CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

Navy vs. Pennsylvania

Navy and Pennsylvania have 47 meetings on file, the first in 1888; Pennsylvania leads the series 22–⁠21–⁠4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Navy 7–⁠2.

Navy wins
21
Pennsylvania wins
22
Ties
4
Earliest on file
1888
Longest streak
6 Pennsylvania
Current streak
1 Navy
Last 10 meetings
Navy 7–⁠2
Most recent
1987

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1880s0–⁠1
1890s0–⁠4
1900s2–⁠1
1910s0–⁠1–⁠1
1920s2–⁠2
1930s5–⁠4–⁠1
1940s5–⁠5
1950s5–⁠3–⁠2
1960s1–⁠0
1980s1–⁠1
Both ranked
5 meetings: Navy 4, Pennsylvania 1; 2 both in the top 10
Average margin
14.3 points; 17 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Navy
2–⁠7–⁠1 Navy’s record at home
At Pennsylvania
15–⁠19–⁠3 Pennsylvania’s record at home
Shutouts
18

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Navy’s biggest win1956: Navy 54, Pennsylvania 6by 48 points
  2. Pennsylvania’s biggest win1893: Pennsylvania 34, Navy 0by 34 points
  3. Upset1986: Pennsylvania 30, Navy 26Pennsylvania had a 18% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1942: Navy 7, Pennsylvania 0Navy had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Upset1901: Navy 6, Pennsylvania 5Navy had a 30% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  6. Ranked showdown1945: Navy 14, Pennsylvania 7No. 3 Navy at No. 7 Pennsylvania
  7. Ranked showdown1943: Navy 24, Pennsylvania 7No. 7 Navy at No. 5 Pennsylvania
  8. Ranked showdown1944: Navy 26, Pennsylvania 0No. 12 Navy at No. 7 Pennsylvania

Coach against coach

YearsNavySeriesPennsylvania
1931–⁠1933Rip Miller2–⁠1Harvey Harman
1934–⁠1936Thomas Hamilton2–⁠1Harvey Harman
1939–⁠1941Swede Larson1–⁠2George Munger
1950–⁠1953Eddie Erdelatz0–⁠3–⁠1George Munger

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Navy’s side (Miller 2–⁠1 against Harman). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Navy and Pennsylvania, 1888 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The The morning times's story of the 1896 game: WAS NOTHING To NOTH|NG. Princeton Tigers Unable TO Down Lafayette Team. < GREAT FOOTBALL GAME University of Pennsylvania Defeats the Naval Cadets-Middies Played n Rushing Game, But Were Not Able 10 Beat Their Opponents Rushes Were In Great Shape.

    1896 · The morning times, Oct 8, 1896

  • The Waterbury Democrat's story of the 1901 game

    1901 · Waterbury Democrat, Oct 22, 1901

  • The The Washington times's story of the 1902 game: PENNSYLVANIA GOES down BEFORE M|DD|ES Naval Cadets Victors by Score of 10 to 6.

    1902 · The Washington times, Washington [D.C.], Oct 23, 1902

  • The The sun's story of the 1914 game: PENN DEFEATS NAVY IN BITTER STRUGGLE Score Tied When Avery Nabs Rival Forward Pass and Runs Fifty Yards. nnRlIN> PLAYS FINE GAME

    1914 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Oct 18, 1914

  • The Evening capital and Maryland gazette's story of the 1915 game: NAVY TEAM ENCOURAGED BY SATURDAYS GAME A Victory Would Have Been More Encouraging But 7 to 7 Shows Navy Really Has Team. HARD, DETERMINED WORK. May Enable Navy TO Meet Army This Year On Even Terms for Final Game.

    1915 · Evening capital and Maryland gazette, Oct 18, 1915

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Oct 17, 1987Navy 38, Pennsylvania 28at Pennsylvania
Oct 18, 1986Pennsylvania 30, Navy 26at Navy
Oct 22, 19604Navy 27, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 24, 1959Pennsylvania 22, Navy 22at Pennsylvania
Oct 25, 195818Navy 50, Pennsylvania 8at Pennsylvania
Oct 26, 195716Navy 35, Pennsylvania 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 27, 1956Navy 54, Pennsylvania 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 22, 1955Navy 33, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 23, 1954Navy 52, Pennsylvania 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 24, 1953Pennsylvania 9, 10Navy 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 25, 195211Pennsylvania 7, Navy 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 27, 1951Pennsylvania 14, Navy 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 28, 1950Pennsylvania 30, Navy 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 22, 194914Pennsylvania 28, Navy 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 23, 19487Pennsylvania 20, Navy 14at Pennsylvania
Oct 25, 19478Pennsylvania 21, Navy 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 26, 19466Pennsylvania 32, Navy 19at Pennsylvania
Oct 27, 19453Navy 14, 7Pennsylvania 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 28, 194412Navy 26, 7Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Nov 6, 19437Navy 24, 5Pennsylvania 7at Pennsylvania
Nov 7, 1942Navy 7, 9Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Nov 1, 194111Navy 13, 8Pennsylvania 6at Pennsylvania
Nov 2, 194015Pennsylvania 20, 14Navy 0at Pennsylvania
Nov 4, 1939Pennsylvania 13, Navy 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 29, 1938Pennsylvania 0, Navy 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 30, 1937Pennsylvania 14, Navy 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 31, 193620Pennsylvania 16, Navy 6at Pennsylvania
Nov 9, 1935Navy 13, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 27, 1934Navy 17, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 28, 1933Navy 13, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 29, 1932Pennsylvania 14, Navy 0at Pennsylvania
Dec 5, 1931Navy 6, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Dec 6, 1930Navy 26, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Nov 2, 1929Pennsylvania 7, Navy 2at Pennsylvania
Oct 27, 1928Navy 6, Pennsylvania 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 29, 1927Navy 12, Pennsylvania 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 28, 1922Pennsylvania 13, Navy 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 16, 1915Navy 7, Pennsylvania 7at Navy
Oct 17, 1914Pennsylvania 13, Navy 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 22, 1902Navy 10, Pennsylvania 6at Navy
Oct 21, 1901Navy 6, Pennsylvania 5at Navy
Nov 21, 1900Pennsylvania 28, Navy 6at Navy
Oct 7, 1896Pennsylvania 8, Navy 0at Navy
Oct 27, 1894Pennsylvania 12, Navy 0at Navy
Oct 11, 1893Pennsylvania 34, Navy 0at Navy
Oct 12, 1892Pennsylvania 16, Navy 0at Navy
Dec 1, 1888Pennsylvania 20, Navy 9at Navy

Every game is listed as played on the field.