There have been many starting from the traditional eastern school rivalries, to other national powerhouses such as AL, NE, ND, Miami, Tennessee, TX, BYU and others. Which were the biggest rivalries over the years?
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Obviously Pitt is #1 by most, but I was looking for the non-obvious.
I agree, Aoshiro. The biggest rivalry in Penn State football history has been with Pitt. I am older and attended many of these games since the early 1960s. The fan interest and intensity at these games were extreme - especially the during the Johnny Majors years when Pitt was competitive.
Pitt is the only real rival we have ever had, no question. It could someday be Ohio State, but their preoccupation with Michigan will prevent that in all likelihood.There have been many starting from the traditional eastern school rivalries, to other national powerhouses such as AL, NE, ND, Miami, Tennessee, TX, BYU and others. Which were the biggest rivalries over the years?
Well everyone knows where I stand concerning playing Pitt. I would love it to be played every year but short of Pitt entering the Big Ten there is almost no chance of that becoming the norm. There is no reason for the teams not to meet when things can be worked out.I agree, Aoshiro. The biggest rivalry in Penn State football history has been with Pitt. I am older and attended many of these games since the early 1960s. The fan interest and intensity at these games were extreme - especially the during the Johnny Majors years when Pitt was competitive.
We ought to play Pitt every year. I know some of the younger fans aren't interested in this. Once they experience the rivalry they will change and embrace the game every year like us old timers.
We should play a home and home series with Pitt. Neither team should be given preference. We have played Pitt 96 times -- 71 at Pittsburgh and 25 at State College. Pitt owes us 46 home games before we are even. Thus, we should reschedule next years game to be at Beaver Stadium and play Pitt every year in Beaver Stadium until 2062. After that we would alternate between venues. This seems like a fair plan to me.
Pitt would not be the obvious choice. Just ask any Rutgers fan.Obviously Pitt is #1 by most, but I was looking for the non-obvious.
I agree, Aoshiro. The biggest rivalry in Penn State football history has been with Pitt. I am older and attended many of these games since the early 1960s. The fan interest and intensity at these games were extreme - especially the during the Johnny Majors years when Pitt was competitive.
We ought to play Pitt every year. I know some of the younger fans aren't interested in this. Once they experience the rivalry they will change and embrace the game every year like us old timers.
We should play a home and home series with Pitt. Neither team should be given preference. We have played Pitt 96 times -- 71 at Pittsburgh and 25 at State College. Pitt owes us 46 home games before we are even. Thus, we should reschedule next years game to be at Beaver Stadium and play Pitt every year in Beaver Stadium until 2062. After that we would alternate between venues. This seems like a fair plan to me.
C'mon, Gambit, admit it. You're secretly envious of all things Rutgers. LOL...Pitt would not be the obvious choice. Just ask any Rutgers fan.
There are some good things about Rutgers.C'mon, Gambit, admit it. You're secretly envious of all things Rutgers. LOL...
Nashville, you clearly did not read the memo. This is our BIG RIVAL.The Pitt rivalry...has not been a rivalry in quite some time. Look at the last time they actually played. i would say in the past decade our biggest rivals have been Ohio State and iowa.
There are some good things about Rutgers.
We do not have any "rivals". It was PITT, but that was yesterday and yesterday's gone
Pitt, Nebraska, Miami, and Notre Dame.There have been many starting from the traditional eastern school rivalries, to other national powerhouses such as AL, NE, ND, Miami, Tennessee, TX, BYU and others. Which were the biggest rivalries over the years?
What are you talking about? Overrated? In the late 70's through early to mid 80's Penn State and Pitt were both perennial top 20 teams; and most of those years one or the other was in line for the MNC. PSU/Pitt was as big as Oklahoma/Nebraska, Texas/Oklahoma, USC/Notre Dame, and Michigan/Ohio State over about a 10-15 year period. Playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving at noon was a National Holiday for all Penn State and Pitt fans.I guess one would have to say Pitt only because Penn State was as dominant if not more over Syracuse and West Virginia as well in modern times. Syracuse in the '50s and '60s and for a brief period of time Pitt when Pitt was good. Otherwise, the rivalry with Pitt from when Joe started coaching was very overrated compared to others nationally.
http://groundreport.com/the-pitt-penn-state-rivalry-vastly-overrated/
What are you talking about? Overrated? In the late 70's through early to mid 80's Penn State and Pitt were both perennial top 20 teams; and most of those years one or the other was in line for the MNC. PSU/Pitt was as big as Oklahoma/Nebraska, Texas/Oklahoma, USC/Notre Dame, and Michigan/Ohio State over about a 10-15 year period. Playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving at noon was a National Holiday for all Penn State and Pitt fans.
Ken, Pitt was very good from 1976-1982 and that's about it, and in that time, not one Pitt coach, not Johnny Majors or Jackie Sherrill, and those that followed had a winning record against Paterno. Not one. Tell me how that is possible if that's a great rivalry.
It was a very short-lived rivalry in terms of competitive balance compared to so many others on the college football landscape.
You beat me to it. Pitt got pretty creative with the rules, and had a few good years starting in 1976, that ended really in 1981. 1982 started the ramp down to their typical mediocrity. Pitt had a 5 year span of relevance, gained solely by cheating. They have one tainted national title. PSU has dominated the series under Joe Pa. The last 8 games were 7-1 in favor of PSU, with the only Pitt win coming against one of the worst PSU teams of all time. From 1966 - 1982, PSU was 14-3 against Pitt.
Pitt has a losing record in recent history.
Rutgers certainly feels like we are now their rival since they joined the B1G, but we will likely always treat them like a want-to-be rivalry. Some here are kidding themselves if they don't think that Pitt was ever a real rivalry. There was true hatred for one another, even though we had the upper hand record wise. Syracuse was also a major rivalry when I went to PSU in the early 70's. They would come into town and paint the Nittany Lion orange at night!
What did Joe think? He thought it was Michigan.
Michigan was the team he felt he needed to conquer when he joined the Big Ten. So much so that he insisted that the schedules in the first four years feature Michigan right after a PSU bye. That's what drove Bo Schembechler crazy; because Joe got his way. And not surprisingly, Joe went 3-1 in those first four games.
And not so well thereafter.