1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football
John Hancock Bowl champion
John Hancock Bowl, W 31–28 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 17
Record	8–3–1
Head coach	Mike Gottfried (4th season; regular season) Paul Hackett (interim, bowl game)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Hackett (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Bob Valesente (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ←  1988 1990  →

1989 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 15 Penn State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia	3	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Temple	1	–	4	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
Rutgers	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	2
Boston College	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)			–					11	–	1	–	0
No. 2 Notre Dame			–					12	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Florida State			–					10	–	2	–	0
Northern Illinois			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Penn State			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 17 Pittsburgh			–					8	–	3	–	1
No. 21 West Virginia			–					8	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					8	–	4	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana			–					7	–	4	–	0
Akron			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	4	–	1
Virginia Tech			–					6	–	4	–	1
Louisiana Tech			–					5	–	4	–	1
Army			–					6	–	5	–	0
Louisville			–					6	–	5	–	0
East Carolina			–					5	–	5	–	1
Tulsa			–					6	–	6	–	0
Southern Miss			–					5	–	6	–	0
Tulane			–					4	–	8	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers			–					2	–	7	–	2
Boston College			–					2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State			–					2	–	9	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	9	–	1
Temple			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	7:00 p.m.	Pacific (CA)	No. 23	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 38–3	35,421
September 9	12:00 p.m.	at Boston College	No. 23	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA		W 29–10	31,000
September 23	7:30 p.m.	No. 10 Syracuse	No. 13	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 30–23	45,762
September 30	7:30 p.m.	at No. 9 West Virginia	No. 10	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN	T 31–31	68,938	[1]
October 7	12:00 p.m.	at Temple	No. 8	Veterans Stadium Philadelphia, PA	JP Sports	W 27–3	24,982
October 14	12:00 p.m.	Navy	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	JP Sports	W 31–14	50,467
October 28	5:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Notre Dame	No. 7	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	ESPN	L 7–45	59,075
November 11	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Miami (FL)	No. 14	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	CBS	L 3–24	52,528
November 18	12:00 p.m.	East Carolina	No. 19	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 47–42	21,862	[2]
November 25	2:30 p.m.	No. 22 Penn State	No. 19	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 13–16	57,158
December 2	7:00 a.m.	vs. Rutgers	No. 24	Lansdowne Road Dublin, Ireland (Emerald Isle Classic)	ESPN	W 46–29	19,800
December 30	12:30 p.m.	vs. No. 16 Texas A&M	No. 23	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX (John Hancock Bowl)	CBS	W 31–28	44,887
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Personnel

1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 69 Dan Anderson So OL 73 Bill Cherpak Sr OL Jeff Christy So RB 32 Glenn Deveaux So OL 72 Chris Goetz So WR 19 Brian Jackson So RB 26 Derrick Lewis Fr OL 62 Roman Matusz Sr OL 60 Scott Miller So TE 41 Dave Moore So RB 22 Ronald Redmon Jr RB 27 Curvin Richards Jr C 55 Bryan Schoch Jr TE 86 Eric Seaman So OL 51 Chris Sestilli Fr QB 12 Scott Stark Sr TE 88 Lionel Sykes Jr WR 80 Olanda Truitt Fr RB 35 Ricky Turner So WR 81 Henry Tuten Sr QB 10 Alex Van Pelt  Fr RB 29 Adam Walker Sr RB 40 Jermaine Williams Fr WR 2 Reggie Williams Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 96 Richard Allen So DL 74 Jon Baker Jr DB 16 Robert Bradley Sr LB 58 Curtis Bray So DB 23 Dave Coleman So DB 31 Dan Crossman Sr LB 46 Craig Gob Jr DL 90 Mark Gunn Jr DL 92 Keith Hamilton Fr DB 3 Alonzo Hampton Sr DB 24 Doug Hetzler Jr LB 48 Ricardo McDonald So DB 5 Louis Riddick Jr DL 89 Tom Sims Jr DL 91 Carnel Smith Sr DE 93 Marc Spindler Jr DB 45 Barry Threats Fr LB 7 Prentiss Wright Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 27 Ed Frazier So P 25 Brian Greenfield Jr K 4 Jeff Van Horne Sr	Head coach Mike Gottfried Coordinators/assistant coaches Frank D'Alonzo (DL) Paul Hackett (OC/QB) Larry Kirksey (RB) Tommie Liggins (TE) Bill Meyers (OL) Buddy Morris (Str + Cond) Scott O'Brien (ST) Nick Rapone (DB) Bud Ratliff (RC) Sal Sunseri (LB) Bob Valesente (AHC/DC) Frank Cignetti Jr. (GA) Frank Gansz Jr. (GA) Mike McCarthy (GA) Thomas McConkey (GA) Skip Peete (GA) John Stone (GA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Season summary

