Penn State/Pittsburgh Football: Who Is The Winner?

This list will be breaking down the Penn State and Pittsburgh football programs. I will look at various things to compare the schools. Bowl wins, the coaches, stadiums, and of course National Championships will be considered. There can only be one winner in the Battle of Pennsylvania, lets see who it is.

Here is the scoring system for the article; for every category that the schools win they will receive 7 points, so its like scoring a touchdown. I will give the final score at the end of the list.

The History

First I will explain some of the history of this rivalry. Penn State and Pittsburgh played their first rivalry game in 1893. Penn State won that meeting,(which was played at State College) 32-0. Penn State would go on to win 6 consecutive games against the Panthers.

More recently in 1981,the Pitt Panthers were undefeated and ready to claim a National Championship. Penn State came into Pitt Stadium looking for the upset. Dan Marino lead the Panthers to an early 14-0 lead, but Penn State QB Todd Blackledge lead the Nittany Lion rally. Penn State won that game 48-14. They would meet a year later with both teams having 9-1 records. Penn State also won this game by a score of 19-10.

Now I will break down the rivalry into different categories, lets see who is the real "Beast of the East." This will focus on the schools accomplishments outside of the rivalry; bowl game wins, National Championships, etc.

First Category: Undefeated/Untied Seasons

What better place to start than undefeated seasons? Both Pitt and Penn State post a number of undefeated seasons.

Pitt went undefeated in 1904,1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1976 a total of 6 undefeated seasons. (Pitt had two games tied in 1920 (6-0-2) and one tie in 1937 (9-0-1)

Penn State went undefeated in 1887, 1912, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, and 1994. 7 (Penn State had one tie in 1894 (6-0-1), two ties in 1909 (5-0-2), one tie in 1911 (8-0-1), two ties in 1920 (7-0-2), and 1921 (8-0-2), and one tie in 1947 (9-0-1)

Penn State gets a touchdown for having the most undefeated seasons.

Penn State leads 7-0.

Second Category: National Championships (Determined By NCAA Record Book)

Both schools have many National Championship seasons. The National Champion was not always decided by a Championship game, it was determined by the AP Poll for a number of years. This listing will show how many Championships the schools have won according to the NCAA Record Book.

Pittsburgh won the Championship in 1910, 1915,1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1937,1976, 1980, and 1981.

Penn State won the Championship in 1911, 1912, 1969, 1982, 1986, and 1994.

Pitt has the edge here with 11 to Penn States 6.

Score is 7-7.

Third Category: Bowl Wins

Penn State has been to 42 bowl games winning 27 of them.

Pitt has been to 27 bowl games winning 12 of them.

Penn State has won just as many bowl games as Pitt has been to, that is an interesting stat.

Penn State clearly gets the edge here, they go up 14-7.

Fourth Category: The Venues

Each team has a great football stadium.

Pitt's stadium is not actually theirs but the stadium of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Heinz Field holds a capacity crowd of 65,050; but it has trouble getting that college atmosphere.

Penn State calls Beaver Stadium or "Happy Valley" its home. This legendary complex holds 107,282; and they go above and beyond that every home game. Penn State has to get the edge here.

Penn State scores again and its 21-7, but don't go away just yet this one is not over.

Fifth Category: The Heisman

Tony Dorsett

Pittsburgh and Penn State each have one Heisman Trophy winner. Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett won in 1976. Penn State's John Cappelletti won in 1973. With each school having one winner no points will be given.

Score: Penn State 21 Pittsburgh 7

Sixth Category: College Football Hall Of Fame

These two schools have always had some of the best players in college football.

Pittsburgh boasts 24 Hall of Fame players and coaches. Among them are Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, and Glenn "Pop" Warner.

Penn State has its own legacy of Hall of Famers. Penn State has 22 players and coaches in the Hall of Fame. Among them are John Cappelletti, Jack Ham, Curt Warner, and of course Joe Paterno.

With 24 people in the Hall of Fame Pitt nearly beats Penn States 22. Pitt gets the points.

21-14 Penn State still leads.

Seventh Category: Conference Titles

For Penn State this category is not really fair seeing as they were an independent school until 1990. Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference that year and has won three conference titles since joining.

Pittsburgh has won 14 conference titles, 12 from the Eastern Conference and two from the Big East.

Pitt will get the points here as they tie it up 21-21.

Final Category: The Coaches

Pittsburgh has had some notable coaches over the years. Perhaps the two most noteworthy are Jock Sutherland and Glenn "Pop" Warner. These coaches helped put Pittsburgh on the map and their legacy is remembered in college football.

Penn State has its fair share of notable coaches as well. Bob Higgins, Rip Engle and of course Joe Paterno. These three coaches are some of the best in history, and it is for that reason that Penn State gets the edge. With Joe Paterno at the helm you had to expect them to win this one.

With this being the final category Penn State gets the win 28-21.

Box Score

Pittsburgh won the following categories: National Championships, Conference Championships, and Hall of Famers.

Penn State however has won; most undefeated/untied seasons, the best stadium, more bowl wins, and the best coaches.

It is for these reasons that Penn State is truly better than Pittsburgh. I would love if this rivalry is renewed as I hope you can all see how much legacy and history these schools have.

Thanks for reading leave your comments below I am expecting a lot of angry Panther fans.