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.
Schedule
Preseason
"Although 1918 was a war year, and many problems threatened from time to time to put an end to college athletics., Pitt stuck manfully to the ship and 'Kept the Home Fires Burning'. With the exception of baseball, which was abolished due to lack of interest, hardly directly chargeable to war conditions, the other major sports—football, basketball and track—were kept going." "Football had a hard row to hoe in 1918." Only five games were actually played due to the war and pandemic sweeping the nation. "The usual training trip to 'Camp Hamilton,' Windber, Pa. was dispensed with." The one year residence rule was called off by all the big schools, which helped bolster their rosters since the army had depleted them. After numerous shifts were made to the schedule, due to the government imposed quarantine, only three of the original games scheduled were played -Washington & Jefferson, Penn and Penn State. Georgia Tech was played for the benefit of the War Charities, and was the highlight of the season. $25,000 was donated from the proceeds of the game. Pitt played a post season game against the Cleveland Naval Reserves and lost by one point. "It was a most unsatisfactory game in many ways and marred Pitt's record of straight victories started in 1915."
In the May 1st issue of The Pitt Weekly Karl E. Davis, Graduate Manager of Athletics, informed the students and alumni of the plans for the 1918 football season. "THE UNIVERSITY WILL BE REPRESENTED BY A FOOTBALL TEAM THIS FALL, unless something entirely "unforeseen" happens between now and then. We will have Glenn Warner back with us; we will send the team to Windber for training September 15, and we have enough tried material in school to develop a good team...Football training is the greatest training imaginable for war...All other college sports at Pitt depend for their finances on the football receipts." At this time Mr. Davis had an eight game schedule booked.(see photo)
The following timetable shows the "unforeseen" headlines that led up to the 1918 football season at Pitt:
July 14 – Pitt Football Plans For Coming Season Are Now Complete – "First game October 5 against Carlisle."
July 18 – Carlisle Indian School Permanently Abandoned - "The Carlisle (Pa.) Indian School has been permanently abandoned and turned over to the War Department...and its 700 students transferred to other Indian schools."
September 8 – Great Lakes Naval Training Eleven Will Open Local Season at Forbes Field - "Their meeting with the (Great Lakes) Naval Training team takes the place of the game originally scheduled with the Carlisle Indians."
September 9 – Authorities Await Word From Washington About The Future of Football - "There is danger of the game being abolished for the term of the war. As a consequence of these changes in the program, athletic authorities at Pitt have decided not to have training season at its famous camp. All male students, physically fit, over 18 years of age, will be under the control of the Students Army Training Corps and they will therefore be subject to military discipline. They will live in a barracks and draw the pay of a private. They will devote 42 hours to academic work and 13 to military each week. These 55 hours will take up all their time, and it remains to be seen whether the War Department will permit the commanding officer at the institution sanctioning football. What will apply to one college will apply to all."
September 13 – War Department Advises Institutions Not to Make Plans For Coming Season - "There will be no Intercollegiate football this fall, judging from a Washington dispatch late yesterday afternoon, which stated that the War Department had advised colleges and universities with student army training corps 'not to make plans for football schedules this fall'."
September 14 – Problem is Put Up to Commandants at Camps to Solve, Says War Dispatch – "The War Department in Washington yesterday announced that football programs at colleges and universities with Army student training corps units would not be interrupted except where they would actually interfere with the military training. Indications are that Pitt, Tech, and W. & J. will surely play, as the commandants at these places are said to have expressed approval of the schedules being carried out."
September 15 – Pitt Gridders Eager for First Game with Team From Great Lakes – "It is believed by Athletic Director Charles S. Miller and other members of the athletic committee that it will be possible to go through with all the games scheduled and still meet the requirements of Uncle Sam as to the scholastic and military drilling to be done by every man who is enrolled under the Students' Army Training Corps."
September 28 – October Football is Banned – "Col. R. L. Reese of the army general staff, who is in supreme charge of the student army training corps, has announced that during the month of October football players would not be allowed to leave the universities except on Saturday afternoon, and that only this period can be devoted to the gridiron sport, which means that it will be impossible to play contests requiring out of town travel. During the month of November the men playing football will be permitted to leave their universities on Friday evening, but must return Sunday night." The opening game against the Great Lakes Naval team could probably be played.
October 1 – Over 3500 Men Inducted In S.A.T.C. – "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. At high noon on Tuesday more than 3500 young men took this oath of allegiance in unison and became members of the Students' Army Training Corps of the University of Pittsburgh. Simultaneously at 500 colleges and universities in all parts of the United States took that same pledge of loyalty and approximately 150,000 young men began the course which is expected to prepare them for commissions as officers."
