1983 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

1983 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Fiesta Bowl, L 23–28 vs. Ohio State
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 18
Record	8–3–1
Head coach	Foge Fazio (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Moore (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Bob Junko (1st season)
Base defense	Multiple front
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ←  1982 1984  →

1983 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Penn State	4	–	1	–	1			8	–	4	–	1
No. 16 West Virginia	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Pittsburgh	2	–	1	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 19 Boston College $	3	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Syracuse	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Temple	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Rutgers	0	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1983 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	0
No. 19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 16 West Virginia		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
No. 20 East Carolina		–		–				8	–	3	–	0
No. 18 Pittsburgh		–		–				8	–	3	–	1
Florida State		–		–				8	–	4	–	0
Penn State		–		–				8	–	4	–	1
Southern Miss		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				6	–	4	–	1
Notre Dame		–		–				7	–	5	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Cincinnati			–					4	–	6	–	1
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				4	–	6	–	0
Temple		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Rutgers		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Army		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	7:30 p.m.	at Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN		W 13–3	95,824	[1]
September 10	1:30 p.m.	Temple		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 35–0	45,713	[2]
September 24	1:30 p.m.	at Maryland	No. 16	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD		L 7–13	48,500	[3]
October 1	12:30 p.m.	at No. 7 West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	CBS	L 21–24	64,076	[4]
October 8	1:30 p.m.	Florida State		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 17–16	52,654	[5]
October 15	7:00 p.m.	at Louisville		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY		W 55–10	31,447	[6]
October 22	1:30 p.m.	at Navy		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD		W 21–14	33,349	[7]
October 29	1:30 p.m.	Syracuse		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)		W 13–10	52,374	[8]
November 5	1:30 p.m.	at No. 18 Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	CBS	W 21–16	59,075	[9]
November 12	1:30 p.m.	Army	No. 20	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 38–7	38,500	[10]
November 19	1:30 p.m.	Penn State	No. 17	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)		T 24–24	60,283	[11]
January 2	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 14 Ohio State	No. 15	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ (Fiesta Bowl)	NBC	L 23–28	66,484	[12]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

1983 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff
	Coaching staff Foge Fazio – Head coach Joe Moore – Assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/offensive line Bob Junko – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Dino Folino – Defensive backs Carmen Grosso – Tight ends Kent Schoolfield – Wide receivers Gerry Solomon – Defensive ends Don Thompson – Defensive line Ron Turner – Quarterbacks Andy Urbanic – Running backs			Support staff Alex Kramer – Administrative assistant Joe Duff – Recruiting doordinator Curt Cignetti – Graduate assistant Rick Dukovich – Graduate assistant Paul Dunn – Graduate assistant Hal Hunter – Graduate assistant			Strength and conditioning staff Buddy Morris – Weight training coordinator

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Bill Maas	Nose Tackle	1	5	Kansas City Chiefs
Jim Sweeney	Center	2	37	New York Jets
Joe McCall	Running back	3	84	Los Angeles Raiders
Tom Flynn	Defensive back	5	126	Green Bay Packers
Dwight Collins	Wide receiver	6	154	Minnesota Vikings
Al Wenglikowski	Linebacker	10	258	Kansas City Chiefs

^[13]

References

1. "Pitt dumps Vols, 13–3, on long touchdown pass". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 4, 1983. Retrieved August 18, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
2. "Congemi drives Pitt by Temple". The Pittsburgh Press. September 11, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Maryland surprises No. 16 Pitt with blocked punt 13–7". St. Petersburg Times. September 25, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "No. 7 West Virginia rules Pitt 24–21". Fort Lauderdale News. October 2, 1983. Retrieved January 29, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Pitt comes from behind to edge Florida State". The Greenville News. October 9, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Pitt shells Louisville 55–10 as Congemi stars". The Park City Daily News. October 16, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Pitt rallies for 21–14 win over Midshipmen". Scrantonian Tribune. October 23, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "SU plan backfires at Pitt". Press and Sun-Bulletin. October 30, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "McCall helps Pitt throttle Irish 21–16". Star Tribune. November 6, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Pitt's Joe McCall gets ball, runs like tank over Army". The Patriot-News. November 13, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Last-second field goal lifts Penn State into tie". Sunday Press. November 20, 1983. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Late TD pass lifts Buckeyes in Fiesta". The Arizona Republic. January 3, 1984. Retrieved February 23, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "1984 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.