American Football Database
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Denver Pioneers football
First season 1885
Last season 1960
Head coach {{{HeadCoachDisplay}}}
Home stadium DU Stadium
Year built 1926
Stadium capacity 30,000
Stadium surface Natural grass
Location Denver, Colorado
Conference {{{ConferenceDisplay}}}
Past conferences Rocky Mountain Athletic (1910–1937)
Mountain States (1938–1960)
All-time record
Postseason bowl record 0–3
Conference titles 1 (Colorado Football Association)
1 (Colorado Faculty Athletic)
2 (Rocky Mountain Athletic)
3 (Mountain States)
Colors {{{Color1}}}             
Fight song "D-Rah/Fairest of Colleges"

The Denver Pioneers football team formerly represented the University of Denver in college football.

History[]

Football was once the most popular sport at the university; the first DU football game was played in 1885 against Colorado College, which is believed to be the first intercollegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River.

Coach John P. Koehler led the team to its first conference titles in 1908 and 1909, and the 1917 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 the 1946 Sun Bowl, 1947 Alamo Bowl, and 1951 Pineapple 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 in 1954, which was DU's only national top-20 team, peaking at number 18. The football team played in a 30,000-seat stadium that stood on campus from 1926 to 1971.[1][2]

The final season for DU football was in 1960; the program was discontinued in January 1961 for financial reasons.[3][4][5] The Pioneers were 3–7 in that last season, but won their final game, 21–12, over Colorado State at DU Stadium on Thanksgiving.[6][7]

Conference championships[]

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

Bowl games[]

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

References[]

External links[]

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