Notre Dame–Pittsburgh football rivalry
American college football rivalry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Notre Dame–Pittsburgh football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Pittsburgh Panthers.[2] Notre Dame leads the series 52–21–1.[3]
Notre Dame, 6–0
Notre Dame, 37–15
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Notre Dame Stadium
Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S.
| First meeting | October 30, 1909 Notre Dame, 6–0 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | November 15, 2025 Notre Dame, 37–15 |
| Next meeting | 2028 |
| Stadiums | Acrisure Stadium Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S. |
| Trophy | None |
| Statistics | |
| Total meetings | 74 |
All-time series | Notre Dame leads, 51–21–1 (.701)[1] |
Largest victory | Notre Dame, 58–0 (1944) |
Longest win streak | Notre Dame, 11 (1964–1974) |
Current win streak | Notre Dame, 5 (2015–present) |
History
This storied series began in 1909,[3][4] and there have been no more than two consecutive seasons without two teams meeting each other except from 1913 to 1929, 1938 to 1942, and 1979 to 1981. Since 1982, the Panthers and Irish have remained a relative fixture on each other's schedules. Pitt is still Notre Dame's fifth most frequent opponent in program history. Navy, Southern California, Purdue, and Michigan State are the only schools who have played Notre Dame more times.[5]
The series has featured several memorable games. In 1975, Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett rushed for a school-record 303 yards in a 34–20 victory at Pitt Stadium, still the most yards ever by an Irish opponent.[6] The following year, he rushed for 181 yards on 22 carries in a 31–10 victory as No. 9 Pitt defeated No. 11 Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, en route to an undefeated season and a national championship.[7]
In 2012, Notre Dame's Everett Golson sparked a comeback from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and the Irish survived a narrowly missed game-winning field goal attempt by the Panthers in the second OT, to pull out a 29–26 victory in triple OT at home to stay unbeaten en route to a perfect 12–0 regular season.[8][9] The longest game in Notre Dame history occurred between the two schools in 2008, when Pitt defeated ND 36–33 in four overtimes at Notre Dame after the game was delayed briefly in the first overtime by the sprinklers in one end zone suddenly going off.[10][11][12][13]
The game often gets a large amount of national media attention and most often is televised on major television channels like NBC (which televises all Notre Dame home games),[14] ABC and ESPN.
The November 15, 2025, home game for Pitt, and the most recent contest in the series, was an official sellout.[15] College Game Day was on hand as well for the first time since 2005. Notre Dame dominated most of the contest, en route to a 37–15 win.[16] All-American Running Back Jeremiyah Love carried the ball 23 times for 147 yards and 1 touchdown,[17] including an impressive 56-yard run in the 1st quarter to put Notre Dame up early 7–0.[18]
Game results
| Notre Dame victories | Pittsburgh victories | Tie games | Vacated wins[n 1] |
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See also
Notes
- Notre Dame's win in 2012 was vacated as a result of NCAA sanctions against the Notre Dame football program issued on November 22, 2016, after the NCAA found that a student-trainer committed academic misconduct for two football players and provided six other players with impermissible academic extra benefits. The NCAA also rejected Notre Dame's appeal on February 13, 2018. This win is not included in Notre Dame's all-time record, nor is it counted in the series record between the two teams.[19] See Wikipedia:WikiProject College football/Vacated victories for an explanation of how vacated victories are recorded.[20][21]