The Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football competition, now termed the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, since the beginning of the school's sponsorship of the sport in 1890. As of the 2013 season, Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Pitt has claimed nine national championships and is among the top 20 college football programs in terms of all-time wins. Its teams have featured many coaches and players notable throughout the history of college football, including, among all schools, the fifth most College Football Hall of Fame inductees, the twelfth most consensus All-Americans, and the third most Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. The Panthers are currently coached by Pat Narduzzi. Pitt plays home games at Heinz Field which they share with the National Football League Pittsburgh Steelers and utilize the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Performance Complex as their practice facility.

Football at the University of Pittsburgh began in the fall of 1889 when the school was still known as the Western University of Pennsylvania, often referred to as WUP, and was located in what was then known as Allegheny City and is today the city of Pittsburgh's North Side. A 130-pound WUP student, Bert Smyers, along with senior student John Scott, assembled a football team that year composed of only three players who had previously witnessed the sport. The team played in one informal game, a loss against Shady Side Academy, in which Smyers made himself quarterback and Scott played center. In preparation for the following year, the first season of football officially recognized by the university, Smyers and his teammates took up a collection and purchased a football for practices and games; players were responsible for their own uniforms. In Smyers' case, his uniform was pieced together by his mother and sister. The first official game for the university was played on October 11, 1890, when the Allegheny Athletic Association's opponent, Shadyside Academy, failed to appear for its game at Exposition Park. Allegheny A.A. called Smyers who brought the WUP team as a replacement. In an inglorious start to Pitt football history, WUP was defeated 38–0. Smyers' team next faced Washington and Jefferson College, losing 32–0, but closed out its inaugural three game season with the university's first win, a 10–4 victory over Geneva College.

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