Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry
| First meeting | November 6, 1893 Penn State 32, Pittsburgh 0 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | September 10, 2016 Pittsburgh 42, Penn State 39 |
| Next meeting | September 9, 2017 |
| Trophy | Spalding Trophy (former) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 97 |
| All-time series | Penn State leads, 50–43–4 |
| Longest win streak | Pittsburgh (1922-1938) |
| Current win streak | Pittsburgh, 2 |
The Penn State–Pittsburgh football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh Panthers.
Once considered one of the most important college football rivalries north of the Mason–Dixon line, this intrastate rivalry was deemed the biggest annual game for both schools for a large part of their histories. The game often had regional and national implications with the winner often claiming Eastern college football supremacy and its respective Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy. The rivalry began a slow death in the 1990s when both schools left the ranks of college football independents and chose to join different conferences. Penn State accepted an invitation to join the Big Ten Conference while Pitt's football program joined the Big East Conference where the majority of the school's athletic programs already participated. The conference affiliations of the two previously independent football programs resulted in fewer scheduling opportunities.
The last scheduled game in the series was played at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA, on September 16, 2000 when Pitt shut out Penn State 12–0. The desire of the Penn State Athletic Department to host an unbalanced number of home games (proposing 2–1 and 3–2 series) at Beaver Stadium was a significant factor in not agreeing to renew the series. The basis for the Penn State Athletic Department request for the unbalanced home games was the fact that of the 96 games played between the two teams, only 23 occurred in Happy Valley.
Penn State won 12 of the first 15, but Pitt dominated afterwards, going 21–2–2 (1913–40). Pitt at one point won 14 straight times (1922–38). Pitt coach Jock Sutherland never lost to Penn State (1924–38). From 1941 to 1951, the rivalry was much more even, as Pitt went 6–5 against Penn State in that span. From 1952 on, Penn State dominated, going 31–12–2. Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno went 23–7–1 against Pitt (1966–92, 1997–2000).
Several games are of historic note:
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