1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

1987 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, L 27–32 vs. Texas
Conference	Independent
Record	8–4
Head coach	Mike Gottfried (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dickens (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple pro-style [1]
Defensive coordinator	John Fox (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3 [1]
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ←  1986 1988  →

1987 Major eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Syracuse $	5	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	1
Penn State	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh	3	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
West Virginia	2	–	3	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Rutgers	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Boston College	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Temple	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Lambert Trophy Winner Rankings from AP Poll

1987 NCAA Division I-A independents football records

v t e	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

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	7:30 p.m.	at BYU		Cougar Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN	W 27–17	64,374	[2]
September 12	1:30 p.m.	NC State	No. 18	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 34–0	43,165	[3]
September 19	1:30 p.m.	Temple	No. 16	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		L 21–24	45,387	[4]
September 26	12:00 p.m.	at West Virginia		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV (Backyard Brawl)	JP Sports	W 6–3	65,079	[5]
October 3	1:30 p.m.	Boston College		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		L 10–13	46,238	[6]
October 10	7:30 p.m.	No. 4 Notre Dame		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 30–22	56,400	[7]
October 24	12:00 p.m.	at Navy		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	JP Sports	W 10–6	29,167	[8]
October 31	3:30 p.m.	No. 8 Syracuse		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	CBS	L 10–24	52,714	[9]
November 7	12:00 p.m.	at Rutgers		Giants Stadium East Rutherford, NJ		W 17–0	25,444	[10]
November 14	7:30 p.m.	No. 15 Penn State		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (rivalry)	ESPN	W 10–0	56,500	[11]
November 21	1:30 p.m.	Kent State	No. 19	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 28–5	35,472	[12]
December 31	7:00 p.m.	vs. Texas	No. 19	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	L 27–32	33,122	[13]
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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Game summaries

Notre Dame

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Notre Dame	0	0	7	15	22
• Pittsburgh	14	13	0	3	30

• Date: October 10
• Location: Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Game attendance: 56,400

Scoring summary

Q1		PITT	Osborn 30 yard pass from Genilla (kick failed)	PITT 7–0
Q1		PITT	Heyward 1 yard run (Williams pass from Genilla)	PITT 14–0
Q2		PITT	Genilla 2 yard run (VanHorne kick)	PITT 21–0
Q2		PITT	Heyward 1 yard run (kick failed)	PITT 27–0
Q3		ND	Rice 16 yard run (Gradel kick)	PITT 27–7
Q4		ND	Banks 1 yard run (Gradel kick)	PITT 27–14
Q4		PITT	VanHorne 20 yard field goal	PITT 30–14
Q4		ND	Green 17 yard run (Brown run)	PITT 30–22

• Craig Heyward 42 Rush, 132 Yds

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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 Mike Gottfried Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured 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 coordinator 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

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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

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References

1. "Quick Facts About Pitt". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. p. 2. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
2. "Panthers look good in opener". Latrobe Bulletin. September 3, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Pitt routs winless 'Pack". The Greenville News. September 13, 1987. Retrieved February 2, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Temple surprises Pittsburgh". Sunday Press. September 20, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Pittsburgh tops West Virginia by field goal". The Charlotte Observer. September 27, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Boston College nips Pittsburgh". The Sunday Times. October 4, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Genilla, Heyward lead Pitt to 30–22 upset of Irish". St. Petersburg Times. October 11, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Pittsburgh scores early, then holds off stingy Navy, 10–6". York Daily Record. October 25, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "Red-hot Orange burn Pitt". The Record. November 1, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Panthers light up Knights". The Press. November 8, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "State's bowl plans go down the drain". Sunday News. November 15, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Pitt rolls to 28–5 win over Kent". The Pittsburgh Press. November 22, 1987. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "'Horns deflate Pitt". Abilene Reporter-News. January 1, 1988. Retrieved May 10, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Table of Contents". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. p. 1. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
15. "1987 Review". Pitt Football 1988. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1988. pp. 59–68. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
16. Gainesville Sun. 1987 Oct 11. Retrieved 2014-Dec-28.
17. "Coaches". Pitt Football 1987. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1987. pp. 5–14. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
18. "Coaches". Pitt Football 1988. University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics. 1988. pp. 13–14. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
19. "1988 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved January 8, 2012.