Penn State-Maryland Matchups By The Numbers
Penn State football heads to College Park this weekend to take on Maryland while attempting to snap its three-game losing streak.
When the game kicks off, it’ll be the 45th time the Nittany Lions and Terrapins go head-to-head. To this point, Penn State owns a dominant 40-3-1 record over Maryland dating back to the two teams’ first meeting back in 1917.
It’s safe to say the first meeting between the two teams set the tone for the rest of the series. On that day in University Park, the Nittany Lions smacked the Terps 57-0. In fact, Penn State won its first seven games over Maryland by a combined score of 230-42.
Maryland’s first win over Penn State came in 1961 when it took down Rip Engle’s squad 21-17 in College Park. It all went downhill from there for the Terps, as the Nittany Lions proceeded to win 24 straight games over Maryland starting in 1962, which would become the longest winning streak in the rivalry.
The Terps broke their brutal losing streak in 1989, but it wasn’t with a win. That’s right: The two teams tied 13-13 in Maryland that day, which is the only tie in the history of the all-time series.
It wasn’t until 2014 until Maryland picked up its second-ever win over the Nittany Lions, which was a narrow 20-19 victory. That made it 53 years in between wins for the Terps against Penn State.
Following the 2014 victory, Maryland’s next win wouldn’t come until 2020 when it took down the Nittany Lions 35-19. However, prior to the 2020 win, Penn State had a five-game winning streak over the Terps that saw it outscore Maryland 232-50.
The last of those five victories came in 2019 when James Franklin’s squad destroyed Maryland 59-0 in College Park. Nittanyville famously became the first away team to win ESPN’s Live Más Student Section Contest that week after Penn State fans stormed Maryland’s student section.
The Penn State takeover is on in Maryland's student section!
— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 28, 2019pic.twitter.com/9or4iliUwT
Penn State’s largest margin of victory over Maryland is 63, and it happened twice, both in 1993 (70-7) and 2017 (66-3). The Terps’ largest margin of victory came in 2020 when they won 35-19.
The Nittany Lions’ smallest margin of victory is two points, and it’s happened twice. The first came in 1984 when Penn State beat Maryland 25-24 at Beaver Stadium. The second took place when the Nittany Lions edged out the Terps 31-30 in 2015.
Maryland’s smallest margin of victory came in the 20-19 win over Penn State in 2014.
Overall, in the 44 games between the two teams, Penn State has outscored Maryland 1,422-517. That is what we like to call domination.
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