After both teams played and won their season-openers on Thursday, Sept. 1, Tennessee football and the Pittsburgh Panthers are set to square off 10 days later in a rematch from last year. It’s the second game of the Johnny Majors Classic, named for the man who won a national championship at Pitt and played and coached for the Vols.
Josh Heupel’s team comes into this game on the heels of a 59-10 season-opening win over the Ball State Cardinals. The victory put them in the top 25 of the AP Poll, at No. 24, for the first time since October of 2020. They are still one spot out of the Coaches Poll.
Pitt, meanwhile, heads into this game on the heels of surviving the West Virginia Mountaineers 38-31. Ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll, they are the defending ACC Champions after an 11-3 finish and top 15 ranking in both polls last year. Here is all the information you need for Tennessee football’s matchup.
Broadcast information
- TV: ABC
- Live stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: Vol Network; Pitt Panthers Radio Network
- Listen online: UTSports; 93.7 The Fan online
- Satellite: Sirius XM (Ch. 138 or 190 for Vols; 106 or 193 for Pitt); SXM App Ch. 955
Gambling odds according to WynnBET
- Line: Tennessee -6
- Over/Under: 62
- Moneyline: Tennessee -225; Pittsburgh +185
Last year, Pitt won the game in Knoxville 41-34, giving them a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series between the two schools, as they beat Majors twice in the 1980s when he was at UT, ironically. They are playing the game at home this year but are surprisingly the underdogs.
In that game, Kenny Pickett was starting for Pitt, and Jordan Addison was their go-to receiver. Joe Milton III started for the Vols, but he suffered an injury in the first half, and Hendon Hooker came in. Hooker almost led them to victory, but UT was stopped on a 4th and 1 in the red zone late, and then he threw an interception to lose.
That didn’t stop Hooker from becoming the full-time starter the next week, and he now heads into this game still in that role. Pitt, meanwhile, had to replace Pickett and Addison, but USC Trojans transfer Kedon Slovis threw for over 300 yards in the opener at quarterback.
This will be Hooker’s third start and fourth game against Pitt, as he faced them in 2019 and 2020 with the Virginia Tech Hokies, going 1-1. It’s also the fourth matchup between Heupel and Narduzzi, as Heupel faced them twice with the UCF Knights, also going 1-1 there.
Another twist in this matchup is Frank Cignetti Jr., Pitt’s new offensive coordinator. He replaced Mark Whipple, who is now with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Next week, Tennessee football returns home to face the Akron Zips. Pitt, meanwhile, visits the Western Michigan Broncos, a team that beat them last year.