In 1976, Tony Dorsett put together one of the most dominant seasons in college football history, powering the Pittsburgh Panthers to a perfect 12-0 record and the program’s first national championship since 1937. The senior running back led the nation with 1,948 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns during the regular season, capping his career by shattering Archie Griffin’s all-time NCAA rushing record on October 23 against Navy with a 32-yard touchdown run that pushed his four-year total to 6,082 yards—a mark that would stand for more than two decades. Just two weeks later, on the November 8 cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline “Heading for the Heisman,” Dorsett was already being celebrated as the clear frontrunner; he went on to win the award in a landslide, along with the Maxwell and Walter Camp honors. In the Sugar Bowl, he added 202 more yards as Pitt crushed Georgia 27-3, sealing both the national title and his place as the first player ever to win a Heisman, a college championship, and later a Super Bowl. Bill Hillgrove has been the steady, familiar voice of Pittsburgh sports for more than half a century, calling University of Pittsburgh football play-by-play since 1974 and continuing in that role to the present day, while also serving as the Steelers’ radio play-by-play announcer from 1994 through 2024. A Pittsburgh native and Duquesne graduate, Hillgrove first joined the Pitt broadcast team as a color analyst in 1970 before taking over the lead chair after the death of Ed Conway. By the time Tony Dorsett shattered the NCAA career rushing record against Navy, Hillgrove was already behind the microphone, delivering the call of that historic moment that helped propel the Panthers toward their national championship. Over the decades he has narrated countless Pitt triumphs and, for three decades with the Steelers, described two Super Bowl victories and countless memorable games alongside partners such as Myron Cope and Tunch Ilkin, cementing his status as one of the most enduring and beloved voices in Western Pennsylvania sports history. Bill Hillgrove joined Past Our Prime and took us right back to the first time he laid eyes on Tony Dorsett. Still early in his own career calling Pitt games, Hillgrove remembers watching this relatively slight kid from Aliquippa step onto the practice field and immediately looking different—balance, vision, and a sudden burst that made defenders grasp at air. “You just knew,” Hillgrove said. “This wasn’t ordinary.” That first impression never faded. Years later, when Dorsett broke Archie Griffin’s all-time NCAA rushing record against Navy in 1976, the booth went quiet for a moment and then got emotional. Hillgrove and his partner were fighting tears as the celebration spilled onto the field. “To this day,” Hillgrove told us, “Tony Dorsett is still the best college running back I have ever seen.” The conversation naturally turned to another Pittsburgh legend Hillgrove watched up close. He considers Dan Marino the finest quarterback he has ever seen, period—arm talent, release, competitive fire, the whole package. Hillgrove was actually at the Marino family home on draft night in 1983, sitting with Dan and his father as the first round dragged on and the future Hall of Famer kept sliding. When the Miami Dolphins finally took him at pick 27, Dan’s dad looked over and told Hillgrove something that has stayed with him ever since: the fall to the 27th pick was the best thing that ever happened to his son. That quiet, confident line from the elder Marino still gives Hillgrove chills. It all comes together in a look back at one of the most historic seasons in college football history—a running back who rewrote the record book and an announcer who literally saw it all… Pittsburgh legend Bill Hillgrove this week on Past Our Prime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
