First thing, there are 80,000 Clemson fans. There aren't 80,000 Pitt fans. There aren't 65,000 Pitt fans. Lower tickets, even to free, is not going to solve anything. Everyone knows it is hard to even give away tickets other than games like PSU and ND.
I think the Penn State home game actually hurts us. A lot of PSU fans buy Pitt season tickets then take delight in just throwing the rest of the tickets in the garbage, so those tickets/seats will never be used the rest of the season no matter what happens. That's a problem. Pitt can be 10-0 and there will be empty seats because PSU fans are giggling, hoarding them throwing them away. Don't think those nutcakes aren't doing this.
So what has to happen, as mentioned winning solves a lot, but you have to have people interested and invested in coming to see Pitt and not the opponent. That is what happens in the big time programs. Oh sure, tOSU draws and excites PSU fans more than Akron, Oklahoma or Texas draws and excites Hoopie fans more than Kansas, but those fans mostly come to see the home team.
In Pittsburgh, as someone said because of 35 years of mediocrity AND sharing the city with the winningest franchise over the last almost 50 years, people just aren't in the habit of going to college football games. They just aren't. People here, casual fans just aren't college football fans. It is not even they are PSU fans or WVU fans or ND fans, they are just NOT college football fans for the most part. So that is our challenge, as it is for most Northern cities with NFL teams.
Then you add that oversized stadium with those blasted yellow seats, not gold, but yellow, like bright yellow, like a highlighter circling every empty seat. That's not going to change overnight. Even with a good season. It is going to take some big winning seasons and a sustained run before you start entrenching this area into paying attention to college football.