1.
Pittsburgh Panthers football
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The Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as Pitt, located in Pittsburgh. As of the 2013 season, Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Pitt has claimed nine national championships and is among the top 20 college football programs in terms of all-time wins. The Panthers are currently coached by Pat Narduzzi, a 130-pound WUP student, Bert Smyers, along with senior student John Scott, assembled a football team that year composed of only three players who had previously witnessed the sport. The team played in one game, a loss against Shady Side Academy, in which Smyers made himself quarterback. In Smyers case, his uniform was pieced together by his mother and sister, the first official game for the university was played on October 11,1890, when the Allegheny Athletic Associations opponent, Shadyside Academy, failed to appear for its game at Exposition Park. Allegheny A. A. called Smyers who brought the WUP team as a replacement, in an inglorious start to Pitt football history, WUP was defeated 38–0. Smyers team next faced Washington and Jefferson College, losing 32–0, the following season saw the university collect more losses en route to a 2–5 record. Smyers suffered a nose in a 40–6 loss to Washington and Jefferson. Perhaps the most important development for the season of football was Smyers recruitment of Joseph Trees from Normal University of Pennsylvania. The 210 pound Trees became WUPs first subsidized athlete and, later in life, made millions in the oil industry and became an important benefactor for the university and athletic department. Today, Trees Hall, a facility on the University of Pittsburghs main campus in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The first winning record for the university came in the season of competition in 1892. The following season in 1893, the team had its first official coach, Anson F. Harrold, who led the team to an unremarkable 1–4 record. However, during that season the first contest was played in what would become a 96-game series versus Penn State, in 1895, the school suffered a 1–6 season under coach J. P. Linn. The 1895 season was notable for the first Backyard Brawl on October 26,1895, with WUP losing to West Virginia 8–0 in Wheeling, the university did not see another winning season until Fred Robinson led WUP to a 5–2–1 record in 1898. In 1899, Robinson continued his success with a 3–1–1 record and this was followed by two more consecutive winning seasons, including a record seven-win season in 1901 under coach Wilbur Hockensmith. That season, Hockensmith led the school to its first victory over West Virginia, in the early years of the 20th century, interest in college football grew both in Pittsburgh and throughout the nation. In 1903, Arthur St. Leger Texas Mosse was hired away from the University of Kansas, other players were recruited from surrounding Western Pennsylvania colleges, including star half back Joseph H. Thompson
2.
Joseph Duff
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He played guard for Princeton and was selected for Walter Camps All-American eleven in 1911. After graduating from Princeton, Duff became an assistant football coach at the school for the 1912 football season and he served as the football coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 1913 and 1914 and graduated from the School of Law in 1915. He served in the U. S. military in World War I and he went to France as a private in a machine gun unit and was promoted to the rank of a lieutenant. He was killed in action in France on October 10,1918
3.
Forbes Field
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Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28,1970. It was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The stadium also served as the football field for the University of Pittsburgh Pitt Panthers from 1909 to 1924. The stadium was named after British general John Forbes, who fought in the French and Indian War, the US$1 million project was initiated by Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, with the goal of replacing his franchises then-current home, Exposition Park. The stadium was made of concrete and steel in order to increase its lifespan, the Pirates opened Forbes Field on June 30,1909, against the Chicago Cubs, and would play the final game that was also against the Cubs on June 28,1970. The field itself featured a playing surface, with the batting cage placed in the deepest part of center field during games. Seating was altered multiple times throughout the life, at times fans were permitted to sit on the grass in the outfield during overflow crowds. The Pirates won three World Series while at Forbes Field and the original tenant, the Pittsburgh Panthers football team had five undefeated seasons before moving in 1924. Some remnants of the ballpark still stand, surrounded by the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, in 1903, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss began to look for ground to build a larger capacity replacement for the teams then-current home, Exposition Park. Dreyfuss purchased seven acres of land near the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, adjacent to Schenley Park, with assistance from his friend, the low-priced land was selected so Dreyfuss could spend more on the stadium itself. Dreyfuss signed a contract that he would make the ballpark, of a design that would harmonize with the other structures in the Schenley Park district. The site was initially labeled Dreyfusss Folly due to its long distance—a 10-minute trolley ride—from downtown Pittsburgh, official Pirates records show that Forbes Field cost US$1 million for site acquisition and construction, however some estimates place the cost at twice that amount. Charles Wellford Leavitt, Jr. was contracted to design the stadiums grandstand, a civil engineer, Leavitt had founded an engineering and landscape architecture firm in 1897. He had gained experience in steel and concrete constructs while designing the Belmont, based on Dreyfuss architectural requirements, Leavitt presented a plan for Forbes Field—the only ballpark he would design. Initial work on the land began on January 1,1909, nicola Building Company built the stadium in 122 days and play began less than four months after ground was broken, on June 30. The facade of the stadium featured buff-colored terra cotta spelling out PAC for the Pittsburgh Athletic Company, the light green steelwork contrasted with the red slate of the roof. Some members of the press urged Dreyfuss to name the stadium after himself, however, the owner decided on Forbes Field, in honor of General John Forbes, who captured Fort Duquesne from the French in 1758 and rebuilt a new Fort Pitt at the site. In 1935, after Dreyfuss death, there was renewed media interest in renaming the stadium Dreyfuss Field, however, a monument to Dreyfuss was placed in center field just in front of the wall
4.
1915 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
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The 1915 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1915 college football season. Led by coach Pop Warner, his first season at Pitt, Pitt athletic booster Joseph Trees and athletic director A. R. Hamilton hired Pop Warner in 1914 as Pitts head coach. His arrival at Pitt gave the program instant national credibility, lifting the perception of the program from a power to that of a national one. The team was selected by football historian Parke H. Davis as that seasons co-national champion, the 1915 team was selected or recognized as national champions by multiple selectors, of which Parke H. Daviss selection is recognized as major by the official NCAA football records book. The selectors that determined Pitt to be champions in 1915. Bill Libby Jim Koger Mel Smith Parke H. Davis* * A major selector that was national scope according to the official NCAA football records book, bob Peck, center Andy Hastings, Pittsburgh ) James Pat Herron, end *Bold - Consensus All-American
