As the 2012 Pitt football season approaches, the University plans on bringing the school’s…As the 2012 Pitt football season approaches, the University plans on bringing the school’s student body closer to the football team than ever before.

The development of the Panther Pitt means there will be a unified student section at Heinz Field on Pitt game days for the first time in several years, and students buying season tickets have been given a blue T-shirt to wear at games.

But Pitt’s athletic department also recently announced other plans to achieve its goal of exciting students for football season, which include several events across campus and at Heinz Field throughout the opening two weeks of the season.

The big event prior to the first game is the annual football bonfire, produced by Pitt Program Council, which is set for the evening of Thursday, Aug. 30, on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.

Pitt marketing and ticketing director Justin Acierno said that this year’s bonfire will be a little bit different than the ones in recent years.

“This year there’s a slight twist to it,” Acierno said, referring to the bonfire. “At 7:30 p.m. there will be a student picnic with the football team. We’re going to have free food, and it will be a really good social event for the students to come out and meet the team and see their fellow classmates.”

The actual bonfire will start at 8:30 p.m.

On the day of Pitt’s home opener against Youngstown State this Saturday, Sept. 1, buses will be lined up on Bigelow Boulevard in front of the Cathedral and at Sutherland Hall to take students to and from the game at Heinz Field. Buses will begin departing at 2:30 p.m.

Students will be dropped off by the Great Lawn Tailgate beside the stadium, which will feature free food and music, and the gates of Heinz Field will open at 4 p.m. with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.

Pitt senior associate athletic director E.J. Borghetti hopes the pregame events will get the students even more excited for the Panthers’ opener.

“The Pitt student body provides the heartbeat and the pulse of Heinz Field,” Borghetti said. “When it is fired up, the rest of the stadium is fired up.”

Immediately following the football team’s first game under new head coach Paul Chryst, there will be fireworks outside Heinz Field for students and other fans to enjoy as they exit the stadium.

The next week, the Panthers will begin their Big East conference schedule on Thursday, Sept. 6, at Cincinnati, and the University plans to show the game to students on a big-screen television on the Petersen Events Center lawn.

The event will be similar to the one Pitt hosted two years ago when the Panthers began their season at Utah, but Acierno said this year’s watch party will be even bigger, with more free food and drinks from several local restaurants. Refreshments will be available to students with a Pitt ID.

The Pete lawn will open up at 7 p.m., and kickoff in Cincinnati is scheduled for one hour later.

Pitt lost in overtime at Utah in 2010, leaving students at the watch party disappointed. But Acierno hopes Pitt will pull out a victory this time so that the evening ends on an enjoyable note.

“We’ve got a lot of buzz going around about Coach Chryst, his staff and the team,” Acierno said. “Everyone seems to be extremely excited about what’s going on right now. Hopefully, it’ll be a great night.”

Beyond the actual events, Pitt has also attempted to connect with students and fans via social media and the production of Pitt Live Wire, a blog on the team’s official website complete with stories and videos that provide glimpses inside the football team’s training camp.

“That’s something we’re very excited about,” Acierno said of Pitt Live Wire. “We’re trying to bring the football team to the students and show people what they do on a daily basis at practice so that students can get a different view of what the student-athlete life is like.”

Additionally, Oakland Zoo Vice President J.D. Schroeder, who spearheads the basketball student fan group’s effective social media efforts, is also behind the tweets for the Panther Pitt. This outlet offers yet another way to get the word out about all that’s this going on in the world of the Pitt football team. The group is also on Facebook.

Mike Osterrieder, a senior involved with the Panther Pitt, says social media will help keep football in the student body’s consciousness over the course of the season.

“You can’t underestimate the power of social media,” Osterrieder said. “Social media is going to be huge in generating excitement, keeping excitement, keeping people in the loop about upcoming events. It’s a way to reach out to everybody all at one time, which really makes movements like this easier.”

With so much going on to get fans excited about Coach Chryst’s debut season leading the Panthers, Acierno said student season tickets sales “have been going great,” although he wouldn’t name specific numbers.

“We’ve been at every Pitt Start, so I think most of the freshmen are ready to go,” he said. “And now that the upperclassmen are on campus, sales have really picked up the last week before the season starts.”

With expectations for the team and the student section rising just days before the season kicks off, Borghetti hopes that a unified, more passionate student section in the corner of Heinz Field will give Pitt a significant home-field advantage this fall.

“Judging from the offseason work the Panther Pitt has put in, I think this is going to be an incredibly exciting year at Heinz Field,” he said. “Not only between the hash marks, but also in the stands where our students will give us an important home-field advantage.”