# 1896 Pittsburgh College football team

The 1896 Pittsburgh College football team was an American football team that represented Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost—now known as Duquesne University—during the 1896 college football season. Ernest H. "Rags" Brown served in his first and only season as the team's head coach. Duquesne University claims a season record of 12–1 based on the first 13 of 15 games played by its reserve (second) team – but does not acknowledge the first team or its record of 2–4–1 or 1–5–1.
In advance of the season, the college rebranded its sports teams from Holy Ghost College to Pittsburg(h) College. This change was occasioned by unspecified disrespectful use of the religious name.

## Schedule
### First team

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
| October 3 | Sewickley Athletic Association | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 22–0 |
| October 10 | at Duquesne Country and Athletic Club | Exposition ParkAllegheny, PA | L 0–24 |
| October 17 | at Carnegie Athletic Club | Carnegie Athletic ParkBraddock, PA | T 6–6 |
| October 24 | Emerald Athletic Club | Emerald ParkPittsburgh, PA | disputed |
| November 6 | at Mahoning Cycle Club | Youngstown, OH | L 0–16 |
| November 14 | J. F. Lalus Athletic Club | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | L 0–6 (forfeit) |
| November 26 | at Nonpareil Athletic Club | Junction ParkBeaver Falls, PA | L 0–16 |
* ↑ The Pittsburg Post and the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette reported a 9–8 Emerald win (protested by the College), while The Pittsburg Press reported a disputed final score of either 6–5 in favor of College or 9–6 in favor of Emerald.

### Reserve team

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
| October 3 | Emerald Athletic Club reserves | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 8–0 |
| October 7 | Allegheny High School | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 6–0 (forfeit) |
| October 10 | J. F. Lalus Athletic Club | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | L 0–52 |
| October 15 | at Park Institute | Recreation ParkAllegheny, PA | W 10–8 |
| October 17 | Emerald Athletic Club reserves | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 20–0 |
| October 21 | Etna Our Boys | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 12–0 |
| October 24 | Arion Athletic Club | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 4–0 (forfeit) |
| October 28 | Keystone Tigers | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 28–0 |
| October 31 | Orange Athletic Club (PA) | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 20–0 |
| November 7 | Imperial Athletic Club reserves | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 20–6 |
| November 12 | Pittsburgh Times | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 69–0 |
| November 14 | Keystone Tigers | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 33–0 |
| November 18 | Henderson Athletic Club | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 38–0 |
| November 24 | Keystone Tigers | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | W 4–0 (forfeit) |
| November 26 | Press Young Folks' League | Pittsburgh College groundsPittsburgh, PA | L 4–6 |

### Discrepancies in records

The Duquesne University football record book gives the 1896 season record as 12–1 on the basis of games that, according to 1896 newspapers, were played by the reserve (second) team. The record book omits not only the first-team results but also the last two reserve-team games, which were against the Keystone Tigers (November 24) and Press Young Folks' League (November 26). College Football Data Warehouse lists a similar schedule as in the university records but omits the forfeit win against Allegheny High School and adds a supposed 10–0 loss against the Allegheny Athletic Association on November 10, for a season record of 11–2. Pittsburgh newspapers of 1896 reported that the Allegheny Athletic Association's opponent on November 10 was the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club, with Allegheny winning 12–0.