October 2 – All-Star Sailor Team to Arrive Here Friday: Interest is Widespread – "Word was received last night by Graduate manager of Athletics K. E. Davis of the University of Pittsburgh that the (Great Lakes) Jackies in charge of Lieut. Commander Kauffman and Coach Herman Olcott will arrive in this city on Friday for their game with the Panthers at Forbes Field on Saturday."
October 2 – Shifts Made in Schedule – "Pitt authorities are still in the dark regarding the ruling by Col. Rees against October football trips. Meanwhile, Manager Davis has gone quietly about the rearrangement of his schedule. New Pitt Schedule = Oct. 5 – Great Lakes at home; Oct. 12 – West Virginia at home; Oct. 19 – Detroit Naval Training Station at home; Oct. 26 – Carnegie Tech at home; Nov. 2 – Lehigh University at South Bethlehem; Nov. 9 – University of Pennsylvania at home; Nov. 16 – Syracuse University at Syracuse, NY; Nov.23 – W. & J. at home; Nov. 28 – Penn State at home."
October 3 – Players Eliminated by Federal Official's Order; But 37 of 60 Survive – "Coach Warner last night cut down his Pitt football squad from 60 to 37 men. This was done by government order. Harman and Graham are too young to be enrolled in the S.A.T.C., and can therefore be carried in addition to 35 others." Also, the graduate manager received the formal copy of football activities permissible during October from Col. Rees.
October 5 – Pitt and Great Lakes Won't Play Because of the Influenza Epidemic – "The Pitt football team will have to wait until a later date, next Saturday perhaps with West Virginia, to open its 1918 football season, for the scheduled game with the Great Lakes team for this afternoon, was called off yesterday afternoon on account of the influenza epidemic throughout the state. Most of the Pitt players are in quarantine in their barracks.”
October 8 – Authorities Won't Permit Eleven to Come Here Next Saturday to Play Pitt – The Pitt-West Virginia football game scheduled to be played at Pittsburgh next Saturday was definitely cancelled today by receipt of a ruling from the Committee on Education to the effect that the West Virginia team must leave Morgantown not earlier than noon on Saturday and return before taps."
October 10 – Panthers Will Not Go to Beaver Falls For Contest Next Saturday – "A proposal to play a football game at Beaver falls next Saturday was received a few days ago by the University of Pittsburgh football authorities from the manager of the team at Geneva (College). The opinion of the army officers was that the game should not be played, and Manager Davis, therefore, called everything off, as he has been careful all along to abide by the spirit as well as the letter of every ruling made by Col. Wolf and his staff."
October 13 – Plaid Authorities Decide Game as Collegiate Sport Unwise Now – "Carnegie Tech has suspended its football activities for the present season at least."
October 17 – Pitt Cancels Game With Sailors Next Saturday Due to Influenza Ban – "There will be no football game in Pittsburgh next Saturday (Oct. 19). Karl E. Davis, last night notified the manager of the Detroit Naval Training Station team, which was scheduled to meet the Panthers at Forbes Field, that the game had been cancelled."
October 18 – Warner and his Squad to See W. - J. Play – "This afternoon all the members of the Panther squad who are not in quarantine will go to Washington, Pa., to witness the game there between Washington & Jefferson college and the Camp Sherman team from Chillicothe, O. The influenza epidemic is not raging very furiously at Washington, and the health authorities there have not banned football games, holding that the crowds who gather outdoors at such spectacles are doing the best thing to keep influenza away.”
October 20 – Pitt Will Have Good Game Here Next Saturday if City Health Ban Is Soon Lifted – “Concerning the report from New York yesterday that Pitt would play a game with Georgia Tech's 'Golden Tornado' at Forbes Field on Monday, November 11, the proceeds to go to the United War Work Committee's athletic fund, the Pitt authorities said last night they knew nothing of any proposed contest."
October 26 – War Fund Committee Arranges for the Big Contest at Forbes Field – "The Georgia Tech football team will come to Forbes Field Saturday, November 23, to play Pitt." The telegram from W.S. Langford, chairman of the football committee and W. W. Roper, secretary of the national sports committee stated: "Your letter received. We are arranging to have Georgia Tech play in Pittsburgh November 23 for the benefit of the United War Work Fund. Have wired Syracuse to release your game and arrange another for them. Georgia Tech anxious to play. Have unqualified approval of War Department."
October 29 – Pitt Loses Services of Karl Davis – "Karl E. Davis, graduate manager of athletics at the University of Pittsburgh, left last night to enter the officers' training camp of the United States Army Motor transport Corps at Camp Joseph E. Johnson, Jacksonville, Fla."