Pitt has already eclipsed its record for season ticket sales this year and with Penn State coming to town, they should set the all time Pittsburgh attendance record. That’s not just a record for Pitt, it’s for a sporting event in the entire City of Pittsburgh.

The current record is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Denver Broncos last year, which drew just over 67,000 people. The stadium capacity is at 68,400 and with about 900 standing room only tickets sold, according to the Pitt News, the Panthers will likely break that record.

The game, obviously, has been great for Pitt and the City in terms of revenue generated from hotel stays, restaurants, and other types of tourism. The Pirates play the Cincinnati Reds in town over this weekend, and you can bet that some fans in town for the Pitt game will attend one or two of those games, too.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill’s Facebook page and follow us on Twitter@PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.

A couple things to note after the final after practice media availability on Thirsday for Nebraska:

• Defensuve Tackle Mick Stoltenberg, who was lost for the season last year with a knee injury, will not be available on Saturday. Stoltenberg hurt the same knee in a pass rushing drill this week. It does not sound like the injury is season threatening, however.
• Much injured Cornerback Charles Jackson has left the team, Riley announced. Jackson will stay on scholarship through the rest of the year, however. One has to wonder where he would be sans the injuries he has suffered in his career.
• Stoltenberg being out will let Carlos Davis make his first ever start at Nebraska.
• DeMornay Pierson-El, who was listed as the top person on Punt Return but did not appear in that role at all vs. Fresno State, will be the first one in the game this week per Riley.
• After just one week in the press box, OL coach Mike Cavanaugh will be on the field. Riley stated in his weekly presser that moving Cav back down was a possibility.
• Finally, Safety Antonio Reed, who missed last week’s game due to injury, is cleared & will play per Riley.

The Arizona Wildcats look to get on track this week and they’ll host the Grambling State Tigers on Saturday following their season-opening loss to BYU in Glendale.

Rich Rodriguez and a few players said earlier this week how a bunch of “little things” needed to be corrected before Saturday’s game, and apparently one of those things is the uniforms.

As Dane Cruikshank announced in that video above, the Wildcats will be wearing red helmets, red jerseys, and blue pants against Grambling State.

Fans at Arizona Stadium are also advised to wear red.

Arizona has only used this uniform combination once before, and it was last season when the Wildcats beat the Colorado Buffaloes 38-31 in Boulder.

Now we know that if Arizona wins Saturday, it’ll definitely be because of the uniform change, since that obviously has a huge impact on the game itself (heavy sarcasm intended).

The Georgia Bulldogs are one of four recipients of the NCAA’s student-athlete sportsmanship award for 2015-16.

The team was honored for its treatment of Southern University player Devon Gales following a spinal injury he suffered in a game last season.

From the NCAA:

On Sept. 26, 2015, Southern University wide receiver Devon Gales suffered a career-ending spinal injury against the University of Georgia at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

When Gales went down, the Georgia football team was the first to respond. At that moment, the color of his jersey didn’t matter. Gales’ safety did. In the months that followed, the Georgia football family stood by his side during his recovery, visiting him in the hospital, voicing support on social media and arranging for Gales’ family to fly in from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Claude Felton, the senior associate athletics director at Georgia, nominated the Georgia football team, noting the relationship between Gales and the Bulldogs team, built on mutual respect, that continues to flourish nearly a year after the injury.

With college football often the subject of negative headlines, it’s great to see UGA’s team recognized for its response and support of Gales.

It was announced today by Rutgers that sophomore wide receiver Dontae Owens has been dismissed from the football program.

Owens played in just two games last season and was not anywhere near the two deep on recent depth charts. As reported by Bobby Deren of Rivals here, there was no reason given for Owens’ dismissal. It’s unlikely the removal of Owens will cause any distraction to the team. If anything, it will only reinforce the strong culture and accountability that Ash has developed within the program since his arrival last December.

In terms of depth at the position, Ash and Rutgers received great news last week, when former 4-star receiver Ahmir Mitchell announced he was transferring from Michigan back to his home state school. Mitchell will sit out this season and be eligible starting in the 2017 season. He will have three years of eligibility remaining, with no redshirt available due to Big Ten transfer rules.

Rutgers resumes action on Saturday at noon in their home opener against Howard.

They’re saying the same thing we’ve all been thinking…

Here’s a look at some reactions and thoughts from other media personalities on Kentucky’s collapse against Southern Miss Saturday:

It wasn’t the first time in the Stoops era that the Wildcats gave up a costly score in the final minutes, or in this case seconds, of the first half.