At Notre Dame

#7 Pittsburgh Panthers (5–0–1) at #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Pittsburgh	7	0	0	0	7
Notre Dame	2	15	21	7	45

at Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana

• Date: October 28, 1989
• Game time: 5:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 59,075
• TV: ESPN
• Recap/Box

Game information

First quarter PITT – Ronald Redmon 8-yard pass from Alex Van Pelt (Ed Frazier kick), 9:32. Pittsburgh 7–0. Drive: 12 plays, 68 yards. ND – Safety, Alex Van Pelt downed in end zone, 6:07. Pittsburgh 7–2. Second quarter ND – Rodney Culver 1-yard run (run good), 13:22. Notre Dame 10–7. Drive: 36 yards. ND – Pat Terrell 54-yard interception return (Craig Hentrich kick), 3:05. Notre Dame 17–7. Third quarter ND – Ricky Watters 2-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 8:15. Notre Dame 24–7. ND – Raghib Ismail 50-yard run (Craig Hentrich kick), 4:53. Notre Dame 31–7. ND – Rodney Culver 1-yard run (Billy Hackett kick), 0:49. Notre Dame 38–7. Fourth quarter ND – Steve Belles 13-yard run (Billy Hackett kick), 4:12. Notre Dame 45–7. Top passers PITT – Alex Van Pelt – 16/33, 170 yards ND – Tony Rice – 1/7, 29 yards Top rushers PITT – Curvin Richards – 15 rushes, 47 yards ND – Raghib Ismail – 18 rushes, 74 yards, TD Top receivers PITT – Lionel Sykes – 6 receptions, 65 yards ND – Raghib Ismail – 1 reception, 29 yards

Miami (FL)

#7 Miami (FL) at #14 Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total •Hurricanes 10 3 9 2 24 Panthers 0 0 0 3 3 Date: November 11 Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Game attendance: 52,528 Game weather: 49 °F (9 °C), Light rain, Wind SSW 14 mph (23 km/h) TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz, Pat Haden, John Dockery

Scoring summary 1 10:38 MIA Huerta 20-yard field goal MIA 3–0 1 MIA McGuire 8-yard run (Huerta kick) MIA 10–0 2 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 13–0 3 MIA Huerta 27-yard field goal MIA 16–0 3 MIA Dawkins 9-yard pass from Erickson (pass failed) MIA 22–0 4 12:06 PITT Frazier 29-yard field goal MIA 22–3 4 10:19 MIA Safety, Van Pelt tackled in end zone MIA 24–3

See also: 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team

John Hancock Bowl (vs Texas A&M)

Main article: 1989 John Hancock Bowl

See also: 1989 Texas A&M Aggies football team

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Marc Spindler	Defensive end	3	62	Detroit Lions
Dean Caliguire	Guard	4	92	San Francisco 49ers
Alonzo Hampton	Defensive back	4	104	Minnesota Vikings
Tom Sims	Defensive tackle	6	152	Kansas City Chiefs
Chris Goetz	Guard	9	227	San Diego Chargers
Carnel Smith	Defensive end	11	290	Indianapolis Colts
Roman Matusz	Tackle	11	298	Chicago Bears

^[3]

References

1. "Pitt rallies from 22 back to tie". Wisconsin State Journal. October 1, 1989. Retrieved February 2, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Richards runs to the rescue in Panthers' 47–42 victory". The Pittsburgh Press. November 19, 1989. Retrieved March 5, 2021– via Newspapers.com.
3. "1990 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2012.