Countdown to Labor Day: 67
The countdown to the start of the 2013 season is under way, as Pitt is 67 days away from its Labor Day opener against Florida State at Heinz Field. Panther-Lair.com is counting down the days until the biggest season opener in recent memory.
Today's number is 67, so we're looking at the one-win seasons in Pitt history.
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The "honor" for worst Pitt football season ever probably goes to 1903, when the Arthur St. L. Mosse-led Panthers went 0-8-1 and scored a grand total of 20 points. That was the fewest total of points scored in a season of at least six games and the only time Pitt has gone undefeated in the 124-year history of the program.
So 1903 stands alone as the worst, but there have also been six one-win seasons in Pitt history as well:
1947, 1950, 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1972.
There aren't many hairs to split when it comes to one-win seasons; since the futility of only generating one victory is inglorious enough as it is. But there are a few distinguishing factors among the one-win seasons:
- 1947 and 1950 were nine-game seasons.
- 1966-68 were ten-game seasons.
- 1972 was an 11-game season.
- Of the six one-win seasons, 1947 was remarkably unproductive, as Pitt scored just 26 points over nine games, with five shutouts, two six-point performances, a 12-0 win over Ohio State, and a 17-2 loss to West Virginia.
- 1966-68 were the infamous David R. Hart years, when Hart led Pitt to three consecutive 1-9 seasons in his three years as head coach.
- Of the Hart era, 1967 was arguably the worst. Pitt scored more than 12 just twice that season - a 13-11 win at Wisconsin and a 22-21 loss to Navy - while suffering losses like 40-8 (the opener vs. UCLA), 58-0 (a mid-October game against Miami), 38-0 (to Notre Dame), and 42-6 (the finale at Penn State).
Less than ten years after the middle season of Hart's tenure, Pitt won a national championship, so there was reason for hope on the horizon. But in 1967, the Panthers weren't inspiring much hope for anyone.
Previous entries in the Countdown
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