[3] Part of the 1983–84 bowl game season, it matched the fourteenth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, and the #15 Pittsburgh Panthers, an independent.
The Buckeyes were ranked third until a loss at Iowa in late September; they later lost on the road to Illinois and rival Michigan.
The first game of a tripleheader (Rose, Orange) on NBC, the Fiesta kicked off shortly after 11:30 a.m. MST, as did the Cotton Bowl on CBS.
Pitt wide receiver Clint Wilson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 14.
Congemi then found Dwight Collins for a touchdown, but the two-point conversion attempt failed, and Ohio State held on to a one-point lead.