Penn State-Pittsburgh: Facts and figures on the college football rivalry

Penn State will host Pitt on Saturday in an intrastate rivalry game. Here is a look at the rivalry:

-- Penn State leads the series, 52-43-4. The Nittany Lions are 25-8-1 against the Panthers since 1966.

-- When the series began in 1893, it matched Pennsylvania State College against Western University of Pennsylvania. Western changed its name to the University of Pittsburgh in 1908, and PSC became Pennsylvania State University in 1953.

-- The teams played every year from 1900 through 1931, then from 1935 through 1992. They have played a pair of four-game series since then, 1997-2000 and 2016-19.

-- From 1903 through 1970, all but six games were played in Pittsburgh, counting Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field, and the teams met at Three Rivers Stadium from 1974 through 1976. Saturday’s game will mark only the 25th time that Pitt has played at Beaver Stadium.

-- The Panthers have not won in Happy Valley since 1988, going 0-5 in that time.

-- Penn State’s longest winning streak in the series is 10 games, 1966 through 1975. Pittsburgh won 14 in a row beginning in 1922 and ending in 1938.

-- Joe Paterno coached the most games in the series, compiling a 23-7-1 record.

-- Pitt coach Jock Sutherland went 12-0 against the Nittany Lions from 1924 through 1938. The 1938 season ended a stretch in which the Panthers were 20-1-2 going back to 1913.

1893: Gen. James Beaver is present as Penn State dedicates Beaver Field and defeats Western University of Pennsylvania, 32-0, in the first game of the series.

1947: Penn State closes out its first undefeated regular season in school history with a 29-0 win at Pittsburgh.

1950: A snowstorm in Pittsburgh delays the game one week. The Nittany Lions return and defeat the Panthers, 21-20, in the “Snow Bowl” at Forbes Field.

1976: Tony Dorsett has a big second half on his way to 224 rushing yards, and the Panthers finish an undefeated regular season with a 24-7 win at Three Rivers Stadium. They go on to win the national championship.

1978: Ranked No. 1, Penn State trails late in the fourth quarter at home, but Mike Guman scores on fourth down, and the Nittany Lions go on to a 17-10 win.

1981: Quarterbacked by Dan Marino, No. 1 Pittsburgh scores the game’s first two touchdowns at Pitt Stadium before Todd Blackledge leads an incredible rally that gives the Nittany Lions a 48-14 victory.

1982: Second-ranked Penn State defeats No. 5 Pitt, 19-10, at Beaver Stadium and goes on to win its first national championship with a 27-23 win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

1992: The Nittany Lions, who will start Big Ten play the next season, roll to a 57-13 win at Beaver Stadium and end a run of 58 consecutive games against the Panthers.

1997: The series resumes, and Penn State, ranked No. 1 in the preseason, gains a season-opening 34-17 win over the Panthers at home.

2000: The matchup is played for the 96th time, and Pitt shuts down the Penn State offense in a 12-0 victory at Three Rivers Stadium. The series then goes on a 16-year hiatus.

2016: The two rivals renew acquaintances before a Heinz Field-record crowd of 69,898 that watches Saquon Barkley score five touchdowns. However, four turnovers, including Trace McSorley’s end-zone interception with 1 minute, 15 seconds to play, enable Pitt to gain a 42-39 win.

2017: Barkley gains 183 all-purpose yards and scores twice in Penn State’s 33-14 win before 109,898, the seventh-largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history at that time. Afterward, Penn State coach James Franklin riles the Panthers fans by saying the win was “just like beating Akron.”

2018: In a steady rain at Heinz Field, McSorley throws for two touchdowns and runs for a third, and the defense shuts down Pitt in the second half of a 51-6 win, the most lopsided score in the series since 1968.