WVU-Pitt game a sellout
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The West Virginia-Pittsburgh game Saturday in a sellout, Pitt’s first in two seasons at Heinz Field. Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson said all seats were gone by Tuesday afternoon, when 2,000 standing-room tickets went on sale at $15 each. The standing room will be in the plaza underneath the scoreboard.
Heinz Field’s listed capacity is 65,000, but the sold-out Steelers’ largest crowd there last season was 64,704 for the AFC championship game against New England.
Pitt’s biggest crowd at Pitt Stadium, where the school played from 1925-1999, was 68,918 for Fordham in 1938. After World War II, when the stadium’s capacity was listed as 56,500, the largest crowd was 60,283 for Penn State in 1983.
The Penn State-Pitt game also drew 61,221 to Three Rivers Stadium in 2000.
This is the first time since 1989, when the teams played in Morgantown, that West Virginia and Pitt will go into rivalry game known as the Backyard Brawl nationally ranked. Pitt (8-3, 5-1 in Big East) is No. 17, and West Virginia (8-3, 5-1) is No. 24.
Will-call lines at Heinz Field are likely to be long Saturday, so Pederson suggests Pittsburgh-area residents pick up their tickets Friday at the on-campus Petersen Events Center from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Heinz Field ticket windows will open Saturday at 9 a.m.