PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After a dominating win over Ball State in the season opener, the newly ranked Tennessee Volunteers will face their first road test of the year on Saturday afternoon against No. 17/14 Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium.
Saturday’s contest will mark the second the edition of the Johnny Majors Classic, as the 24th ranked Vols will look to avenge a narrow loss in last season’s tilt between the two teams in Knoxville. It will be the first time the Big Orange have ever played a game in the state of Pennsylvania.
BROADCAST INFO
Saturday’s showdown of ranked teams will be televised nationally on ABC with Sean McDonough (PxP), Todd Blackledge (analyst) and Molly McGrath (sideline) on the call. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Fans can listen to Tennessee’s official radio broadcast on the Vol Network (Local: WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) over 64 stations across the state of Tennessee and the southeast, UTsports.com, the Tennessee Athletics App, SiriusXM (Sirius Ch. 138, XM Ch. 190, Internet Ch. 961) and the Varsity App. A live audio stream of the broadcast will also be available on UTSports.com and the Official Gameday App.
Bob Kesling (PxP), Pat Ryan (analyst) and Brent Hubbs (analyst) will call the action, with Kasey Funderburg handling sideline duties. The Big Orange Countdown pregame show begins at 1:30 p.m. ET.
GAMEDAY INFO
For the most up-to-date information on this Saturday’s gameday policies, please visit the Pitt Football Gameday Information page.
Tickets
Tickets for Saturday’s contest can be purchased through Vivid Seats by click HERE.
NEED TO KNOW
Johnny Majors Classic, Part II
When Tennessee and Pitt meet on Saturday, they will pay tribute to a shared gridiron icon as the game’s designation for the second straight year is the Johnny Majors Classic, named in honor of the late legendary head coach and player. The two teams honored Majors last season in a game that Pitt won 41-34 on Sept. 11 in Knoxville.
Majors served two tenures as head coach at Pitt, doing so from 1973-76 and 1993-96. He spent 16 seasons as head coach of his alma mater of Tennessee from 1977-92. In total, he produced a 185-137-10 record in 29 seasons of coaching. Saturday marks the Volunteers’ first appearance on ABC since a 45-24 win over Virginia Tech in the Battle at Bristol on Sept. 10, 2016.
45 Streak
The Vols have tied a school record for consecutive games scoring 45 or more points with four, which matches the 1993 team who did it in the final four contests of the regular season. UT has combined for 209 points and is 3-1 during this streak: (59-10 Ball State, 45-48 Purdue, 45-21 Vanderbilt, 60-14 South Alabama). In 14 games in the Heupel era, the Vols are averaging 40.7 points per game.
Hendo Cinco
Tennessee redshirt senior quarterback Hendon Hooker picked up right where he left off in 2021 with a solid all-around showing in the Vols’ 59-10 season-opening victory over Ball State. Hooker completed 18-of-25 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns and added two more scores on the ground. With a touchdown pass to Jalin Hyatt on UT’s first offensive play, Hooker extended his stretch of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 13, which is the second-longest streak in program history behind Heath Shuler’s 18-game streak.
Battle of Ranked Foes
Tennessee made its debut in the Associated Press Top 25 this week at No. 24, representing its first ranking in the Josh Heupel era and first in the AP poll since Oct. 11, 2020, during the COVID-shortened season when it was No. 11. Heupel’s UCF teams were ranked a total of 27 weeks in his three seasons in Orlando. Their highest ranking in the Heupel era was No. 7 when it played in the 2018 AAC Championship Game and then the Fiesta Bowl.
Pitt enters the contest No. 17 in the AP Top 25 and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll. This is the highest ranked non-conference road matchup (non-neutral) for the Vols since they traveled to No. 4 Oklahoma (L, 34-10) on Sept. 13, 2014. The Vols already hold one road win over a top-20 team in the Heupel era as it defeated No. 18/17 Kentucky, 45-42, last season in Lexington. The last time UT beat a top-20 non-conference team on the road (non-neutral site) was on Nov. 8, 2003, when the Big Orange took down No. 6 Miami, 10-6, in the Orange Bowl. That was also the last time UT faced an ACC team on the road.
SERIES HISTORY
Pitt leads, 3-0
Tennessee will be looking to notch its first win over Pittsburgh in program history after dropping the previous three contests, all of which were played in Knoxville. The Vols came close to downing the Panthers last season, but their fourth-quarter comeback came up just short in a 41-34 loss.
ABOUT PITTSBURGH
The Panthers are led by eighth-year head coach Pat Narduzzi, who guided the program to 11 wins and its first ACC title in program history in 2021.
Offensively, Pitt is led by USC transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis, who completed 16-of-24 passes for 308 yards and a touchdown in the Panthers’ season-opening 38-31 win over rival West Virginia. Four players had multiple receptions in the season opener, led by Konata Mumpfield’s five catches for 71 yards. Rodney Hammond Jr. was Pitt’s leading rusher against the Mountaineers, finishing with 74 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.
The Panthers feature an experienced and talented defensive front which racked up five sacks in last week’s opener, including a pair from defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado. Senior linebacker Sirvocea Dennis led the team with 10 tackles while redshirt junior defensive back M.J. Devonshire had a 56-yard pick six in the fourth quarter that proved to the be the game-winning score.
-UT Athletics
