Pittsburgh vs. Syracuse
Pittsburgh and Syracuse have 82 meetings on file, the first in 1916; officially, Pittsburgh leads 46–32–3; as played, 46–33–3 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Pittsburgh 8–2, and Pittsburgh has won the last 3. The NCAA vacated Syracuse’s win (2004); it doesn’t count officially. This page counts every game as it was played. Share
- Official series
- Pittsburgh leads 46–32–3
- Pittsburgh wins on file
- 46
- Syracuse wins on file
- 33
- Ties
- 3
- Earliest on file
- 1916
- Longest streak
- 11 Pittsburgh
- Current streak
- 3 Pittsburgh
- Last 10 meetings
- Pittsburgh 8–2
- Most recent
- 2026
The series at a glance
| ’0 | ’1 | ’2 | ’3 | ’4 | ’5 | ’6 | ’7 | ’8 | ’9 | W–L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 2–1 | ||||||||||
| 1920s | 3–1–2 | ||||||||||
| 1930s | 1–0 | ||||||||||
| 1950s | 2–3 | ||||||||||
| 1960s | 4–6 | ||||||||||
| 1970s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 1980s | 5–5 | ||||||||||
| 1990s | 0–9–1 | ||||||||||
| 2000s | 7–3 | ||||||||||
| 2010s | 8–2 | ||||||||||
| 2020s | 6–1 |
- Both ranked
- 3 meetings: Pittsburgh 2, Syracuse 1; 1 both in the top 10
- Average margin
- 14.5 points; 30 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
- At Pittsburgh
- 27–11 Pittsburgh’s record at home
- At Syracuse
- 20–19–3 Syracuse’s record at home
- Neutral sites
- 0–2 Pittsburgh first
- Shutouts
- 11
Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.
Games that tell the story
- Pittsburgh’s biggest win1975: Pittsburgh 38, Syracuse 0by 38 points
- Syracuse’s biggest win1996: Syracuse 55, Pittsburgh 7by 48 points
- Upset1960: Pittsburgh 10, Syracuse 0Pittsburgh had a 21% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Upset1969: Pittsburgh 21, Syracuse 20Pittsburgh had a 29% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
- Ranked showdown1956: Pittsburgh 14, Syracuse 7No. 7 Syracuse at No. 10 Pittsburgh
- Ranked showdown1989: Pittsburgh 30, Syracuse 23No. 10 Syracuse at No. 13 Pittsburgh
- Ranked showdown1991: Syracuse 31, Pittsburgh 27No. 24 Syracuse at No. 20 Pittsburgh
Coach against coach
| Years | Pittsburgh | Series | Syracuse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920–1923 | Pop Warner | 2–1–1 | Chick Meehan |
| 1955–1965 | John Michelosen | 5–6 | Ben Schwartzwalder |
| 1966–1968 | Dave Hart | 0–3 | Ben Schwartzwalder |
| 1969–1972 | Carl DePasqua | 2–2 | Ben Schwartzwalder |
| 1974–1976 | Johnny Majors | 3–0 | Frank Maloney |
| 1977–1980 | Jackie Sherrill | 4–0 | Frank Maloney |
| 1982–1985 | Foge Fazio | 2–2 | Dick MacPherson |
| 1986–1989 | Mike Gottfried | 1–3 | Dick MacPherson |
| 1993–1996 | Johnny Majors | 0–4 | Paul Pasqualoni |
| 1997–2004 | Walt Harris | 2–6 | Paul Pasqualoni |
| 2005–2008 | Dave Wannstedt | 4–0 | Greg Robinson |
| 2016–2023 | Pat Narduzzi | 6–2 | Dino Babers |
| 2024–2026 | Pat Narduzzi | 3–0 | Fran Brown |
Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Pittsburgh’s side (Warner 2–1–1 against Meehan). 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.
Stars of the series
Biggest days
| Zack Mahoney Syracuse | 43 of 61, 440 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT | 2016 Passing | |
| Amba Etta-Tawo Syracuse | 13 catches, 178 yards, 5 TD | 2016 Receiving | |
| LaRod Stephens-Howling Pittsburgh | 27 carries, 221 yards, 1 TD | 2006 Rushing | |
| Rasheem Biles Pittsburgh | 12 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss, 1 INT, 1 TD | 2024 Defense |
Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).
From the newspapers
1916 · The sun, New York, Oct 22, 1916
1917 · The Bridgeport evening farmer, Oct 22, 1917
1919 · The sun, New York [N.Y.], Oct 19, 1919
1920 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 17, 1920
1921 · The New York herald, Oct 23, 1921
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.
On television
| 2026 | ESPN | 1.2 million viewers |
Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.
Every game
Every game is listed as played on the field; a win the NCAA later vacated is marked “vacated”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.