Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry

Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry
Michigan State Spartans Penn State Nittany Lions
Total meetings 29
Series record Tied, 14–14–1
Trophy series record Penn State leads, 13–6
First meeting 1914
Last meeting 2014
Next meeting November 28, 2015
Largest win Michigan State, 49–14 (1997)
Longest win streak Michigan State, 5 (1949–66)
Current win streak Michigan State, 2 (2010–present)
Trophy Land Grant Trophy

The Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Michigan State Spartans and Penn State Nittany Lions. The Land Grant Trophy is presented to the winner of the game. The Spartans are the current holder of the trophy after beating the Nittany Lions 34–10 in 2014.

Series history

When Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993, the Nittany Lions and Spartans were designated as permanent rivals, and met each other for the trophy in the last week of conference play. The trophy, designed by former Michigan State coach George Perles, features pictures of Penn State's Old Main and Michigan State's Beaumont Tower. The series is tied 14–14–1.

With the addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten in 2011, Michigan State and Penn State moved into different divisions and were no longer designated as rivals, meaning they no longer played each other annually. Instead, Indiana and Nebraska were designated as Michigan State and Penn State's permanent rivals, respectively. Under this setup, Penn State and Michigan State would compete on average four out of every ten years.

In April 2013, the Big Ten announced the conference would realign into two geographically-based divisions and scrap the "Legends" and "Leaders" designations when Maryland and Rutgers join in 2014. Michigan State and Penn State are both in the Eastern division under the plan, and thus would resume a yearly series. It will, as before, be played on the final weekend of the regular season, the week before the Big Ten Championship Game.

United States Postal Service commemorative stamp

Michigan State University followed by Penn State University are the nation's oldest land-grant universities, hence the name for the trophy. In 1955 on the 100th year anniversary of the founding of the land grant system, Michigan State and Penn State were commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp honoring the "First of the Land-Grant Colleges". These two universities were the first ever universities to be placed on a U.S. postage stamp.

They are the 4th and 5th most recently joined members of the Big Ten, after Nebraska, who joined in 2011, Maryland and Rutgers, who both joined in 2014. Fellow Big Ten members Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are also land-grant schools.

Game results

Michigan State victories are shaded ██ green. Penn State victories are shaded ██ blue. Ties are white.

Pre-Trophy Era

Michigan State and Penn State met 10 times before Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993.

Date Winning team Losing team Site Series
November 13, 1914 Michigan State 6 Penn State 3 University Park Michigan State 1–0
October 24, 1925 Penn State 13 Michigan State 6 University Park Tie 1–1
November 17, 1945 Michigan State 33 Penn State 0 East Lansing Michigan State 2–1
October 19, 1946 Michigan State 19 Penn State 16 University Park Michigan State 3–1
October 23, 1948 Michigan State 14 Penn State 14 University Park Michigan State 3–1–1
October 22, 1949 Michigan State 24 Penn State 0 East Lansing Michigan State 4–1–1
October 20, 1951 #3 Michigan State 32 Penn State 21 University Park Michigan State 5–1–1
October 25, 1952 #1 Michigan State 34 Penn State 7 East Lansing Michigan State 6–1–1
September 25, 1965 Michigan State 23 Penn State 0 University Park Michigan State 7–1–1
September 24, 1966 #1 Michigan State 42 Penn State 8 East Lansing Michigan State 8–1–1

Land Grant Trophy Era

Michigan State and Penn State have met 19 times for the Land Grant Trophy.

Date Winning team Losing team Site Series
November 27, 1993 #14 Penn State 38 #25 Michigan State 37 East Lansing Michigan State 8–2–1
November 26, 1994 #2 Penn State 59 Michigan State 31 University Park Michigan State 8–3–1
November 25, 1995 #14 Penn State 25 Michigan State 20 East Lansing Michigan State 8–4–1
November 23, 1996 #7 Penn State 32 Michigan State 29 University Park Michigan State 8–5–1
November 29, 1997 Michigan State 49 #4 Penn State 14 East Lansing Michigan State 9–5–1
November 28, 1998 #23 Penn State 57 Michigan State 28 University Park Michigan State 9–6–1
November 20, 1999 #15 Michigan State 35 #13 Penn State 28 East Lansing Michigan State 10–6–1
November 18, 2000 Penn State 42 Michigan State 23 University Park Michigan State 10–7–1
November 24, 2001 Penn State 42 Michigan State 37 East Lansing Michigan State 10–8–1
November 23, 2002 #16 Penn State 61 Michigan State 7 University Park Michigan State 10–9–1
November 22, 2003 Michigan State 41 Penn State 10 East Lansing Michigan State 11–9–1
November 20, 2004 Penn State 37 Michigan State 13 University Park Michigan State 11–10–1
November 19, 2005 #5 Penn State 31 Michigan State 22 East Lansing Tie 11–11–1
November 18, 2006 Penn State 17 Michigan State 13 University Park Penn State 12–11–1
November 17, 2007 Michigan State 35 Penn State 31 East Lansing Tie 12–12–1
November 22, 2008 #8 Penn State 49 #15 Michigan State 18 University Park Penn State 13–12–1
November 21, 2009 #14 Penn State 42 Michigan State 14 East Lansing Penn State 14–12–1
November 27, 2010 #10 Michigan State 28 Penn State 22 University Park Penn State 14–13–1
November 29, 2014 #10 Michigan State 34 Penn State 10 University Park Tie 14–14–1

References

    External links