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Pennsylvania vs. Virginia

Pennsylvania and Virginia have 16 meetings on file, the first in 1890; Pennsylvania leads the series 15–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Pennsylvania 9–⁠1.

Pennsylvania wins
15
Virginia wins
1
Ties
0
Earliest on file
1890
Longest streak
14 Pennsylvania
Current streak
1 Pennsylvania
Last 10 meetings
Pennsylvania 9–⁠1
Most recent
1950

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1890s8–⁠0
1900s2–⁠0
1920s1–⁠0
1930s1–⁠0
1940s2–⁠1
1950s1–⁠0
Both ranked
2 meetings: Pennsylvania 1, Virginia 1; 1 both in the top 10
Average margin
29.6 points; 1 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Pennsylvania
14–⁠1 Pennsylvania’s record at home
At Virginia
0–⁠1 Virginia’s record at home
Shutouts
9

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

Games that tell the story

  1. Pennsylvania’s biggest win1890: Pennsylvania 72, Virginia 0by 72 points
  2. Virginia’s biggest win1949: Virginia 26, Pennsylvania 14by 12 points
  3. Ranked showdown1947: Pennsylvania 19, Virginia 7No. 10 Virginia at No. 4 Pennsylvania
  4. Ranked showdown1949: Virginia 26, Pennsylvania 14No. 19 Virginia at No. 20 Pennsylvania

Coach against coach

YearsPennsylvaniaSeriesVirginia
1946–⁠1950George Munger3–⁠1Arthur Guepe

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

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Pennsylvania and Virginia, 1890 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 news's story of the 1894 game: FOOTBALL At TIE CAPITAL. PENNSYLVANIA Defeats the University Of virginia.

    1894 · The morning news, Savannah, Ga., Oct 27, 1894

  • The The Norfolk Virginian's story of the 1896 game: BooKAiAKERs BUSY. IwENVr TO NOTHING. That is 'ho Way u. Pm. piles Uno, the u. Nn

    1896 · The Norfolk Virginian, Norfolk, Va., Oct 15, 1896

  • The The Saint Paul globe's story of the 1897 game: VIRGINIA BEATEN. DasilinG Game Played by the Penn syIVania Eleven.

    1897 · The Saint Paul globe, Minnesota, Oct 14, 1897

  • The The times's story of the 1898 game: VIRGINIA AND THE QUAKERS. Varsity Defeated by Pennsylvania on Franklin Field. SCORE THIRTY FOUR TO NOTHING The Virginia Team Put Up n Zine Game and Aside from FnmbIing Their Play Was Well Nigh Per Ccct-Thc Features.

    1898 · The times, Richmond, Va., Oct 13, 1898

  • The The times's story of the 1899 game: VIRGINIA PLAYS PENNSYLVANIA Scored a Touchdown in the Last Half. GERSTLE MAKES A FINE PLAY Slammed Tn the Ball and Ran Like a Scared Deer, Outfooting the Pennsylvanians in Fine Siylc-Score, :I3 100 e

    1899 · The times, Richmond, Va., Oct 12, 1899

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

Sep 30, 1950Pennsylvania 21, Virginia 7at Pennsylvania
Nov 5, 194919Virginia 26, 20Pennsylvania 14at Pennsylvania
Nov 8, 19474Pennsylvania 19, 10Virginia 7at Pennsylvania
Oct 19, 19466Pennsylvania 40, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 11, 1930Pennsylvania 40, Virginia 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 25, 1924Pennsylvania 27, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 1, 1904Pennsylvania 24, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 16, 1901Pennsylvania 20, Virginia 5at Pennsylvania
Oct 11, 1899Pennsylvania 33, Virginia 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 12, 1898Pennsylvania 40, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 13, 1897Pennsylvania 42, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 14, 1896Pennsylvania 20, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 19, 1895Pennsylvania 54, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania
Oct 26, 1894Pennsylvania 14, Virginia 6at Pennsylvania
Oct 11, 1892Pennsylvania 32, Virginia 0at Virginia
Oct 31, 1890Pennsylvania 72, Virginia 0at Pennsylvania

Every game is listed as played on the field.