The 1962 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh as an independent during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. The team compiled a 5–5 record under head coach John Michelosen. The team played its home games at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. The team's statistical leaders included Jim Traficant with 611 passing yards and Rick Leeson with 481 rushing yards.
Schedule
Preseason
On March 19, Coach Michelosen welcomed 75 players for his eighth edition of spring workouts. The NCAA allowed the Panthers 35 days to fit in 20 days of practice. Michelosen welcomed two new coaches to his staff. Frank Lauterbur coached the tackles and directed the defense. Ernie Hefferle coached the ends. The annual Spring Practice game was held on April 28, and televised by WIIC. The Blues routed the Whites 42–0.
On August 19, 77 candidates (including 24 lettermen) left Pittsburgh for Meadville, PA to start fall camp on the Allegheny College grounds. The squad trained there for two weeks, and then returned to Pittsburgh for school registration, plus two more weeks of practice for their opening game.
Seniors Tom Brown (guard) and Gary Kaltenbach (tackle) were named honorary captains for the season.
Game summaries
Miami (Fla.)
The Panthers opened the 1962 season against Andy Gustafson's Miami Hurricanes. Pitt led the all-time series 4–3 and had won the past two meetings. The Hurricanes were led by All-American quarterback George Mira.
Miami beat the Panthers 23–14. The first quarter was scoreless, as both teams failed on fake field goal attempts. Early in the second period, Miami recovered an Ed Clark fumble on the Panthers' 32-yard line. They drove to the seven and Bobby Wilson's partially blocked field goal barely made it over the cross-bar for the 3 points. Pitt answered with a drive to the Miami 2-yard line. The Miami defense held and took over on downs. They then drove the 97 yards in 13 plays, with Nick Spinelli running the final yard for the touchdown. Wilson added the extra point for a 10–0 Miami lead. Before halftime, the Panthers scored on a 9-yard pass from Paul Martha to Al Grigaliunas to complete a 59-yard drive. The two-point conversion failed. Miami took the second half kick-off and drove 73-yards in 8 plays. Spinelli scored his second touchdown on an 8-yard run. Wilson added the extra point. Miami added another score in the final period on a Mira to Jack Sims 15-yard pass. The extra point failed. Pitt scored in the final minute on an Ed Clark 4-yard run, and Jim Traficant passed to John Jenkins for the two-point conversion.
Pitt earned 16 first downs and gained 325 total yards. Miami had 24 first downs and gained 450 total yards. Jim Traficant completed 9 of 20 passes for 124 yards. Ed Clark led the Pitt rushers with 55 yards on 10 carries. Rick Leeson gained 51 yards on 4 carries. Miami quarterback George Mira completed 13 of 25 passes for 162 yards, and ran 10 times for 86 yards.
The Pitt starting line-up for the game against Miami was Al Grigaliunas (left end), Gary Kaltenbach (left tackle), Tom Brown (left guard), Paul Cercel (center), Ralph Conrad (right guard), Ed Adamchik (right tackle), Robert Long (right end), Jim Traficant (quarterback), Ed Clark (left halfback), Paul Martha (right halfback) and John Telesky (fullback). Substitutes appearing in the game for Pitt were William Howley, Eugene Sobolewski, John Maczuzak, Bob Ostrosky, Jeff Ware, Charles Ahlborn, Martin Schottenheimer, John Holzbach, John Draksler, John Price, Ernie Borghetti, Ronald Linaburg, John Jenkins, Joe Kuzneski, Fred Mazurek, Francis Novak, Glenn Lehner, Peter Billey, Robert Roeder, John Ozimek, William Bodle, Dennis Chillinsky, Rick Leeson and Lou Slaby.
at Baylor
Pitt's first road trip was to Waco, Texas to play the Baylor Bears. Coach John Bridgers' Bears beat the Panthers (16–13) last season at Pittsburgh in the first game of the series. Both teams lost their opening game of this season. The Bears were led by All-American quarterback candidate Don Trull.
