The 1896 Pittsburgh College football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost—now known as

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

—during the 1896 college football season. Ernest H. "Rags" Brown served in his first and only season as the team's head coach. In advance of the season, the college rebranded its sports teams from Holy Ghost College to Pittsburg(h) College. This change was occasioned by unspecified disrespectful use of the religious name.

Schedule

First team

Reserve team

Discrepancies in records

The Duquesne University football record book gives the 1896 season record as 12–1 on the basis of games that, according to 1896 newspapers, were played by the reserve (second) team. The guide does not include the first-team schedule or two reserve-team games against the Keystone Tigers (November 24) and Press Young Folks' League (November 26).

College Football Data Warehouse College Football Data Warehouse is an American college football statistics website that was established in 2000. The site compiled the yearly team records, game-by-game results, championships, and statistics of college football teams, conferences, ...

lists a similar schedule as in the media guide but omits the win against Allegheny High School and adds a supposed 10–0 loss against the

Allegheny Athletic Association The Allegheny Athletic Association was an athletic club that fielded the first ever professional American football player and later the first fully professional football team. The organization was founded in 1890 as a regional athletic club in A ...

on November 10, for a season record of 11–2. Pittsburgh newspapers of 1896 reported that the Allegheny Athletic Association's opponent on November 10 was the

Duquesne Country and Athletic Club The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club was a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1895 until 1900. The team was considered one of the best, if not the best, professional football teams in the country from 1898 until 1 ...

, with Allegheny winning 12–0.

References

{{Duquesne Dukes football navbox Pittsburgh College Duquesne Dukes football seasons Pittsburgh College football