Historic rivalry returns as Pitt and Duquesne football clash for first time in 86 years

The last time Pitt and Duquesne faced off on the gridiron, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president, Pittsburgh’s steel mills boomed and the Germans had just started World War II.

That was Oct. 21, 1939, when the Dukes managed a stunning 21-13 victory over the Panthers.

Eighty-six years later, the local rivalry may feel more like a fun neighborhood dust-up, but at one time, the competition between the two schools was one of Pittsburgh’s premier sporting events.

Pitt had no trouble dispatching Duquesne on Saturday, 61-9.

Pitt and Duquesne battled six times between 1932 and 1939 in a matchup known locally as the “City Game.”

With the Panthers led by the famed Jock Sutherland and the Dukes coached by Elmer Layden — one of the “four horsemen” of Notre Dame football — the rivalry saw both teams near their historical pinnacles, according to Sam Sciullo Jr.

A Pitt alumnus and a local historian of all things Panthers, Sciullo said the rivalry was “hot and heavy” throughout the ’30s.

So much so that when the Dukes managed a 7-0 win over the Panthers in 1936, Sutherland refused to attend practice the following week to show his displeasure, Sciullo said.

But the Panthers rallied after that loss and managed to claim victory in that season’s Rose Bowl against Washington on New Year’s Day.

That same day, the Dukes beat out Mississippi State to win the Orange Bowl.

Pitt claims the 1936 season among its nine national titles, but Sciullo said the Panthers could only claim to be the No. 2 team in Pittsburgh that year.

To Duquesne alumnus and sports historian David Finoli, the bowl victories that Jan. 1 mark the “greatest day in Pittsburgh college football history.”

Though their star has since dimmed, Finoli said the 1930s were a special time for the Dukes.

“They weren’t significant for long, but when they were, they were very significant, and it was a bitter rivalry,” he said.

During and after World War II, both schools de-emphasized their football programs, discontinuing the City Game.

But, a lifetime later, fans and tailgaters seemed eager to pick things up where their great-grandparents left them.

Fans of both teams gather Saturday

Rich Paulson, a Duquesne alumnus, flew in from Tampa to attend the game with his brother, Dave, of Ross.

Dave, also a Duquesne alumnus, believed Pitt had revenge on the mind, coming off the 1939 loss to the Dukes — though it occurred before the microwave was invented.

Realistically, Rich said before the game he didn’t expect his Dukes to be able to stand up to the Panthers, but the game served as a great moment for Pittsburgh fans to come together to celebrate their alma maters.

“It’s an energy we haven’t had in a while,” he said.

He said he hopes the game can serve as a springboard for future contests in football and basketball, an even more bitter rivalry that has lain dormant since 2018.

Melissa Sharp, a Pitt alumna, tailgated outside Acrisure Stadium before the game with her husband, Joe, a Duquesne alumnus. The couple’s daughter, Megan, is a current Duquesne junior.

The Sharps, of Pine, split the difference, sporting both Duquesne and Pitt pennants on their SUV.

When they heard about the new “Battle of the Burgh,” Melissa said she and her husband, who will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary Monday, felt obligated to see their alma maters clash.

“We had to come,” Melissa said.

Growing up a Pitt football fan, Megan said she felt conflicted about the game, but she was hoping for an upset by the Dukes.

Olivia VanWie, another Duquesne junior, said she wasn’t holding her breath for victory, but she enjoyed the pre-game atmosphere.

Plus, she said, the duel presented a tailgating opportunity for Duquesne football, examples of which are normally few and far between.

Mike Wolff of Lawrenceville said he hopes Pitt-Duquesne games will become a more regular feature of coming seasons.

A Pitt alumnus, Wolff said both of his daughters, Mackenzie and Cassidy, went to Duquesne.

The return of the City Game, he said, made for an exciting opening day and garnered more local attention than a different low-stakes opponent likely would have.

Attendance numbers seem to vindicate Wolff’s position. The Pitt-Duquesne game drew 53,006 fans to Acrisure Stadium, more than 8,000 more than last year’s home opener against Kent State.

For nondivision games, Sciullo expressed similar sentiments.

“If you have the chance to play a local team as opposed to a team from two or three states away, play the local team,” Sciullo said. “That’s my philosophy.”

Local matchups tend to be more fun, Finoli said, but the clash with Pitt also marks an important milestone for the Dukes.

Even if Duquesne isn’t a full equal to Pitt football, Finoli said the fact that the City Game returned at all raises the Dukes’ college football status.

“To be at this point for this program from where we came from is just a matter of pride for us and the university,” he said.

Pitt is not scheduled to play Duquesne in upcoming seasons, but Filoni hopes neither school’s fans will have to wait another 86 years for another City Game.