Penn State vs. Pittsburgh
99 of their 100 meetings are on file: they first met in 1893, and the earliest on file is 1896; officially, Penn State leads 53–43–4; as played, 52–43–4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Penn State 8–2, and Penn State has won the last 3. The official count covers every meeting. Share
- Official series
- Penn State leads 53–43–4
- Penn State wins on file
- 52
- Pittsburgh wins on file
- 43
- Ties
- 4
- Earliest on file
- 1896 first met 1893
- Longest streak
- 14 Pittsburgh
- Current streak
- 3 Penn State
- Last 10 meetings
- Penn State 8–2
- Most recent
- 2019
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 1–0 | ||||||||||
| 1900s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1910s | 3–7 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 0–8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 1–6 | ||||||||||
| 1940s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 5–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 5–4–1 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 6–0 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 0–1 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 3–1 |
- Both ranked
- 11 meetings: Penn State 8, Pittsburgh 3; 3 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 16 points; 30 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Penn State
- 20–6 Penn State’s record at home
- At Pittsburgh
- 37–32–4 Pittsburgh’s record at home
- Shutouts
- 35
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Penn State’s biggest win1903: Penn State 59, Pittsburgh 0by 59 points
- Pittsburgh’s biggest win1931: Pittsburgh 41, Penn State 6by 35 points
- Upset1948: Pittsburgh 7, Penn State 0Pittsburgh had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1919: Penn State 20, Pittsburgh 0Penn State had a 27% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1981: Penn State 48, Pittsburgh 14Penn State had a 28% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown1982: Penn State 19, Pittsburgh 10No. 5 Pittsburgh at No. 2 Penn State
- Ranked showdown1980: Pittsburgh 14, Penn State 9No. 4 Pittsburgh at No. 5 Penn State
- Ranked showdown1981: Penn State 48, Pittsburgh 14No. 11 Penn State at No. 1 Pittsburgh
Coach against coach
| Years | Penn State | Series | Pittsburgh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1909–1912 | Bill Hollenback | 3–0 | Joseph Thompson |
| 1915–1917 | Dick Harlow | 0–3 | Pop Warner |
| 1918–1923 | Hugo Bezdek | 1–3–2 | Pop Warner |
| 1924–1929 | Hugo Bezdek | 0–6 | Jock Sutherland |
| 1930–1938 | Bob Higgins | 0–6 | Jock Sutherland |
| 1939–1942 | Bob Higgins | 3–1 | Charles Bowser |
| 1943–1945 | Bob Higgins | 1–2 | Clark Shaughnessy |
| 1955–1965 | Rip Engle | 5–5–1 | John Michelosen |
| 1966–1968 | Joe Paterno | 3–0 | Dave Hart |
| 1969–1972 | Joe Paterno | 4–0 | Carl DePasqua |
| 1973–1976 | Joe Paterno | 3–1 | Johnny Majors |
| 1977–1981 | Joe Paterno | 3–2 | Jackie Sherrill |
| 1982–1985 | Joe Paterno | 2–1–1 | Foge Fazio |
| 1986–1989 | Joe Paterno | 2–2 | Mike Gottfried |
| 1990–1992 | Joe Paterno | 3–0 | Paul Hackett |
| 1997–2000 | Joe Paterno | 3–1 | Walt Harris |
| 2016–2019 | James Franklin | 3–1 | Pat Narduzzi |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Penn State’s side (Hollenback 3–0 against Thompson). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.
Both programs through the years
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
1906 · Los Angeles herald, California, Nov 30, 1906
1907 · The Topeka state journal, Topeka, Kansas, Nov 29, 1907
1911 · Newark evening star and Newark advertiser, Newark, N.J., Dec 1, 1911
1913 · South Bend news-times, South Bend, Ind., Nov 28, 1913
1914 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Nov 27, 1914
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
Every game is listed as played on the field.