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 year) Paul Hackett (interim)
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 (Capacity: 56,500)

1989 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

	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
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
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
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

Roster

1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class G 64 Dean Caliguire Sr RB 22 Ronald Redmon Jr RB 27 Curvin Richards Jr TE 88 Lionel Sykes Jr WR 80 Olanda Truitt Fr WR 81 Henry Tuten Sr QB 10 Alex Van Pelt  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Louis Riddick Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Mike Gottfried Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Coaching staff

1989 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
	Coaching Staff Mike Gottfried – Head Coach Bob Valesente – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Paul Hackett – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Nick Rapone – Secondary Tommie Liggins – Tight Ends Bill Meyers – Offensive Line Larry Kirksey – Running Backs Frank D'Alonzo – Defensive Line Sal Sunseri – Linebackers Scott O'Brien – Special Teams			Support Staff Alex Kramer – Administrative Assistant Bud Ratliff – Recruiting Coordinator Frank Cignetti, Jr. – Graduate Assistant Michael McCarthy – Graduate Assistant Thomas McConkey – Graduate Assistant Frank Gansz, Jr. – Graduate Assistant Skip Peete – Graduate Assistant John Stone – Graduate Assistant			Strength and Conditioning Staff Buddy Morris – Strength Coordinator

Game summaries

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, Light rain, Wind SSW 14 mph 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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–9–1	1988	L 10–37

vs. Texas A&M (John Hancock Bowl)

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