Maryland–Penn State football rivalry

Maryland Terrapins-Penn State Nittany Lions
History
1st Meeting	November 17, 1917
Last Meeting	October 2, 1993
Number of Meetings	37
All-Time Series	PSU: 35-1-1
Largest victory	PSU: 70-7 (10/2/1993)
Current Streak	PSU: Won 4
Longest UM Win Streak	1 (1961)
Longest PSU Win Streak	24 (1962–88)

The Maryland–Penn State football rivalry was an American college football rivalry game played by the Maryland Terrapins football team of the University of Maryland and the Penn State Nittany Lions football team of Pennsylvania State University.

Series history

The two teams first played in 1917. Penn State has thoroughly dominated this series throughout its entire existence, with Maryland winning only a single game and holding Penn State to a single tie. Penn State's record in the series is 35–1–1, with the longest winning streak being 24 games between 1962–88. The last game was played in 1993, when the series had run uninterrupted since 1984. The rivalry is expected to be revived in 2014 when Maryland joins the Big 10 in Penn State's Leaders Division.

Penn State and Maryland met in briefly interrupted stretches between 1917 and 1993, with a near-consecutive run played all but three years between 1960 and 1993. The teams have not met since, most likely due to the disproportionate nature of the series. However, the one-sided record belies what was often a competitive match-up until its final years. While Maryland only compiled one win and one tie, numerous games were narrowly lost by missed field goals and turnovers. In 1985, for example, Maryland missed three field goals to eventually lose 20–18. In 1975, a field goal attempt by placekicker Mike Sochko hit the upright with less than a minute remaining, and Maryland lost, 15–13.

Aside from the painful memories for Maryland, both schools compete aggressively for recruits in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and southeastern Pennsylvania. When they did play, the game held recruiting implications for the entire mid-Atlantic. A more recent example of the recruiting competition is Baltimore-area player Antonio Logan-El, who made a verbal commitment to Maryland, but ultimately signed with Penn State on live television in 2006. Penn State secured a large number of recruits from the Baltimore-Washington area with its 2006 class, including the 11th-overall 2009 NFL Draft pick, defensive end Aaron Maybin of Ellicott City, Maryland, who had considered attending Maryland.

While there are currently no known plans for future meetings, Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen and Penn State athletic spokesman Jeff Nelson have both stated that the schools have undergone discussions in an attempt to schedule a rematch. For the time being, however, Maryland and Penn State have been unable to agree on the terms for a revival. In 2008, Maryland officials alleged that Penn State demanded a two-to-one ratio of home games, which Penn State officials denied.

On November 19, 2012, Maryland announced it would be joining the Big Ten Conference, effective July 1, 2014. The Terrapins will be placed in the Leaders Division with the Nittany Lions, ensuring the rivalry will resume on a yearly basis.

Statistics

For Maryland, the lop-sided series has the lowest winning percentage (0.041) of any with more than four games played. This is considerably worse than the school's next least successful series: that against Florida State, with a winning percentage of 0.105 and record of 2–17. Not surprisingly, it is one of Penn State's most successful series (0.959).

	Maryland	Penn State
Games played	37
Wins	1	35
Home wins	1	21
Road wins	0	12
Neutral wins	0	2
Consecutive wins	1	24
Most total points in a game	90
Most points in a win	21	70
Most points in a loss	31	17
Fewest total points in a game	12
Largest margin of victory	4	63
Smallest margin of victory	4	1
Total points scored in series	412	1,152
Shut-outs of opposing team	0	6
Source:

Game results

Maryland victories are shaded in red. Penn State victories are shaded in blue. Ties are shaded in gray.

Date	Site	Winning team		Losing team		Series
2 October 1993	College Park, MD	Penn State	70	Maryland	7	PSU 35–1–1
26 September 1992	State College, PA	Penn State	49	Maryland	13	PSU 34–1–1
9 November 1991	Baltimore, MD	Penn State	47	Maryland	7	PSU 33–1–1
10 November 1990	State College, PA	Penn State	24	Maryland	10	PSU 32–1–1
11 November 1989	Baltimore, MD	Maryland	13	Penn State	13	PSU 31–1–1
5 November 1988	State College, PA	Penn State	17	Maryland	10	PSU 31–1
7 November 1987	Baltimore, MD	Penn State	21	Maryland	16	PSU 30–1
8 November 1986	State College, PA	Penn State	17	Maryland	15	PSU 29–1
7 September 1985	College Park, MD	Penn State	20	Maryland	18	PSU 28–1
6 October 1984	State College, PA	Penn State	25	Maryland	24	PSU 27–1
11 September 1982	State College, PA	Penn State	39	Maryland	31	PSU 26–1
11 October 1980	College Park, MD	Penn State	24	Maryland	10	PSU 25–1
6 October 1979	College Park, MD	Penn State	27	Maryland	7	PSU 24–1
4 November 1978	State College, PA	Penn State	27	Maryland	3	PSU 23–1
24 September 1977	State College, PA	Penn State	27	Maryland	9	PSU 22–1
1 November 1975	College Park, MD	Penn State	15	Maryland	13	PSU 21–1
2 November 1974	State College, PA	Penn State	24	Maryland	17	PSU 20–1
3 November 1973	College Park, MD	Penn State	42	Maryland	22	PSU 19–1
4 November 1972	State College, PA	Penn State	46	Maryland	16	PSU 18–1
6 November 1971	State College, PA	Penn State	63	Maryland	27	PSU 17–1
7 November 1970	College Park, MD	Penn State	34	Maryland	0	PSU 16–1
15 November 1969	State College, PA	Penn State	48	Maryland	0	PSU 15–1
16 November 1968	College Park, MD	Penn State	57	Maryland	13	PSU 14–1
4 November 1967	College Park, MD	Penn State	38	Maryland	3	PSU 13–1
17 September 1966	State College, PA	Penn State	15	Maryland	7	PSU 12–1
4 December 1965	College Park, MD	Penn State	19	Maryland	7	PSU 11–1
31 October 1964	State College, PA	Penn State	17	Maryland	9	PSU 10–1
2 November 1963	College Park, MD	Penn State	17	Maryland	15	PSU 9–1
3 November 1962	State College, PA	Penn State	23	Maryland	7	PSU 8–1
4 November 1961	College Park, MD	Maryland	21	Penn State	17	PSU 7–1
5 November 1960	State College, PA	Penn State	28	Maryland	9	PSU 7–0
18 November 1944	State College, PA	Penn State	34	Maryland	19	PSU 6–0
23 October 1943	College Park, MD	Penn State	45	Maryland	0	PSU 5–0
4 November 1939	State College, PA	Penn State	12	Maryland	0	PSU 4–0
1 October 1938	State College, PA	Penn State	33	Maryland	0	PSU 3–0
13 November 1937	State College, PA	Penn State	21	Maryland	14	PSU 2–0
17 November 1917	State College, PA	Penn State	57	Maryland	0	PSU 1–0
Source:

See also

1. Maryland Terrapins football
2. Penn State Nittany Lions football
3. List of NCAA college football rivalry games