Coach Michelosen had to alter his lineup after starting center Paul Cercel and linebacker Jeffrey Ware were suspended for fighting with police officers following the Miami loss. He replaced Cercel with Charles Ahlborn at center, and inserted Rick Leeson at fullback, Peter Billey at halfback and John Jenkins at end.
Pitt notched their first win in the state of Texas 24–14. In the second quarter, the Panthers gained possession on their 18-yard line, and needed 19 plays to score. A 2-yard pass from Fred Mazurek to William Howley ended the drive. Rick Leeson booted the extra point. Baylor answered with a drive of their own, but the Pitt defense stiffened and held on downs at the Pitt 15-yard line. Pitt's offense engineered another long drive that was capped with a Leeson 6-yard run and extra point for a 14–0 lead. Baylor quarterback Don Trull engineered an 80-yard drive for Baylor's first touchdown. A 5-yard pass to Jim Ingram and an extra point by Carl Choate cut the lead to 14–7 at halftime. The Pitt defense forced a punt on Baylor's first possession of the second half. They gained possession on the Baylor 41-yard line and drove to the Baylor 9. On fourth down Leeson kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 10 point lead. Then John Telesky intercepted a Trull pass on the Panthers' 39-yard line. It took 9 plays to go 61 yards, with Paul Martha going the final 18 on a reverse around left end. Leeson's placement made it 24–7. Baylor scored against the scrubs with a minute to go on a Trull 8-yard pass to Lawrence Elkins. Choate kicked the extra point.
Pitt earned 23 first downs and gained 374 yards. Baylor countered with 16 first downs and 278 yards. Ed Clark led the Panthers with 86 yards on 10 carries. Rick Leeson added 64 yards on 9 carries. Quarterback Don Trull led the Baylor rushing with 34 yards on 3 carries, and completed 12 of 20 passes for 157 yards.
The Pitt starting line-up for the game against Baylor was Al Grigaliunas (left end), Gary Kaltenbach (left tackle), Tom Brown (left guard), Charles Ahlborn (center), Ralph Conrad (right guard), Ed Adamchik (right tackle), Robert Long (right end), Jim Traficant (quarterback), Ed Clark (left halfback), Paul Martha (right halfback) and John Telesky (fullback). Substitutes appearing in the game for Pitt were William Howley, Eugene Sobolewski, John Maczuzak, Bob Ostrosky, Ray Popp, John Zabcar, Martin Schottenheimer, John Holzbach, John Draksler, Robert Sorochak, John Price, Ernie Borghetti, Ronald Linaburg, John Jenkins, Joe Kuzneski, Fred Mazurek, Francis Novak, Glenn Lehner, Peter Billey, Robert Roeder, John Ozimek, William Bodle, Rick Leeson, Lou Slaby and Bernard LaQuinta.
at California
The Panthers second road game was to the west coast to play the California Bears. Both teams were 1–1 on the season and the head-to-head record was 1–1. The Bears future Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy was in his fourth season at Cal, and his assistant was future Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh. Coach Michelosen had to alter the Pitt line-up due to injuries to centers Charles Ahlborn and John Holzbach, end John Jenkins, quarterback Fred Mazurek and halfback Bob Roeder. While the Pitt charter flight stopped in Colorado Springs to refuel before continuing on to San Francisco, the squad held a workout on the Air Force Academy field.
On October 6, the Panthers beat the California Bears 26–24 for their second win of the season in front of 27,000 fans at California Memorial Stadium. The Panthers won this game with their passing attack, as quarterback Jim Traficant threw three touchdown passes. Cal scored first on a Randy Gold 3-yard run. Tom Blanchfield's extra point was wide. Then the Pitt offense scored three touchdowns: a 37-yard pass to Paul Martha, a 46-yard pass to William Howley and a 22-yard run by Traficant. Rick Leeson kicked 2 of 3 extra points and Pitt led 20–6. Cal answered with a 35-yard Blanchfield field goal right before halftime, and a third quarter 7-yard touchdown pass from Larry Balliett to Alan Nelson. A Balliett pass to Bill Krum added two more points to cut the lead to 20–17. Then Traficant padded the Pitt lead with a 77-yard touchdown pass to Martha, but the two point conversion failed. The Bears scored late on a 4-yard run by Rudy Carvajal and Blanchfield kicked the extra point.
