When college football fans across the country sit on their couch Saturday and flip through the channels, or at least watch scores go by on the bottom of their television screens, there will be a familiar sight.

“1955 is a lot of years. A lot of people will sit and turn that TV on and say, ‘Hey, another Pitt-Syracuse game. I think that’s really cool,’” SU head coach Scott Shafer said during his weekly press conference Thursday.

In a season marked by realignment and, in turn, new opponents as a first-year member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Orange will welcome a familiar foe into the Carrier Dome on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when Syracuse and Pittsburgh face off for the 69th time.

The two have played every year since 1955 with the Panthers leading the all-time series 34-31-3. The Orange has only faced one team more than it’s played Pittsburgh.

“Every game is an opportunity and presents itself with — ‘This is neat to go play here, a new team,’” Shafer said. “This is neat to come back and play somebody that we’ve played a lot.”

Shafer cited a handful of things that make this rivalry in particular a great one. The alumni and fan bases for each team centralize in the same areas throughout the Northeast. The region doesn’t have another particularly great football rivalry, so SU-Pitt stands out.

Both teams also tend to target the same recruits, so the yearly matchup affects both schools’ success in that area, as well.

But, most importantly, it’s something that people who are Shafer’s age grew up watching, the head coach said. Syracuse has gotten to play new powers like Clemson and Florida State, but now it’s back to its roots.

“With the advent of all the super-conferences in the country and the college football change agents that are happening, I think there’s something kind of cool about watching a Syracuse-Pitt game,” Shafer said.

So people will see this game among the rest of Saturday’s great matchups and say, “Hey, there they go again,” Shafer said. There’s a lot at stake in terms of bowl positioning, but this one also has the added element of tradition.

“I’m a traditionalist to some degree,” Shafer said. He smiled. “Unless it affects recruiting.”

Published on November 21, 2013 at 11:31 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2