The matchup is set for the first GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit, as MAC representative Toledo will face ACC squad Pittsburgh at 2 p.m. Dec. 26 (ESPN).
GameAbove Sports takes over sponsorship of the former Quick Lane Bowl this season. The business development firm is “dedicated to transforming the sports industry through strategic investments, athlete endorsements, and youth sports initiatives,” according to its website.
Toledo (7-5, 4-4 MAC) will be making its fifth appearance in a Detroit-based bowl, having previously played in the Motor City Bowl (21, ’03, ’04) and the Little Caesars Bowl (2010) and going 1-3 in those appearances. The Rockets’ lone win in a Ford Field bowl came in 2001 when Tom Amstutz’s squad defeated Cincinnati, 23-16. Toledo has been successful at Ford Field more recently than that, with victories in the 2022 and 2017 MAC championship games.
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Pitt (7-5, 3-5 ACC) will be making its seventh bowl appearance in 10 seasons under head coach Pat Narduzzi, who was previously Michigan State football defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio. That includes a Quick Lane Bowl appearance in 2019, when the Panthers beat Eastern Michigan, 34-30. The Panthers also played in the Little Caesars Bowl at Ford Field in 2013.
The Rockets will be appearing in their seventh bowl in nine seasons under head coach Jason Candle. The Rockets pulled off one of the MAC’s bigger upsets this season, taking down Mississippi State in Starkville, but lost three of their final five to drop out of MAC contention.
They’re led by senior QB Tucker Gleason, who completed 61.8% of his passes for 2,457 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Gleason frequently found senior Jerjuan Newton, as the Florida native had 64 catches for 949 yards and a MAC-leading 11 touchdowns.
The visit to Detroit, roughly 40 miles north of Toledo on I-75, will be a homecoming for approximately a dozen Rockets with metro Detroit ties. That includes senior linebacker Lance Dixon, who had 42 tackles (including six for loss) and two sacks after starring at West Bloomfield.
The Panthers won their first seven games this season to debut at No. 18 in the College Football Rankings this season, in the first release on Nov. 5. But Pitt lost all five games in November to tumble from the ACC driver’s seat.
That included a Nov. 23 loss to Louisville in which redshirt freshman Eli Holstein was carted off the field with a left leg injury. Junior Nate Yarnett took over under center for the Panthers; he has completed 58.7% of his passes this season for 1,056 yards, 10 TDs and five interceptions.
Likewise, Pitt may be without its top playmaker, as running back Desmond Reid missed the Panthers’ regular-season finale against Boston College on Nov. 30 with an undisclosed injury. The 5-foot-8, 175-pound transfer from Western Carolina had 1,361 yards from scrimmage, rushing 151 times for 797 yards and four TDs and hauling in 47 catches for 564 yards and another four TDs.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GameAbove Sports Bowl: Toledo and Pitt to kick off renamed game at Detroit’s Ford Field
