1918 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

The 1918 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1918 college football season. In a season cut short by the Spanish flu pandemic, coach Pop Warner led the Panthers in a schedule played all in one month, including a convincing victory in a highly publicized game over defending national champion and unscored-upon Georgia Tech. A highly controversial loss ended the season and snapped a 32-game Pitt winning streak, but the Panthers outscored opponents 140–16 in that short season and were retroactively selected as the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and Houlgate System and as a co-national champion with Michigan by the National Championship Foundation.[1]

1918 Pittsburgh Panthers football
National champion (Helms, Houlgate) Co-national champion (NCF)
Conference	Independent
1918 record	4–1
Head coach	Pop Warner (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Double wing
Captain	George McLaren
Home stadium	Forbes Field

1918 Eastern college football independents records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Princeton			–					3	–	0	–	0
Army			–					1	–	0	–	0
Buffalo			–					6	–	1	–	0
Columbia			–					5	–	1	–	0
Syracuse			–					5	–	1	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					4	–	1	–	0
Boston College			–					5	–	2	–	0
Rutgers			–					5	–	2	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					2	–	1	–	0
Geneva			–					4	–	2	–	0
Swarthmore			–					4	–	2	–	0
Harvard			–					2	–	1	–	0
Fordham			–					4	–	2	–	1
Villanova			–					3	–	2	–	0
Penn			–					5	–	3	–	0
Lehigh			–					4	–	3	–	0
Dartmouth			–					3	–	3	–	0
Wash. & Jeff.			–					2	–	2	–	0
New Hampshire			–					2	–	2	–	1
Lafayette			–					3	–	4	–	0
Brown			–					2	–	3	–	0
Tufts			–					2	–	3	–	0
Penn State			–					1	–	2	–	1
Drexel			–					0	–	1	–	0
NYU			–					0	–	4	–	0

Before the season

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 saw the implementation of quarantines that eliminated much of that year's college football season, including five of Pitt's originally scheduled contests. All of Pitt's games that year were played in November, including a high-profile game played as a War Charities benefit against undefeated, unscored upon, and defending national champion Georgia Tech, coached by John Heisman.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
November 9	Washington & Jefferson	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 34–0
November 16	Penn	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 37–0
November 23	Georgia Tech	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA	W 32–0
November 28	Penn State	Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	W 28–6
November 30	at Cleveland Naval Reserve	League Park Cleveland, OH	L 9–10

[2]

Season summary

Georgia Tech game

Georgia Tech at Pittsburgh

1 2 3 4 Total Ga. Tech 0 0 0 0 0 • Pitt 7 7 12 6 32 Date: November 23 Location: Forbes Field Pittsburgh, PA Game attendance: 30,000 Referee: Tufts (Brown) Sources:[3]

Pitt swept through its first two games and then dismantled Georgia Tech 32–0 in front of many of the nation's top sports writers including Walter Camp, ending Tech's 33-game streak without a loss.[4] The game was played for the benefit of the United War Work Fund.

Pitt's Tom Davies runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field. Pitt won the game 32–0 and is considered by many to be that season's national champion.

Warner historian Francis Powers wrote:

At Forbes Field, the dressing rooms of the two teams were separated only by a thin wall. As the Panthers were sitting around, awaiting Warner's pre-game talk, Heisman began to orate in the adjoining room. In his charge to the Tech squad, Heisman became flowery and fiery. He brought the heroes of ancient Greece and the soldier dead in his armor among the ruins of Pompeii. It was terrific and the Panthers sat, spellbound. When Heisman had finished, Warner chortled and quietly said to his players: 'Okay, boys. There's the speech. Now go out and knock them off.'[5]

Pitt's first score came on a pass from Tom Davies to Katy Easterday.[3] The next score came soon after the start of the second quarter, when Davies returned a punt back 50 yards for a touchdown. A double pass got the next score. The fourth touchdown was a 6-yard touchdown by George McLaren. "Guyon and Flowers were very clever at intercepting forward passes, which in a measure made up for the fumbling in an early part of the game."[3] A 55-yard touchdown run by Davies was the final score.[3] Guyon also starred on defense.

