CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1988 Pittsburgh

6–⁠5, coached by Mike Gottfried.

Schedule and results

Pittsburgh in 1988, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 59–10; won vs. No. 18 Ohio State 42–10; lost vs. No. 11 West Virginia 10–31; lost at Boston College 31–34; lost vs. No. 5 Notre Dame 20–30; won vs. Temple 42–7; won vs. Navy 52–6; won vs. Rutgers 20–10; won at Penn State 14–7; lost at NC State 3–14; lost at No. 18 Syracuse 7–24+49−21Won 59–10 vs. Northern Iowa+49Northern IowaWon 42–10 vs. No. 18 Ohio State+32No. 18 Ohio StateLost 10–31 vs. No. 11 West Virginia-21No. 11 West VirginiaLost 31–34 at Boston College-3Boston CollegeLost 20–30 vs. No. 5 Notre Dame-10No. 5 Notre DameWon 42–7 vs. Temple+35TempleWon 52–6 vs. Navy+46NavyWon 20–10 vs. Rutgers+10RutgersWon 14–7 at Penn State+7Penn StateLost 3–14 at NC State-11NC StateLost 7–24 at No. 18 Syracuse-17No. 18 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsNorthern IowaW 59–⁠1086%
Sep 17vs18Ohio StateW 42–⁠1054%
Sep 24vs11West VirginiaL 10–⁠3160%
Oct 1atBoston CollegeL 31–⁠3457%
Oct 8vs5Notre DameL 20–⁠3041%
Oct 15vsTempleW 42–⁠776%
Oct 22vsNavyW 52–⁠680%
Nov 5vsRutgersW 20–⁠1067%
Nov 12atPenn StateW 14–⁠741%
Nov 19atNC StateL 3–⁠1455%
Dec 3at18SyracuseL 7–⁠2428%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 24–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 55th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 16

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1988.

Consensus All-AmericanMark Stepnoski, OG

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠3 3rd in the Major eastern college football independents (Wikipedia)
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
300–⁠183
Coach
Mike Gottfried
Elo
1569 −5 this season
SP+ rating
14.1 No. 21 of 102; offense No. 38, defense No. 15
SRS
13.0 No. 19 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Dickens
Defensive coordinator
John Fox
Offense
Multiple pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 1Burt Grossman DESan Diego Chargers
Rd 1Tom Ricketts OGPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 3Mark Stepnoski CDallas Cowboys