Kentucky Football: “Making history (for other teams) since the departure of Bear Bryant.”

The sheer mechanics of it are mind boggling.

Kentucky fans didn’t call it an upset. Most of them saw the writing on the wall and got out of there by midway through the fourth quarter.

Sheesh is right. Now let’s see what they’ve said about Florida (I’m going to try and stay positive):

I’m confident Kentucky will rush for more than 46 yards against the Gators on Saturday.

Maybe we should start counting moral victories at Kentucky? At least then the streak wouldn’t be so long?

I think this is McElwain’s way of trying to fire his guys up to be more focused/poised for Kentucky than they were entering the game versus UMass. Hopefully the fact that Kentucky lost the way they did will make Florida players overlook the Wildcats?

It was just two weeks ago that we were discussing the fact that Ole Miss was heading into the 2016 season with the deepest running back corps of the Hugh Freeze era. Juniors Akeem Judd and Jordan Wilkins figured to operate a timeshare as the featured backs, with impressive redshirt freshman Eric Swinney chipping in as a change of pace.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Judd is the only one left.

Freeze confirmed to ESPN that redshirt freshman Eric Swinney will miss the entire season after suffering a knee injury in the first quarter of Monday night’s gut-wrenching loss to Florida State. That’s a brutal twist of fate for a talented young runner who missed all of last season with a stress fracture. Having battled his way through rehab, Swinney was the star of spring practice and figured to be one of the breakout offensive players in 2016. His season lasted all of one carry for 6 yards.

(Freeze also confirmed that starting cornerback Ken Webster is done for the season.)

That news comes 18 days after Ole Miss announced that an “administrative error” doomed Wilkins to academic ineligibility for the fall semester (he can technically fix that in time to play a bowl game). The junior, who ran for 428 yards last season and led the team in highlight yards per opportunity, figured to get a ton of carries this season and was the best of the bunch in pass protection.

So what does the Ole Miss depth chart look like at present?

Akeem Judd

The good news is that Judd is probably the most reliable runner of the three. He edged out Wilkins in the carries department toward the end of last year and figured to resume that advantage in 2016. He looked good on Monday night, averaging a healthy 5.5 yards per run and ripping off a filthy touchdown scamper at the end of the second quarter, though the offense’s second-half ineptitude limited him to just eight carries on the night.

The top of the rotation is fine as long as Judd can stay healthy. The concern is what’s behind him.

Eugene Brazley

Brazley stepped in as Judd’s primary backup on Monday, though he had just two carries for three yards as Freeze inexplicably abandoned the run during FSU’s comeback. A former three-star out of New Orleans, the junior’s only real contributions in Oxford have come in garbage time (200 of his 222 yards and all three three of his touchdowns in 2015 came in games against UT-Martin, Fresno State and New Mexico State) and on special teams.

D’Vaughn Pennamon

The freshman was probably heading for a redshirt year before the attrition began, but Swinney’s injury likely ends any chance of that happening. The four-star was heavily recruited by SEC programs and nearly flipped to Bama late in the 2016 ‘crootin cycle, so the talent is certainly there. At 5’11, 220-pounds, Pennamon has the size to spell Judd as a between-the-tackles runner, but also proved himself to be a competent receiver while playing in a spread offense in high school. The key will be acclimating him to a college system.

D.K. Buford

Originally recruited as a defensive back, the former three-star tallied all of seven carries as a freshman, none of which came against Power 5 competition.

Jarrion Street, maybe

Street, a three-star running back prospect coming out of high school, was quickly moved to safety when he showed up on campus this year. It’ll be interesting to see if the coaches flip the freshman back to the other side of the ball for depth purposes.

A quick note to Gamecocks fans. If you ever meet Will Muschamp, don’t say that his team “flocks to the ball”, because he’s liable to correct you on the spot. Granted, P&C Gamecocks beat writer David Caraviello didn’t know that going in, so he’ll get a pass, but…

What does it mean to flock, anyway? Let’s ask our old friend Mr. Webster.

to gather or move in a flock

…thanks. Well, let’s take a look at what the word means as a noun:

a large number <a flock of tourists>

I’m not sure if “flock” would be a good word here. “Fly” would be a good one. As Muschamp said, “We’re Gamecocks. We fly to the ball.” What about “swarm”? Perhaps that would work better. Whenever I think of the word “flock”, I get a picture of a bunch of birds converging on an animal left for dead on the side of the highway. TMI, I know, but I’m making a point.

And he is saying flock, by the way. Just so we’re clear.

You can watch the whole 20-minute press conference in its entirety right here.