Pitt only earned 12 first downs to Cal's 18, but out-gained the Bears 374 yards to 279. Rick Leeson led the Pitt ground game with 75 yards on 16 carries. Jim Traficant completed 4 of 7 passes for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 6 times for 46 yards and 1 touchdown. Paul Martha caught 2 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran the ball 8 times for 34 yards.
The Pitt starting line-up for the game against California was Al Grigaliunas (left end), Gary Kaltenbach (left tackle), Tom Brown (left guard), Martin Schottenheimer (center), Ralph Conrad (right guard), Ed Adamchik (right tackle), Robert Long (right end), Jim Traficant (quarterback), Ed Clark (left halfback), Paul Martha (right halfback) and Rick Leeson (fullback). Substitutes appearing in the game for Pitt were William Howley, Eugene Sobolewski, John Maczuzak, Bob Ostrosky, Ernie Borghetti, Robert Sorochak, Joe Gudenburr, John Price, John Draksler, Charles Ahlborn, John Holzbach, Glenn Lehner, Francis Novak, Bernard LaQuinta, Peter Billey, John Ozimek, William Bodle and John Telesky.
West Virginia
The fourth game of the season was the 55th renewal of the Backyard Brawl. Pitt led the series 39–14–1, but West Virginia had won three of the previous five meetings. Gene Corum's squad was unbeaten, untied and unscored upon in their first three games, but Pitt was favored by a touchdown. The Mountaineers starting line-up had 6 players from Pennsylvania: Jerry Yost, Ken Herock, Tom Woodeshick, Gene Heeter, Pete Goimarac and Keith Melenyzer.
Pitt lost their second home game 15–8 to the undefeated Mountaineers. In the second quarter West Virginia scored first on a 29-yard run by Steve Berzansky. Glenn Bennett kicked the extra point and the Mounties led at halftime 7–0. Pittsburgh went ahead in the third quarter on a 34-yard run by Paul Martha, and Jim Traficant's pass to Gene Sobolewski for two points. In the final period Pitt punted and pinned the Mountaineers on their 9-yard line. The Pitt defense allowed Tom Woodeshick to run around their right side for 49-yards to the Pitt 42-yard line. The Mountaineers' offense scored 10 plays later on a 5-yard run by Tom Yeater. A Jerry Yost pass to Gene Heeter added two points.
Jim Traficant was 8 of 16 for 114 yards and 1 interception. Rick Leeson gained 60 yards on 13 carries and Paul Martha gained 54 yards on 9 carries. Mountie halfback Tom Woodeshick gained 89 yards on 10 carries.
Charles Cosentino, oxygen therapist for the Panthers, told the Pittsburgh Press: “ It's the same every year when we play them. We use twice as much oxygen against West Virginia as any other team on the schedule.”
The Pitt starting line-up for the game against West Virginia was Al Grigaliunas (left end), Gary Kaltenbach (left tackle), Tom Brown (left guard), Charles Ahlborn (center), Ralph Conrad (right guard), Ernie Borghetti (right tackle), Robert Long (right end), Jim Traficant (quarterback), Ed Clark (left halfback), Paul Martha (right halfback) and Rick Leeson (fullback). Substitutes appearing in the game for Pitt were William Howley, Eugene Sobolewski, John Maczuzak, Bob Ostrosky, John Price, Martin Schottenheimer, John Draksler, John Holzbach, Robert Sorochak, Joe Kuzneski, Francis Novak, Glenn Lehner, Robert Roeder, Peter Billey, William Bodle, John Ozimek and John Telesky.
UCLA