1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football
ConferenceIndependent
Record8–4
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Dickens (1st season)
Offensive schemeMultiple pro-style[1]
Defensive coordinatorJohn Fox (2nd season)
Base defense4–3[1]
Home stadiumPitt Stadium
(capacity: 56,500)
Seasons
← 1986
1988 →
1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Miami (FL)   –   –   12 – 0 – 0
No. 4 Syracuse   –   –   11 – 0 – 1
No. 2 Florida State   –   –   11 – 1 – 0
No. 15 South Carolina   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Penn State   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
No. 17 Notre Dame   –   –   8 – 4 – 0
Southern Miss   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
Rutgers   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
Southwestern Louisiana   –   –   6 – 5 – 0
Memphis State   –   –   5 – 5 – 1
Northern Illinois   –   –   5 – 5 – 1
West Virginia   –   –   6 – 6 – 0
Tulane   –   –   6 – 6 – 0
Army   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Boston College   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
East Carolina   –   –   5 – 6 – 0
Akron   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Cincinnati   –   –   4 – 7 – 0
Louisville   –   –   3 – 7 – 1
Temple   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Tulsa   –   –   3 – 8 – 0
Virginia Tech   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Navy   –   –   2 – 9 – 0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh as an independent during the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 27:30 p.m.at BYU
ESPNW 27–1764,374
September 121:30 p.m.NC StateNo. 18
W 34–043,165
September 191:30 p.m.TempleNo. 16
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
L 21–2445,387
September 2612:00 p.m.at West Virginia
JP SportsW 6–365,079
October 31:30 p.m.Boston College
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
L 10–1346,238
October 107:30 p.m.No. 4 Notre Dame
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
ESPNW 30–2256,400
October 2412:00 p.m.at Navy
JP SportsW 10–629,167
October 313:30 p.m.No. 8 Syracusedagger
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
CBSL 10–2452,714
November 712:00 p.m.at Rutgers
W 17–025,444
November 147:30 p.m.No. 15 Penn State
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)
ESPNW 10–056,500
November 211:30 p.m.Kent StateNo. 19
  • Pitt Stadium
  • Pittsburgh, PA
W 28–535,472
December 317:00 p.m.vs. TexasNo. 19
MizlouL 27–3233,122

[2] [3]

Game summaries

Notre Dame

1 234Total
Notre Dame 0 0715 22
• Pittsburgh 14 1303 30
Scoring summary
Q1PITTOsborn 30 yard pass from Genilla (kick failed)PITT 7–0
Q1PITTHeyward 1 yard run (Williams pass from Genilla)PITT 14–0
Q2PITTGenilla 2 yard run (VanHorne kick)PITT 21–0
Q2PITTHeyward 1 yard run (kick failed)PITT 27–0
Q3NDRice 16 yard run (Gradel kick)PITT 27–7
Q4NDBanks 1 yard run (Gradel kick)PITT 27–14
Q4PITTVanHorne 20 yard field goalPITT 30–14
Q4NDGreen 17 yard run (Brown run)PITT 30–22

[4]

Roster

1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
C 55 Bryan Schoch Fr
G 73 Bill Cherpak So
QB 15 Darnell Dickerson Fr
QB 11 Sal Genilla Sr
FB 34 Craig Heyward Jr
OT 62 Roman Matusz So
C 61 Ed Miller Sr
OT 71 Tom Ricketts Jr
G 77 Mark Stepnoski Jr
WR 30 Michael Stewart Sr
WR 2 Reggie Williams So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DE 89 Jon Carter Sr
LB 44 Jeff Christy Fr
LB 26 Ezekial Gadson Sr
DE 92 Burt Grossman Jr
CB 7 Quintin Jones Sr
FS 1 Billy Owens Sr
DT 67 Jim Quinn So
CB 6 Gary Richard Sr
DT 98 Tony Siragusa Jr
DE 93 Marc Spindler Fr
LB 51 Jerry Wall Sr
FS 43 Troy Washington So
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Coaching staff

1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
Coaching staff
  • Mike Gottfried – Head coach
  • Jack Harbaugh – Assistant head coach
  • Mike Dickens – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks
  • John Fox – Defensive coordinator/secondary
  • Tommie Liggins – Run coordinator/running backs
  • Steve Coury – Wide receivers
  • Frank D'Alonzo – Defensive line
  • Bill Meyers – Offensive line
  • Scott O'Brien – Special teams
  • Sal Sunseri – Linebackers
   Support staff
  • Alex Kramer – Administrative assistant
  • Bud Ratliff – Recruiting doordinator
  • Rick Denstorff – Graduate assistant
  • Bill D'Ottavio – Graduate assistant
  • John Harbaugh – Graduate assistant
  • Larry Petroff – Graduate assistant
  • Donnie Roberts – Graduate assistant
   Strength and conditioning staff
  • Buddy Morris – Weight and strength coordinator
  • Ray Oliver – Assistant Strength

[5] [6]

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Craig Heyward Running back 1 24 New Orleans Saints
Quintin Jones Defensive back 2 48 Houston Oilers
Jon Carter Defensive end 5 118 New York Giants
Ezekial Gadson Defensive back 5 123 Buffalo Bills
Gary Richard Defensive back 7 173 Green Bay Packers
Billy Owens Defensive back 10 263 Dallas Cowboys
Ed Miller Center 11 285 San Diego Chargers

[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Quick Facts About Pitt". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. p. 2. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  2. ^ "Table of Contents". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. p. 1. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  3. ^ "1987 Review". Pitt Football 1988. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1988. pp. 59–68. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  4. ^ Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11. Retrieved 2014-Dec-28.
  5. ^ "Coaches". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. pp. 5–14. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  6. ^ "Coaches". Pitt Football 1988. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1988. pp. 13–14. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  7. ^ "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 8, 2012.


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