Here Comes the SunHere Comes the Sun
Football

Here Comes the Sun

Stanford Cardinal (8-4, 6-3)
Pitt Panthers (7-6, 6-2)

Dec. 31, 2018 • 11 a.m. PT
Sun Bowl Stadium (51,500) • El Paso, Texas

Notes Depth ChartUpdated History and Records Media Guide Live Stats

TelevisionLive national broadcast on CBS with Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (analyst) and Jamie Erdhal (sideline).

RadioLive coverage on Stanford's flagship station -- KNBR 680 AM and 1050 AM -- with Scott Reiss '93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak '00 (analyst) and John Platz '84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio -- KZSU 90.1 FM -- and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu.

On the WebGoStanford.com • PittsburghPanthers.com • #GoStanford

What You Need to Know

  • 3 • Stanford has had three all-time meetings with Pitt. The Cardinal is 1-2 against the Panthers, including a 7-6 win in the 1928 Rose Bowl Game. Pitt won the first meeting in California, 16-7, on Dec. 30, 1922, and the most recent meeting, 7-0, on Nov. 26, 1932, in the Steel City. In all, Stanford is 10-10 against the ACC, with a win over North Carolina (25-23) in the 2016 Sun Bowl in the most recent matchup.
  • 3 • Stanford football players have conducted interviews in three foreign languages this season—JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Spanish), Jesse Burkett (Japanese) and Osiris St. Brown (German). All other Stanford football interviews this year have been done in English. 
  • 3 • The Cardinal swept its in-state rivals UCLA, USC and Cal for the third time in four years (2015, 2016, 2018). This season, Stanford went 5-0 against Californian opposition, and under Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw (2011-current), Stanford is 29-5 (.853) vs. in-state opponents, including 23-4 (.852) against USC, UCLA and Cal. Stanford has won eight of 12 over USC, a series-record eight straight Big Games, and a series-record 11 consecutive games over the Bruins—the all-time longest winning streak by any opponent against the Bruins. 
  • 4 • All four of Stanford's losses this season have come against teams in the Top 20 of the College Football Playoff rankings—No. 3, No. 9, No. 13 and No. 17th-ranked teams in the nation (Notre Dame, Washington, Washington State, Utah). Those four teams have a combined record of 41-9 (.820) this season, and are in the Cotton, Rose, Alamo and Holiday bowls, respectively.

    Next season does not get easier, all three 2019 nonconference opponents appear in the CFP rankings. Notre Dame is the No. 3 seed, UCF is undefeated since 2016 and appearing in its second straight New Year's Six bowl game while Northwestern was crowned this year's Big Ten West Division champion. The trio of non-league foes has combined to go 33-5 (.868) this season and currently ranks No. 3, No. 8 and No. 22, respectively.
  • 4 • Sophomore tight end Colby Parkinson tied a school single-game record with four touchown receptions against Oregon State on Nov. 10. The only other Cardinal to pull off that feat was Ty Montgomery against Cal in 2013 and Ken Margerum against the Beavers in 1980. Parkinson is the first FBS tight end with four touchdown catches in a game since 2011 (Northwestern's Drake Dunsmore), and just the fifth to do so since 1996. Parkinson also finished with a career-high six receptions and 166 receiving yards— the most receiving yards by a Cardinal tight end since Coby Fleener's 173-yard game in the 2011 Orange Bowl.
  • 10 • Stanford is making its 10th straight bowl game appearance, extending the program record. The previous best streak was three—when the Cardinal went to three straight Rose Bowls from 1933-35. The 10 straight winning seasons is the longest streak since an 11-year run from 1968-78.
  • 10 • Stanford recorded its 10th straight winning season in conference play, extending the school record. The previous best streak was seven straight years under Pop Warner in the Pacific Coast Conference from 1924-1930. 
  • 11 • Stanford has 11 student-athletes from the state of Texas on its roster, second only to the 28 California natives. 
  • 14 • Senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside tied a school record and ranks third nationally (first among Pac-12 players) -- with 14 receiving touchdowns. That ties Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton's school record set in 1977. He is four away from matching Mario Bailey's Pac-12 record set in 1991.
  • 16 • In addition to his 60 receptions and 969 receiving yards this season, Arcega-Whiteside has drawn 16 penalties this year—13 pass interference and three holding calls for 210 penalty yards (1.6 penalties/game and 21.0 penalty yards/game).
  • 20 • Junior quarterback K.J. Costello ranks among the Top 20 nationally in completion percentage (17th), completions per game (16th), passing efficiency (14th), passing touchdowns (9th), passing yards (13th), passing yards per game (11th) and yards per attempt (13th). He leads the Pac-12 in efficiency (159.1) and yards per attempt (8.67), and is second in the conference in yards (3,435) and TDs (29).
  • 21 • Stanford's seniors finished their careers 20-5 (.800) at Stanford Stadium. In the last four years, the Cardinal has won 39 games, four Big Games, two Pac-12 North titles, a conference championship, and has played in the Rose Bowl, Sun Bowl and Alamo Bowl.
  • 24 • Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo, who earned FWAA second-team All-America honors, set a school record and leads the country with 20 pass breakups and 24 passes defended (four INTs).
  • 30 • This is Stanford's 30th bowl appearance (14-14-1) and its fifth Sun Bowl appearance (1977, 1996, 2009, 2016) — the Cardinal has won three of its previous four visits to El Paso. This is Stanford's seventh bowl game in the state of Texas (4-2), including each of the last three years (2016 Sun Bowl, 2017 Alamo Bowl, 2018 Sun Bowl). Stanford is 5-6 all-time in Texas.
  • 41 • Stanford led the conference with 41 Pac-12 All-Academic honorees, including a league-best seven first-team recipients and six second-team selections.
  • 193 • Costello is 193 passing yards from surpassing the single-season school record held by Steve Stenstrom since 1993 (3,627). Costello is 82 yards from tying Andrew Luck for second.