Penn State–West Virginia football rivalry

The Penn State–West Virginia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Penn State Nittany Lions and West Virginia Mountaineers.^[2][3] Penn State leads the series 50–9–2.^[4]

Penn State–West Virginia football rivalry

Penn State Nittany Lions West Virginia Mountaineers
First meeting	October 15, 1904
Latest meeting	August 31, 2024
Next meeting	TBA
Statistics
Meetings total	60
All-time series	Penn State leads, 50–9–2[1]
Largest victory	Penn State, 51–6 (1991)
Longest win streak	Penn State, 25 (1959–1983)
Current win streak	Penn State, 6 (1989–present)

50km
30miles

Penn State

West Virginia

  

Locations of Penn State and West Virginia

Penn State and West Virginia have met 60 times, the third-highest number of meetings for a Nittany Lion opponent, trailing only the Pittsburgh Panthers (100) and Syracuse Orange (71). The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers first met in 1904 and played every season from 1947 to 1992 (46 consecutive games), with the series ending in 1993 after Penn State and West Virginia joined the Big Ten and Big East Conferences, respectively.^[5]

Series history

In 1904, 1905, 1906, 1908, and 1909, West Virginia went to State College to face Penn State. They were shut out each time. They met again at Yankee Stadium in 1923, where the result was a 13–13 tie.

In 1925, the first game in Morgantown took place. It was also West Virginia's first win, 14–0. The next game was also played at Morgantown in 1931, resulting in another Mountaineer victory. The next game was played at Penn State in 1940, a Nittany Lion victory. In 1941, the Lions won again 7–0.

In 1942, West Virginia won at home 24–0. Penn State won in 1943 32–7, but West Virginia won 28–27 at home in 1944. Penn State won the next six.

Starting in 1904, the schools were considered as part of the "tri-state district Big Three" alongside Pittsburgh and competed for the "district Big Three championship" annually, a distinction earned by attaining the best record against the other two.^[6][7] This became an annual round-robin and in 1951 the Old Ironsides Trophy was introduced and awarded to the champion of the three.^[8] The trio played annually until West Virginia won its second outright title in 1984 and Penn State was unable to locate the trophy. With the loss of the trophy and deregionalization of college football, the three-team rivalry increasingly became three distinct head-to-head matchups with little to no connection.

In 1953 and 1954, West Virginia upset Penn State at New Beaver Field 20–19 and 19–14. In 1955 West Virginia won at home 21–7. From 1956–83, Penn State went 27–0–1. They had consecutive victories over some of West Virginia's greatest quarterbacks, such as Oliver Luck and Penn State-transfer Jeff Hostetler. Joe Paterno also became coach of Penn State in 1967, while Don Nehlen became West Virginia's coach in 1980.

In 1984, West Virginia won for the first time since 1955 in Morgantown, with a 17–14 upset. However, Penn State won the next three. In 1988, under Major Harris' lead, West Virginia won 51–30, en route to an undefeated regular season, making them the only team to score more than 50 points on any Joe Paterno coached Penn State squad. Penn State followed up by winning the last four.

The schools announced on September 19, 2013, that they would renew the series with two games in 2023 and 2024, one each in State College and Morgantown.^[9] Penn State won both of these games 38–15 and 34–12, respectively.

