1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

American college football season

1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 4
Record	9–1
Head coach	John Michelosen (9th season)
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ← 1962 1964 →

1963 NCAA University Division independents football records
v t e	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 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.

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 20	at UCLA		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA	W 20–0	28,095	^[1]
September 28	Washington	No. 10	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 13–6	36,946
October 5	California	No. 9	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 35–15	21,931
October 19	at West Virginia	No. 3	Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	W 13–10	31,000	^[2]
October 26	at No. 10 Navy	No. 3	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	L 12–24	30,231	^[3]
November 2	Syracuse	No. 10	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 35–27	44,217
November 9	at Notre Dame	No. 8	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 27–7	41,306	^[4]
November 16	Army	No. 6	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 28–0	47,947	^[5]
November 30	at Miami (FL)	No. 5	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	W 31–20	33,230	^[6]
December 7	Penn State	No. 4	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 22–21	52,349	^[7]^[8]^[9]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Opener at UCLA was played on Friday night.^[1]
Following the assassination of President Kennedy, the Penn State game was postponed two weeks to December 7.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Coaching staff

1963 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff

	Coaching staff John Michelosen – Head coach

Game summaries

At UCLA

Pittsburgh Panthers at UCLA Bruins – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	10	3	0	20
Bruins	0	0	0	0	0

at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Pittsburgh	UCLA
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							20	0

Washington

Washington Huskies at No. 10 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary

Period	1	2	Total
Huskies			0
No. 10 Panthers			0

at Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Washington	Pittsburgh
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							6	13

California

California Golden Bears at No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary

Period	1	2	Total
Golden Bears			0
No. 9 Panthers			0

at Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	California	Pittsburgh
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							15	35

At West Virginia

No. 3 Pittsburgh Panthers at West Virginia Mountaineers – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Panthers	7	0	0	6	13
Mountaineers	0	3	0	7	10

at Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Pittsburgh	West Virginia
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							13	10

At #10 Navy

Syracuse

At Notre Dame

Army

At Miami (FL)

Penn State

Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Nittany Lions	7	7	7	0	21
No. 4 Panthers	0	12	3	7	22

at Pitt Stadium • Pittsburgh, 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

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	Penn State	Pittsburgh
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							21	22

Team players drafted into the NFL

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

Radio

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

References

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

v t e Pittsburgh Panthers football
Venues	Recreation Park (1898–1899) Exposition Park (1900) Schenley Park (1901) Coliseum (1902–1903) Exposition Park (1904–1908) Forbes Field (1909–1924) Pitt Stadium (1925–1999) Three Rivers Stadium (2000) Acrisure Stadium (2001–present) UPMC Rooney Sports Complex (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Duquesne: City Game Notre Dame Old Ironsides Penn State Syracuse West Virginia: Backyard Brawl
Culture & lore	Panthers "Hail to Pitt" "Pitt Victory Song" Marching band 1921 Backyard Brawl 2007 Backyard Brawl Highest-scoring game
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold