins at home have been rare, even though the Panthers' posted their fourth-best decade record with seven bowl appearances from 2001-2010.

Wannstedt's predecessor Walt Harris had success at Pitt, but rarely won big games at home.

Harris' Panthers dominated Virginia Tech and Boston College at Heinz and on the road, but he failed to win home games of national interest against Miami (2001 and 2003), Notre Dame (2003), Texas A&M (2002) and Nebraska (2004).

In 2002, Pitt fielded its best team in the 10-year run at Heinz Field. For the season finale against West Virginia, 66,731—the largest crowd in Pittsburgh's modern sports history—packed Heinz Field, only to see the Mountaineers defeat the Panthers 24-17.

This past season's accomplishments were over-shadowed by big home losses to Miami and West Virginia.

Coming off a dissension-filled 8-5 season, Todd Graham and his Panthers need to start winning big games at Heinz to sell out the stadium.

Winning at home breeds intimidation.

Graham can look at Pitt's history for inspiration.

He can labor to recapture the spirit of his predecessor's debut at Heinz, when 66,451 showed up to see two former NFL coaches square off. Unfortunately, Notre Dame's Charlie Weis came out the winner, 42-21.

And Graham can replicate the spirit of large crowds at Pitt Stadium games in the past.

He can look back at Pitt's greatest decade, the 1930s.  

The largest crowd in Pittsburgh sports history witnessed the 1938 Pitt-Fordham game at Pitt Stadium. After three previous seasons of 0-0 ties, the Panthers soundly defeated the Rams on October, 29, 1938 before 68,918 fans at Pitt Stadium.

Then as now, winning consistently will put big crowds in the stadium and turn the entire city of Pittsburgh into a Pitt love fest.

The Panthers have got to treat their home fans better.

When they knock off a big name opponent, like they did in 2009 against Notre Dame at Heinz, they've got to sustain the momentum by not losing the conference championship game at home like the 2009 squad did.

The Steelers are all about momentum and it shows in the devotion of their fans.

In a sports-crazed town like Pittsburgh, BCS football and the NFL can thrive together.

First things first: Graham must post an 8-0 record at Heinz Field to get the ball rolling in 2011, including wins over Utah and Notre Dame.

The Heinz Field crowd will eat it up.