# 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. Penn State leads the series 50–9–2.
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.

## 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. This became an annual round-robin and in 1951 the Old Ironsides Trophy was introduced and awarded to the champion of the three. 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. 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 |||||