The history of the University of Denver athletics department is full of success. Crimson and Gold fans are well-versed in DU’s 10 ice hockey national championships, 24 skiing national championships and one men’s lacrosse national championship.
However, many do not know about the early history of DU’s athletic program and its 75-year history on the football field. Today’s Into the archives topic dives into the history of the DU football program.
This is the last edition of the column for the quarter, which I have been writing in celebration of the DU Clarion’s 125th anniversary. Each week I siphoned through the digital archives created by the DU Special Collections, to help showcase the great history of our newspaper.
Be on the lookout next quarter for an incoming Clarion 125th anniversary event during Homecoming weekend, where we will welcome back former staff and writers of the publication.
January 10, 1961 (vol. 37, no.22)
Sometimes the best way to recount history is to start at the end. This front page headline simply describes the news students got in January of 1961; the football program was slashed. The Clarion printed Chancellor Chester Alter’s statement on the front page alongside the giant headline.
The program was mainly cut after 75 years due to the program not being able to produce revenue. According to the statement, the program was losing $100,000 every year and the Board of Trustees did not want to meet the growing costs that were increasing at the time in college football.
DU’s program was also struggling at the time, and finished 3-7 in their final season in 1961. DU finished their program history with a 271-264-39 record.
November 30, 1945 (vol. 50, no. 10)
15 years earlier, DU’s program was in good shape, making post-season bowl games two seasons in a row in 1945 and 1946. This article came after DU defeated the University of Colorado during their annual Thanksgiving rivalry game and was invited to the 1946 Sun Bowl.
DU was successful in 1945 and 1946 under Head Coach Cac Hubbard. A part of the Mountain States Conference at the time, Hubbard led DU to two straight conference titles and two of Denver’s three total bowl-game appearances. DU picked up a 8-1-1 conference record within those two seasons.
But, DU never did win the Sun Bowl in 1946 or any bowl game for that matter. They lost to New Mexico in 1946, 24-34, then to Hardin-Simmons in the 1947 Alamo Bowl, 0-20 and finally to Hawaii in the 1950 Pineapple Bowl, 27-28.
March 26, 1925 (vol. 29, no. 25)
DU football played the majority of their games from 1926-1960 at Hilltop Stadium or also commonly known as DU Stadium. It sat where the soccer stadium and tennis courts are located currently.
The Clarion called the day the stadium finally broke ground, “the most gigantic and impressive demonstration in University of Denver history.” The stadium sat 30,000 people and stood for 11 years after the football program was slashed until it was demolished in 1971.
The stadium also played host to a visit from Charles Lindbergh during a parade in 1927, several months after his famous transatlantic flight. The stadium also hosted Denver Broncos pre-season games, theater productions and commencement ceremonies.
November 25, 1936 (vol. 41, no.11)
Although DU football was not as successful of a program, they did have some very individually successful players throughout program history.
One of those players was Alex Drobnitch, a guard who played from 1933-1937. Drobnitch was named an NEA (Newspaper Enterprise Association) first-team All-American in his junior season with DU. Drobnitch went pro out of college and played for three teams in the early years of the NFL. He passed away at the age of 46 in 1960 and was inducted into the DU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
Another successful player was wide receiver Ernie Pitts, who played for DU in the 1940s. Pitts earned three honorable All-American mentions in his career with DU and is said to have the program’s reception record.
Pitts made a great career in the Canadian Football League despite being drafted to the NFL in 1957 by the San Francisco 49ers. Pitts holds the CFL record for most touchdowns caught in a game (five) and was named to the CFL Hall of Fame in 2019.
This, of course, is not a perfect account of the program’s history. But if you are interested in researching more about the program, this website gives a full breakdown of the records, teams, wins and many other stats during the 75 seasons.
A special thank you, once again, to the DU Special Collections & Archives, who have graciously digitized the Clarion newspaper records. If you are interested in looking through the records for yourself, visit the Archives website.