The starting lineup was McCarter (left end), Hilty (left tackle), Stahl (left guard), Stein (center), V. Allshouse (right guard), Mervis (right tackle), Hurrington (right end), Gougler (quarterback), Easterday (left halfback), Davies (right halfback), McLaren (fullback).[3]

Cleveland Naval Reserve

The final game of the season at Cleveland Naval Reserve resulted in "Pop" Warner's first loss at Pitt and is one of the most controversial in school history.[6] Warner, along with some reporters covering the game, insisted Pitt was robbed by the officials who, claiming the official timekeeper's watch was broken, arbitrarily ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and then allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead 10–9 before calling an end to the game.[6][7]

Judy Harlan, formerly of Georgia Tech, and Moon Ducote, formerly of Auburn starred for the Cleveland Naval Reserves.[8] Ducote kicked the winning field goal. Warner declared him "the greatest football player I ever saw".[9] Harlan stated: "I intercepted a pass and returned it to midfield in the fourth quarter. I felt I at least had evened up some of the losses we had at Tech."[10]

Postseason

Despite the loss, the 4–1 Panthers of 1918 were named as a national champion for that season by multiple selectors,[11] several of which are considered to be "major" selections by the official NCAA records book.[12]

List of national championship selectors

The 1918 team was selected or recognized as national champions by multiple selectors, several of which are listed as "major" (i.e. national in scope) by the official NCAA football records book.[12] College Football Data Warehouse also recognizes Pitt as a national champion in 1918.[13] These are the selectors that determined Pitt to be national champions in 1918.[13]

1st-N-Goal Alexander Weyand Angelo Louisa Bill Libby Bob Kirlin Bob Royce Century Football Index College Football USA George Trevor

Harry Frye Helms Athletic Foundation* Houlgate System* James Whalen Jim Koger Loren Maxwell National Championship Foundation* Nutshell Sports Football Ratings Patrick Premo

* A "major" selector that was "national in scope" according to the official NCAA football records book.[12]

All-American selections

• Tom Davies, halfback (1st team Walter Camp;[14] Frank Menke Syndicate, by Frank G. Menke;[15] 1st team Robert "Tiny" Maxwell, of the Philadelphia Public Ledger[16])
• Leonard Hilty, tackle (1st team Walter Camp; 2nd team Tiny Maxwell)
• George McLaren, fullback (2nd team Walter Camp [hb]; Menke Syndicate; 1st team Tiny Maxwell)
• Katy Easterday, halfback (1st team Tiny Maxwell)
• Skip Gougler, halfback (2nd team Tiny Maxwell)
• William E. Harrington, end (2nd team Tiny Maxwell)
• Jake Stahl, guard (2nd team Walter Camp; 2nd team Tiny Maxwell)

*Bold - Consensus All-American[17]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
2. "Pittsburgh Yearly Results". Archived from the original on 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-08-13.
3. "Panthers, With Open Attack Defeat Tech by 32 to 0 Score". The Tennessean. November 24, 1918. p. 24. Retrieved May 4, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Shribman, David; Peterson, Richard "Pete" (September 2012). 50 Great Moments in Pittsburgh Sports: From the Flying Dutchman to Sid the Kid. ISBN 9781623680640.
5. Powers 1969, p. 42
6. Keck, Harry (November 30, 1918). "Navy Reserves Steal Game From Pitt". Pittsburgh Sunday Post, Republished in The Greatest Moments in Pitt Football History (1994). Nashville, TN: Athlon Sports Communications: 33. ISBN 1-878839-04-7.
7. Sciullo Jr., Sam (2008). University of Pittsburgh Football Vault: The History of the Panthers. Atlanta, GA: Whitman Publishing, LLC. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-7948-2653-6.
8. Morgan Blake (1918). "Foot Ball in the South". Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide. p. 55.
9. "Richard Ducote Dies In Orleans". State Times. March 26, 1937.
10. Wiley Lee Umphlett (1992). Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 141–142, 144, 148, 151–152. ISBN 9780313284045.
11. "College Football Data Warehouse: Yearly National Championship Selections: 1918 National Champions". Retrieved 2009-04-08.
12. 2012 NCAA Football Records (PDF). The National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2012. pp. 69–72. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
13. "1918 National Championships". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
14. "Camp's All American: Football Dean Names Three Teams from Last Season's Records" (PDF). The New York Times. 1918-12-31.
15. ESPN College Football Encyclopedia, p. 1153
16. Robert W. Maxwell (1918-12-19). "Alexander and Ackley Placed on First All-American Team by Bob Maxwell". Syracuse Herald.
17. Consensus All-American designations based on the NCAA guide to football award winners Archived 2009-07-14 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

• Powers, Francis J. (1969). Life Story of Glen S. (Pop) Warner, Gridiron's Greatest Strategist. Chicago, IL: The Athletic Institute.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)