| Denver Pioneers football | |
|---|---|
| First season | 1885; 140 years ago (1885) |
| Last season | 1960; 65 years ago |
| Stadium | DU Stadium (capacity: 30,000) |
| Year built | 1926 |
| Location | Denver, Colorado |
| Bowl record | 0–3 (.000) |
| Conference titles | |
| 1(Colorado Football Association) 1(Colorado Faculty Athletic) 2(Rocky Mountain Athletic) 3(Mountain States) | |
| Rivalries | Colorado School of the Mines Colorado College Colorado Colorado State |
| Colors | Crimson and gold[1] |
| Fight song | "D-Rah/Fairest of Colleges" |
TheDenver Pioneers football team formerly represented theUniversity of Denver incollege football.
Football was once the most popular sport at the university; the first DU football game was played in 1885 againstColorado College, which is believed to be the firstintercollegiate football game played west of theMississippi River.
CoachJohn P. Koehler led the team to its first conference titles in 1908 and1909, and the1917 team won its league title and went undefeated at 9–0. DU also won the 1933 RMAC co-championship. DU's later football highlights include appearances in the1946 Sun Bowl,1947 Alamo Bowl, and1951Pineapple Bowl, but without wins. From 1938 to 1960, DU was a member of the Mountain States/Skyline Conference, winning titles in 1945, 1946 and its sixth and final conference title in1954, which was DU's only national top-20 team, peaking at number 18. The football team played in a30,000-seat stadium that stood on campus from 1926 to 1971.[2][3]
The final season for DU football was in1960; the program was discontinued in January 1961 for financial reasons.[4][5][6] The Pioneers were3–7 in that last season, but won their final game, 21–12, overColorado State atDU Stadium on Thanksgiving.[7][8]
Denver sent 12 players to the NFL or All-America Football Conference - with three of them becoming famous:John Woudenberg, a 1942 pro-bowl player for the San Francisco 49ers,Sam Etcheverry, a CFL Hall-of-Famer as player and coach who also played for the St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL, andDon Stansauk, a former Green Bay Packers player who became famous asHard-Boiled Haggerty, a pro-wrestler.
| Year | Coach | Conference | Overall record | Conference record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908† | John P. Koehler | Colorado Football Association | 7–1 | n/a |
| 1909† | John P. Koehler | Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference | 7–2 | 2–0 |
| 1917 | John Fike | Rocky Mountain Conference | 9–0 | 4–0 |
| 1933† | Percy Locey | Rocky Mountain Conference | 5–3–1 | 5–1–1 |
| 1945 | Cac Hubbard | Mountain States Conference | 4–5–1 | 4–1 |
| 1946† | Cac Hubbard | Mountain States Conference | 5–5–1 | 4–1–1 |
| 1954 | Bob Blackman | Skyline Conference | 9–1 | 6–1 |
† Co-champions
Denver participated in three bowl games, losing all three.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Cac Hubbard | Sun Bowl | New Mexico | L 24–34 |
| 1946 | Cac Hubbard | Alamo Bowl | Hardin–Simmons | L 0–20 |
| 1950 | Johnny Baker | Pineapple Bowl | Hawaii | L 28–27 |
| Season | Player | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Alex Drobnitch | G | NEA-1 |
| 1945 | Ernie Pitts | DE | INS-2 |