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Penn State vs. West Virginia

Penn State and West Virginia have 61 meetings on file, the first in 1904; Penn State leads the series 50–⁠9–⁠2 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Penn State 9–⁠1, and Penn State has won the last 6.

Penn State wins
50
West Virginia wins
9
Ties
2
Earliest on file
1904
Longest streak
25 Penn State
Current streak
6 Penn State
Last 10 meetings
Penn State 9–⁠1
Most recent
2024

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1900s5–⁠0
1920s0–⁠1–⁠1
1930s0–⁠1
1940s6–⁠2
1950s6–⁠3–⁠1
1960s10–⁠0
1970s10–⁠0
1980s8–⁠2
1990s3–⁠0
2020s2–⁠0
Both ranked
7 meetings: Penn State 5, West Virginia 2; 1 both in the top 10
Average margin
18.4 points; 12 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Penn State
32–⁠3 Penn State’s record at home
At West Virginia
6–⁠18–⁠2 West Virginia’s record at home
Shutouts
16

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Penn State’s biggest win1973: Penn State 62, West Virginia 14by 48 points
  2. West Virginia’s biggest win1942: West Virginia 24, Penn State 0by 24 points
  3. Upset1944: West Virginia 28, Penn State 27West Virginia had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Ranked showdown1975: Penn State 39, West Virginia 0No. 10 West Virginia at No. 9 Penn State
  5. Ranked showdown1982: Penn State 24, West Virginia 0No. 9 Penn State at No. 13 West Virginia
  6. Ranked showdown1969: Penn State 20, West Virginia 0No. 17 West Virginia at No. 5 Penn State
  7. Ranked showdown1954: West Virginia 19, Penn State 14No. 14 West Virginia at No. 9 Penn State

Coach against coach

YearsPenn StateSeriesWest Virginia
1940–⁠1947Bob Higgins3–⁠1Bill Kern
1950–⁠1959Rip Engle6–⁠3–⁠1Art Lewis
1960–⁠1965Rip Engle6–⁠0Gene Corum
1966–⁠1969Joe Paterno4–⁠0Jim Carlen
1970–⁠1975Joe Paterno6–⁠0Bobby Bowden
1976–⁠1979Joe Paterno4–⁠0Frank Cignetti
1980–⁠1992Joe Paterno11–⁠2Don Nehlen

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Penn State’s side (Higgins 3–⁠1 against Kern). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Penn State and West Virginia, 1904 on130015001700192019401960198020002020

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 Birmingham age-herald's story of the 1923 game: PENN STATE TIES VIRGINIA AT LAST Touchdown In Last Few Min- uteS Gives Penn 13-13 Tie

    1923 · The Birmingham age-herald, Oct 28, 1923

  • The Evening star's story of the 1940 game: PetreHa, 140 Pounds, Leads Penn State To Uphill Win Nittony Lions March 63 Yards for Edge In 17-13 Bottle

    1940 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 13, 1940

  • The The Daily Alaska empire's story of the 1942 game: FOOTBALL SCORES i.

    1942 · The Daily Alaska empire, Alaska, Nov 2, 1942

  • The Evening star's story of the 1947 game: Penn State Conquers West Virginia, 21-14

    1947 · Evening star, Oct 26, 1947

  • The Evening star's story of the 1950 game: Saturdays. Grid Stars

    1950 · Evening star, District of Columbia, Nov 13, 1950

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

Aug 31, 20248Penn State 34, West Virginia 12at West Virginia
Sep 2, 20237Penn State 38, West Virginia 15at Penn State
Oct 24, 199214Penn State 40, West Virginia 26at West Virginia
Oct 26, 19918Penn State 51, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Nov 3, 199024Penn State 31, West Virginia 19at West Virginia
Nov 4, 198916Penn State 19, 13West Virginia 9at Penn State
Oct 29, 19887West Virginia 51, Penn State 30at West Virginia
Oct 31, 198718Penn State 25, West Virginia 21at Penn State
Nov 1, 19862Penn State 19, West Virginia 0at West Virginia
Oct 26, 19853Penn State 27, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 27, 198418West Virginia 17, 19Penn State 14at West Virginia
Oct 22, 1983Penn State 41, 4West Virginia 23at Penn State
Oct 23, 19829Penn State 24, 13West Virginia 0at West Virginia
Oct 24, 19811Penn State 30, West Virginia 7at Penn State
Oct 25, 198013Penn State 20, West Virginia 15at West Virginia
Oct 27, 1979Penn State 31, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Oct 28, 19782Penn State 49, West Virginia 21at West Virginia
Oct 22, 197710Penn State 49, West Virginia 28at Penn State
Oct 23, 1976Penn State 33, West Virginia 0at West Virginia
Oct 11, 19759Penn State 39, 10West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 26, 197410Penn State 21, West Virginia 12at West Virginia
Oct 27, 19735Penn State 62, West Virginia 14at Penn State
Oct 28, 197211Penn State 28, 18West Virginia 19at West Virginia
Oct 30, 19716Penn State 35, West Virginia 7at West Virginia
Oct 31, 1970Penn State 42, West Virginia 8at Penn State
Oct 11, 19695Penn State 20, 17West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 5, 19683Penn State 31, West Virginia 20at West Virginia
Oct 21, 1967Penn State 21, West Virginia 14at Penn State
Oct 22, 1966Penn State 38, West Virginia 6at West Virginia
Oct 23, 1965Penn State 44, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Oct 24, 1964Penn State 37, West Virginia 8at West Virginia
Oct 26, 1963Penn State 20, West Virginia 9at Penn State
Nov 10, 1962Penn State 34, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Nov 11, 1961Penn State 20, West Virginia 6at West Virginia
Oct 29, 1960Penn State 34, West Virginia 13at Penn State
Oct 31, 19597Penn State 28, West Virginia 10at West Virginia
Nov 8, 1958West Virginia 14, Penn State 14at West Virginia
Nov 2, 1957Penn State 27, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Oct 27, 195618Penn State 16, West Virginia 6at Penn State
Oct 22, 1955West Virginia 21, Penn State 7at West Virginia
Oct 16, 195414West Virginia 19, 9Penn State 14at Penn State
Oct 31, 19535West Virginia 20, Penn State 19at Penn State
Oct 11, 195220Penn State 35, West Virginia 21at West Virginia
Oct 27, 1951Penn State 13, West Virginia 7at Penn State
Nov 11, 1950Penn State 27, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Nov 5, 1949Penn State 34, West Virginia 14at West Virginia
Oct 16, 19489Penn State 37, West Virginia 7at Penn State
Oct 25, 19479Penn State 21, West Virginia 14at Penn State
Oct 28, 1944West Virginia 28, Penn State 27at Penn State
Oct 30, 1943Penn State 32, West Virginia 7at Penn State
Oct 31, 1942West Virginia 24, Penn State 0at West Virginia
Nov 15, 1941Penn State 7, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 12, 1940Penn State 17, West Virginia 13at Penn State
Nov 21, 1931West Virginia 19, Penn State 0at West Virginia
Nov 14, 1925West Virginia 14, Penn State 0at West Virginia
Oct 27, 1923West Virginia 13, Penn State 13at West Virginia
Nov 13, 1909Penn State 40, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 24, 1908Penn State 12, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Nov 24, 1906Penn State 10, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Nov 24, 1905Penn State 6, West Virginia 0at Penn State
Oct 15, 1904Penn State 34, West Virginia 0at Penn State

Every game is listed as played on the field.