1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The 1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. Led by ninth-year head coach John Michelosen, the Panthers were 9–1 and were fourth in the final AP poll, third in the coaches poll.

1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 4
Record9–1
Head coach
Home stadiumPitt Stadium
Seasons
← 1962
1964 →
1963 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 14 Memphis State     9 0 1
No. 3 Pittsburgh     9 1 0
No. 2 Navy     9 2 0
No. 12 Syracuse     8 2 0
Utah State     8 2 0
Oregon     8 3 0
No. 16 Penn State     7 3 0
Army     7 3 0
Air Force     7 4 0
Boston College     6 3 0
Buffalo     5 3 1
Southern Miss     5 3 1
Idaho     5 4 0
Villanova     5 4 0
Oregon State     5 5 0
San Jose State     5 5 0
Xavier     5 4 1
West Texas State     4 4 1
Florida State     4 5 1
Colgate     3 4 1
New Mexico State     3 6 1
Colorado State     3 7 0
Miami (FL)     3 7 0
Texas Western     3 7 0
Detroit     2 6 1
Holy Cross     2 6 1
Notre Dame     2 7 0
Pacific (CA)     2 8 0
Houston     2 8 0
Boston University     1 6 1
Dayton     1 7 2
Rankings from Coaches Poll

The Panthers did not play in a bowl game; their most recent postseason appearance was in 1956 and the next was in 1973.

Schedule edit

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 20at UCLAW 20–028,095[1]
September 28WashingtonNo. 10W 13–636,946
October 5CaliforniaNo. 9
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
W 35–1521,931
October 19at West VirginiaNo. 3W 13–1031,000[2]
October 26at No. 10 NavyNo. 3L 12–2430,231[3]
November 2Syracuse No. 10
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
W 35–2744,217
November 9at Notre DameNo. 8W 27–741,306[4]
November 16ArmyNo. 6
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
W 28–047,947[5]
November 30at Miami (FL)No. 5W 31–2033,230[6]
December 7Penn StateNo. 4
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
W 22–2152,349[7][8][9]
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Coaching staff edit

1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
Coaching staff

Game summaries edit

At UCLA edit

Pittsburgh Panthers at UCLA Bruins – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Panthers 7 10 3020
Bruins 0 0 000

at Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles, CA

  • Date: September 20
  • Game time: 11:15 PM EDT
  • Game attendance: 28,095
Statistics PITT UCLA
First downs
Total yards
Rushes/yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Pittsburgh Passing
Rushing
Receiving
UCLA Passing
Rushing
Receiving

Washington edit

Washington Huskies at No. 10 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary
Period 1 2 Total
Huskies 0
No. 10 Panthers 0

at Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA

  • Date: September 28
  • Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
  • Game attendance: 36,946
Statistics WASH PITT
First downs
Total yards
Rushes/yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Washington Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Pittsburgh Passing
Rushing
Receiving

California edit

California Golden Bears at No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary
Period 1 2 Total
Golden Bears 0
No. 9 Panthers 0

at Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA

  • Date: October 5
  • Game time: 1:30 PM EDT
  • Game attendance: 21,931
Statistics CAL PITT
First downs
Total yards
Rushes/yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
California Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Pittsburgh Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At West Virginia edit

No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers at West Virginia Mountaineers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 3 Panthers 7 0 0613
Mountaineers 0 3 0710

at Mountaineer FieldMorgantown, WV

  • Date: October 19
  • Game time: 2:00 PM EDT
  • Game attendance: 32,000
Statistics PITT WVU
First downs
Total yards
Rushes/yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Pittsburgh Passing
Rushing
Receiving
West Virginia Passing
Rushing
Receiving

At #10 Navy edit

Syracuse edit

At Notre Dame edit

Army edit

At Miami (FL) edit

Penn State edit

Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Nittany Lions 7 7 7021
No. 4 Panthers 0 12 3722

at Pitt StadiumPittsburgh, PA

  • Date: December 7
  • Game time: 1:00 PM EST
  • Game attendance: 52,349
Statistics PSU PITT
First downs
Total yards
Rushes/yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession
Team Category Player Statistics
Penn State Passing
Rushing
Receiving
Pittsburgh Passing
Rushing
Receiving

Team players drafted into the NFL edit

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Paul Martha Defensive back 1 10 Pittsburgh Steelers
Ray Popp Guard 8 100 New York Giants
Rick Leeson Back 10 130 Washington Redskins
Paul Cercel Center 16 213 Dallas Cowboys
Bryan Generalovich End 20 275 Pittsburgh Steelers

Source[10]

Media edit

Radio edit

Flagship station Play-by-play Color commentator Sideline reporter Studio host
WWSW–AM 970

References edit

  1. ^ a b McHugh, Roy (September 21, 1963). "Pitt passes test with UCLA". Pittsburgh Press. p. 6.
  2. ^ "Pitt avoids upset by WVU, wins, 13–10, with late score". Richmond Times-Dispatch. October 20, 1963. Retrieved January 20, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Navy hands Pitt first grid loss". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. October 27, 1963. p. 31.
  4. ^ "Devore loses temper, Irish bow to Panthers". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. November 10, 1963. p. 34.
  5. ^ "Pitt wallops Army for No. 7". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. November 17, 1963. p. 37.
  6. ^ Jordan, Jimmy (December 2, 1963). "Pitt sure of one game against State Saturday". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 35.
  7. ^ a b Jordan, Jimmy (November 22, 1963). "57,331 sellout for Pitt-Penn State tilt". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 25.
  8. ^ a b Jordan, Jimmy (December 7, 1963). "55,000 to see Pitt battle Penn State at stadium today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12.
  9. ^ a b "Pitt rallies to edge Penn State 22-21". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). UPI. December 8, 1963. p. 40.
  10. ^ "1964 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007.