Game results

Penn State victories

West Virginia victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 15, 1904 State College, PA Penn State 34–0 2 November 25, 1905 State College, PA Penn State 6–0 3 November 23, 1906 State College, PA Penn State 11–0 4 October 24, 1908 State College, PA Penn State 12–0 5 November 13, 1909 State College, PA Penn State 40–0 6 October 27, 1923 New York, NY Tie 13–13 7 November 14, 1925 Morgantown, WV West Virginia 14–0 8 November 21, 1931 Morgantown, WV West Virginia 19–0 9 October 12, 1940 State College, PA Penn State 17–13 10 November 15, 1941 State College, PA Penn State 7–0 11 October 31, 1942 Morgantown, WV West Virginia 24–0 12 October 30, 1943 State College, PA Penn State 32–7 13 October 28, 1944 Morgantown, WV West Virginia 28–27 14 October 25, 1947 State College, PA #9 Penn State 21–14 15 October 16, 1948 State College, PA #9 Penn State 37–7 16 November 5, 1949 Morgantown, WV Penn State 34–14 17 November 11, 1950 State College, PA Penn State 27–0 18 October 27, 1951 State College, PA Penn State 13–7 19 October 11, 1952 Morgantown, WV #20 Penn State 35–21 20 October 31, 1953 State College, PA West Virginia 20–19 21 October 16, 1954 State College, PA #14 West Virginia 19–14 22 October 22, 1955 Morgantown, WV #8 West Virginia 21–7 23 October 27, 1956 State College, PA #18 Penn State 16–6 24 November 2, 1957 State College, PA Penn State 27–6 25 November 8, 1958 Morgantown, WV Tie 14–14 26 October 31, 1959 Morgantown, WV #7 Penn State 28–10 27 October 29, 1960 State College, PA Penn State 34–13 28 November 11, 1961 Morgantown, WV Penn State 20–6 29 November 10, 1962 State College, PA Penn State 34–6 30 October 26, 1963 State College, PA Penn State 20–9 31 October 24, 1964 Morgantown, WV Penn State 37–8 No. Date Location Winner Score 32 October 23, 1965 State College, PA Penn State 44–6 33 October 22, 1966 Morgantown, WV Penn State 38–6 34 October 21, 1967 State College, PA Penn State 21–14 35 October 5, 1968 Morgantown, WV #3 Penn State 31–20 36 October 11, 1969 State College, PA #5 Penn State 20–0 37 October 31, 1970 State College, PA Penn State 42–8 38 October 30, 1971 Morgantown, WV #6 Penn State 35–7 39 October 28, 1972 Morgantown, WV #11 Penn State 28–19 40 October 27, 1973 State College, PA #5 Penn State 62–14 41 October 26, 1974 Morgantown, WV #10 Penn State 21–12 42 October 11, 1975 State College, PA #10 Penn State 39–0 43 October 23, 1976 Morgantown, WV Penn State 33–0 44 October 22, 1977 State College, PA #10 Penn State 49–28 45 October 29, 1978 Morgantown, WV #2 Penn State 49–21 46 October 27, 1979 State College, PA Penn State 31–6 47 October 25, 1980 Morgantown, WV #13 Penn State 20–15 48 October 24, 1981 State College, PA #1 Penn State 30–7 49 October 23, 1982 Morgantown, WV #9 Penn State 24–0 50 October 22, 1983 State College, PA Penn State 41–23 51 October 27, 1984 Morgantown, WV #18 West Virginia 17–14 52 October 26, 1985 State College, PA #3 Penn State 27–0 53 November 1, 1986 Morgantown, WV #2 Penn State 19–0 54 October 31, 1987 State College, PA #18 Penn State 25–21 55 October 29, 1988 Morgantown, WV #7 West Virginia 51–30 56 November 4, 1989 State College, PA #16 Penn State 19–9 57 November 3, 1990 Morgantown, WV #24 Penn State 31–19 58 October 26, 1991 State College, PA #8 Penn State 51–6 59 October 24, 1992 Morgantown, WV #14 Penn State 40–26 60 September 2, 2023 State College, PA #7 Penn State 38–15 61 August 31, 2024 Morgantown, WV #8 Penn State 34–12 Series: Penn State leads 50–9–2[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games

References

1. "Winsipedia – Penn State Nittany Lions vs. West Virginia Mountaineers football series history". Winsipedia.
2. "West Virginia Bids to End 20-Year Jinx". The Daily Courier. October 8, 1975. p. 6. Retrieved August 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. West Virginia will be trying to break a 20-year jinx Saturday as the Mountaineers tangle with arch-rival Penn State at University Park, Pa., in a battle for eastern football supremacy.
3. "Penn State in a league of its own". The Pittsburgh Press. August 21, 1988. p. 76. Retrieved August 2, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Certainly West Virginia must have thought itself a favored opponent. Its rivalry with Penn State dates to 1904. The teams have shared home dates since 1954.
4. "mcubed.net : NCAAF Football : Series records : Penn St vs. West Virginia". www.mcubed.net. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
5. "Penn State and West Virginia To Renew Gridiron Series". September 19, 2013.
6. Smith, Chester L. (October 27, 1951). "State Renews Old Feud with West Virginia". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 6. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
7. "Wash-Jeff Meets West Virginians". The Pittsburgh Press. February 17, 1921. p. 23. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
8. "Panthers To Get Old Ironsides". Beaver Valley Times. October 23, 1952. p. 21. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
9. "WVU, Penn State to renew football series". The Journal. September 19, 2013. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.