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Penn State logoPS
Land Grant Trophy

Rivalry History

Michigan State-Penn State

Michigan State and Penn State have met 38 times since 1914. This page keeps the record, streaks, trophy context, and recent results in one canonical rivalry URL.

Recent resultsBiggest gamesBack to rivalry hub

Series snapshot

Record
18-19-1
Current streak
Penn State 2 games
Longest streak
Michigan State 5 games (1949-1966)
Avg. margin / points
18.0 / 50.9

Series overview

Michigan State 18-19-1 Penn State. Current streak: Penn State 2 games.

Last five meetings

Michigan State 1 | Penn State 4

Largest margin

54 points

Rivalry notes

  • The tracked window runs from 1914 through 2023.
  • 38 completed games currently back the series calculations on this page.
  • The latest tracked meeting was Nov 25, 2023.

Related pages

Move from rivalry history into team-level seasons, rosters, and archives.

Michigan State logoMS

Michigan State

Team page

Penn State logoPS

Penn State

Team page

Rivalry hub

Browse every indexed rivalry page.

Rivalry guide

What this rivalry is

Michigan State and Penn State have a tracked series that starts in 1914 and spans 38 listed meetings. The page combines series record, streaks, recent games, and research links in one canonical rivalry URL.

Land Grant Trophy gives this matchup a named trophy context in addition to the team-by-team series record.

Series history

Status
Historical or inactive series
Years
1914-2023
Busiest era
2000s, 10 games
Longest pause
26 years (1966-1993)
  • 2000s10 games
  • 1990s7 games
  • 2010s7 games
  • 1940s4 games

Biggest games and recent trend

Landmark games are selected from the same tracked rivalry results used for the series record.

4 featured games

Latest meeting

2023 - Nov 25, 2023

Michigan State 0, Penn State 42. Most recent completed chapter in the tracked series.

Closest finish

1948 - Oct 23, 1948

Michigan State 14, Penn State 14. The smallest final-score margin in the available game log.

Highest scoring

1994 - Nov 26, 1994

Michigan State 31, Penn State 59. The biggest combined scoring total in the available game log.

Largest margin

2002 - Nov 23, 2002

Michigan State 7, Penn State 61. The widest final-score gap in the available game log.

Recent trend

Last five
Michigan State 1, Penn State 4 across 5 games
Last ten
Michigan State 5, Penn State 5 across 10 games
Scoring profile
Balanced scoring profile; average total 50.9, average margin 18.0.
Current streak
Penn State 2 games

Players and coaches from recent chapters

Recent leaders are capped to keep the page fast while still pointing readers toward the names around recent meetings.

  • Katin Houser

    Michigan State, 2023

    Passing Yards: 1098

  • Montorie Foster Jr.

    Michigan State, 2023

    Receiving Yards: 575

  • Nathan Carter

    Michigan State, 2023

    Rushing Yards: 792

  • Drew Allar

    Penn State, 2023

    Passing Yards: 2631

  • Kaytron Allen

    Penn State, 2023

    Rushing Yards: 902

  • KeAndre Lambert-Smith

    Penn State, 2023

    Receiving Yards: 673

Coach context

Coach rows summarize recent rivalry-season overlap for each program.

  • James Franklin

    Penn State - 2019-2023 - 43-18

  • Mel Tucker

    Michigan State - 2020-2023 - 20-14

  • Harlon Barnett

    Michigan State - 2023 - 2-8

  • Mark Dantonio

    Michigan State - 2019 - 7-6

Weather, rankings, and research links

5 recent rivalry games have weather context, average temperature 40F.

Both teams appeared together in a poll snapshot in 3 of the recent tracked rivalry seasons.

Michigan State team page

Team history, seasons, roster context, and related data views.

Penn State team page

Team history, seasons, roster context, and related data views.

Michigan State season results

Season-by-season schedules, records, rankings, and game links.

Penn State season results

Season-by-season schedules, records, rankings, and game links.

Michigan State weather

Weather impact for games involving this program.

Penn State weather

Weather impact for games involving this program.

Game stats archive

Search box scores and detailed game stat pages.

Rankings

Poll and ranking context around rivalry seasons.

College football records

National record and history context.

Historical comparison

Compare program seasons and statistical profiles.

Recent rivalry results

The latest games are rendered in the page HTML so search engines and readers can see the rivalry's recent chapter without client-side interaction.

10 most recent tracked games

DateMatchupScoreVenueResult
Nov 25, 2023Penn State at Michigan StateMichigan State 0, Penn State 42Neutral sitePenn State
Nov 26, 2022Michigan State at Penn StateMichigan State 16, Penn State 35Venue unavailablePenn State
Nov 27, 2021Penn State at Michigan StateMichigan State 30, Penn State 27Venue unavailableMichigan State
Dec 12, 2020Michigan State at Penn StateMichigan State 24, Penn State 39Venue unavailablePenn State
Oct 26, 2019Penn State at Michigan StateMichigan State 7, Penn State 28Venue unavailablePenn State
Oct 13, 2018Michigan State at Penn StateMichigan State 21, Penn State 17Venue unavailableMichigan State
Nov 4, 2017Penn State at Michigan StateMichigan State 27, Penn State 24Venue unavailableMichigan State
Nov 26, 2016Michigan State at Penn StateMichigan State 12, Penn State 45Venue unavailablePenn State
Nov 28, 2015Penn State at Michigan StateMichigan State 55, Penn State 16Venue unavailableMichigan State
Nov 29, 2014Michigan State at Penn StateMichigan State 34, Penn State 10Venue unavailableMichigan State

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