Pittsburgh — ACC
HC
Pat Narduzzi · Acrisure Stadium · Pittsburgh, PA · 68,400 cap
PPA off / def
0.17 / 0.07
2025
Class rank
#44
class of 2026
Returning PPA
40%
returning production
| 1996 |
OSU W 72–0 | Columbus |
| 1995 |
OSU W 54–14 | away |
| 1994 |
OSU W 27–3 | Columbus |
| 1993 |
OSU W 63–28 | away |
| 1988 |
OSU L 10–42 | away |
| 1985 |
OSU W 10–7 | Columbus |
| 1983 |
OSU W 28–23 | Columbus |
| 1954 |
OSU W 26–0 | Columbus |
| 1952 |
OSU L 14–21 | Columbus |
| 1951 |
OSU W 16–14 | away |
| + 15 earlier meetings in archive |
2026 schedule
2025 results (8–5)
Statistical comps — 2025 Pittsburgh's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (16 in / 21 out)
Origins
Nine claimed national titles, most under Pop Warner and Jock Sutherland, then Dorsett's 1976 season and a quarterback room that produced Dan Marino. A blue blood that most people have stopped thinking of as one.
Founded 1787 · Pittsburgh Academy, chartered when the city was a frontier outpost · first football 1889 · defined by Tony Dorsett
All-time record
All-time
729–524–37
1896–2025
Win %
57.9%
127 seasons played
Winning seasons
76
60% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1976 | 12 | 0 | FBS Independents |
| 1981 | 11 | 1 | FBS Independents |
| 1980 | 11 | 1 | FBS Independents |
| 1979 | 11 | 1 | FBS Independents |
| 2021 | 11 | 3 | ACC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1896 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 334 | 55% |
42% | 102 of 136 | 5.9 | 14% |
| 2nd down | 247 | 37% |
41% | 63 of 136 | 6.3 | 16% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 35 | 51% |
54% | — | 3.8 | 11% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 51 | 25% |
35% | — | 6.8 | 12% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 67 | 19% |
22% | — | 6.0 | 15% |
| 4th down | 31 | 32% |
65% | — | 6.0 | 16% |
168 drives · 36% ended in points · 6.7 plays and 40.2 yards per drive · 0.92 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 9 | NC State |
(10:56) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete deep middle to #3 C.Hicks caught a… |
84 | 6.58 |
| 1 | Duquesne |
Cole Gonzales pass complete to Bryce Yates for 60 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK) |
60 | 5.88 |
| 10 | Stanford |
End of 1st quarter. |
84 | 5.59 |
| 2 | Central Michigan |
Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 48 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KIC… |
48 | 4.76 |
| 3 | West Virginia |
Eli Holstein pass complete to Bryce Yates for 68 yds to the WVU 6 for a 1ST down |
68 | 4.76 |
| 8 | Syracuse |
Mason Heintschel run for 36 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK) |
36 | 4.55 |
| 3 | West Virginia |
Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 67 yds to the WVU 6 for a 1ST down |
67 | 4.48 |
| 13 | Georgia Tech |
(02:49) No Huddle-Shotgun #25 J.Turner rush middle for 56 yards gain to the GT00 TOUCHDOWN… |
56 | 4.37 |