Sports History
The Golden Age
By Anne Madarasz

This is the time of year when high school football begins to wind downÑthe week before the turkey hits the table, WPIAL champions are crowned. As the focus on Friday nights ebbs, increasingly our weekend of western Pennsylvania football centers on the Saturday and Sunday action. At one time in this region's history, Saturday reigned supreme and college football was king. In the 1920s and 30s, no region produced more high school athletes ready to play college ball and few other cities could boast of three powerhouse college programs.

Football emerged first on college campuses, sorting itself out as a game distinct from rugby and soccer after the Civil War. The game caught on quickly. In 1888, more than 15,000 fans jammed the Polo Grounds in New York City to watch Yale and Princeton play. Just a little over a decade later, in 1900, 16 of the colleges and universities in western Pennsylvania and the panhandle of West Virginia had football teams. Football became the center of student athletic and social life and provided a means to enhance a college's profile, reinforce loyalties, attract applicants, and secure alumni contributions. In good times, it became a revenue generator that could carry a school's entire athletic program.

By 1910, Pitt was a national powerhouse. Coach Glenn "Pop" Warner led the team to national championships in 1915, 1916, and 1918, a span in which the school lost only one game. Red Smith called Warner, who introduced the single and double wing, "one of the few truly original minds in football coaching." After All-American guard Jock Sutherland returned to coach his alma mater in 1924, Pitt achieved a 111-20-12 record in his 15 seasons. Five-time national champs, they shut out more than half their opponents.

Under coaches Elmer Layden, Clipper Smith, and Buff Donelli, Duquesne University's football team was also nationally ranked. It won the Orange Bowl in 1937, compiled several undefeated seasons, and sent more players to the Steelers than any other college.

Washington and Jefferson appeared in the 1922 Rose Bowl, playing the University of California to a scoreless tie. Penn State followed W&J west; losing two close ones in 1923 and '28 Rose Bowl games. Carnegie Tech knocked off previously undefeated Notre Dame 19-0 late in the 1926 season. Tech won again, 27-7, when they played the following year Ð Notre Dame's first home loss in 23 years. West Virginia added one in the win column in 1938, beating Texas Tech 7 to 6 in the Sun Bowl. During this golden age, western Pennsylvania fans relished opening the sports page on Sunday mornings.

Anne Madarasz is the Director of the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center, which features the story of college football in the region.