One of Penn State’s oldest rivals outside of the Pitt Panthers is Syracuse. Syracuse is Penn State’s second-most played opponent with 71 all-time meetings between the two programs, with Penn State leading the all-time series 43-23-5. The only opponent Penn State has faced more has been the Pitt Panthers, with 93 all-time meetings.
By comparison, Penn State’s most-played Big Ten opponent is Maryland, with 45 meetings, and the most games played against a more historic Big Ten team is 36 against Ohio State (35 against Michigan State).
But when Penn State and Syracuse went their separate ways in conference affiliations in the early 1990s, as is typically the case, what used to be an annual matchup was put on the shelf for nearly three decades before the two schools met on the field again in 2008. It was a rough time for the series to be revived for the Orange, as the struggling Syracuse program was blown out at home by [autotag]Daryll Clark[/autotag] and the No. 17 Nittany Lions, 55-13. Penn State was victorious once more in the following season in Beaver Stadium for the second game in the home-and-home series, although by a much closer margin of 28-7. That game is perhaps most well known for featuring former Duke basketball standout Greg Paulus as Syracuse’s starting quarterback. Penn State linebacker [autotag]Sean Lee[/autotag] had three tackles for a loss, including one sack of the former Duke basketball star turned Syracuse quarterback.
After the brief home-and-home arrangement, it would be four more seasons until the two met again, this time opening the 2013 season in MetLife Stadium on a neutral field. Penn State responded to a good battle from the Orange and came up with big plays to come through for a 23-17 win highlighted by a 51-yard pass from [autotag]Christian Hackenberg[/autotag] to [autotag]Allen Robinson[/autotag] early in the second half and a 54-yard pass from Hackenberg to [autotag]Geno Lewis[/autotag] to extend Penn State’s lead to 23-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Here is a look back at these three games marking the only meetings between the schools since each joined a conference in the early 1990s.