Oct. 31, 2007

Watch Dan Marino and Jackie Sherrill Discuss the '82 Sugar Bowl

      PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh will pay tribute to a team responsible for one of the most famous endings in college bowl history when the Panthers host Syracuse this Saturday, Nov. 3, at Heinz Field.

      Pitt will honor at halftime its 1982 Sugar Bowl champion team, which defeated Georgia, 24-20, in the Louisiana Superdome on a dramatic last-minute touchdown pass. The ABC telecast, called by legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson, has become a fixture on ESPN Classic - and for good reason.

      The Panthers trailed Georgia, 20-17, with 42 seconds remaining. Facing a 4^th-and-5 at the Bulldogs' 33, Pitt coach Jackie Sherrill disdained the potential 50-yard field goal and elected to go for the win.

      Facing a Georgia blitz, quarterback Dan Marino fired down the middle to a streaking John Brown, who hauled in the TD pass despite taking a bone-jarring hit from a Bulldog safety. It was the third touchdown pass of the game for Marino, the Sugar Bowl's Most Valuable Player, who will be among the returning players honored this Saturday.

      The Pitt defense limited Georgia's All-America running back Herschel Walker to just 84 yards on 25 carries. The victory capped an 11-1 season for Pitt, which finished No. 2 in the final United Press International poll and No. 4 in the Associated Press poll.

      Twenty-two players from that team would be drafted by the National Football League over the next four years. Six would be taken in the first round, including Marino, offensive tackle Jim Covert and defensive back Tim Lewis in 1983; defensive tackle Bill Maas in 1984; and defensive end Chris Doleman and offensive tackle Bill Fralic in 1985.

      Covert, Fralic and Marino are each College Football Hall of Fame inductees. Marino was also enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

      "The 1982 Sugar Bowl ranks among the greatest bowl games ever played," Pitt interim athletic director Donna Sanft said. "Some of the best players in college football history were in the Superdome that night and we are proud to welcome many of them back this weekend."

      The Pitt-Syracuse game will kick off at noon. For ticket information, call (800) 643-PITT or log on to PittsburghPanthers.com.