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Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry

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Michigan State–Penn State football rivalry
First meetingNovember 13, 1914
Michigan Agricultural, 6–3
Latest meetingNovember 24, 2023
Penn State, 42–0
Next meeting2025
TrophyLand Grant Trophy[1][2]
Statistics
Meetings total37
All-time seriesPenn State leads, 19–18–1[3]
Trophy seriesPenn State leads, 18–10
Largest victoryPenn State, 61–7 (2002)
Longest win streakMichigan State, 5 (1949–1966)
Longest unbeaten streakMichigan State, 8 (1945–1966)
Current win streakPenn State, 2 (2022–present)
Locations of Michigan State and Penn State

The Battle for the Land Grant 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.[4][1] Penn State leads 18–10 since joining the Big Ten. Penn State leads the series 19–18–1, with Penn State winning the most recent matchup in 2023.

Series history

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When Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993,[4] the Nittany Lions and Spartans were designated as permanent rivals until 2023, [5] and had met each other for the trophy in the last week of conference play.[4] The trophy, designed in 1993 by Michigan State coach George Perles and Penn State coach Joe Paterno,[4] features pictures of Penn State's Old Main and Michigan State's Beaumont Tower,[4] as well as figurines of The Spartan and Nittany Lion Shrine statues.[1]

On September 24, 2005, during Michigan week, a couple of Penn State students brazenly defaced the newly installed bronze Sparty statue. “It happened during broad daylight, with people all around” according to MSU police Sgt. Randy Holton.[6] The statue was splattered with blue paint and the base tagged with the letters PSU. The perpetrators were able to evade capture despite the incident occurring in the middle of the day, during the traditional period of time when the statue is guarded by MSU student employees and Spartan Marching Band members, in what is called Sparty Watch.

In 2011, Nebraska joined the Big Ten, and the conference split into two divisions. Michigan State was in the Legends division and Penn State was in the Leaders division, so 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 two out of every five years,[7] but the two teams did not play against each other during the three years that this system was in effect (2011–13).

In 2014, when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten, the conference was realigned into two geographically based divisions, East and West. Michigan State and Penn State are both in the East division, and thus resumed a yearly series.

United States Postal Service commemorative stamp

Michigan State University followed by Penn State University, both founded in 1855, are the nation's oldest land-grant universities, hence the name for the trophy.[8][1] In 1955 on the 100th 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.

Fellow Big Ten members Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are also land-grant schools.

Game results

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Michigan State victoriesPenn State victoriesTie games
No.DateLocationWinning teamLosing team
1 November 13, 1914 State College, PA Michigan Agricultural 6 Penn State 3
2 October 24, 1925 State College, PA Penn State 13 Michigan State 6
3 November 17, 1945 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 33 Penn State 0
4 October 19, 1946 State College, PA Michigan State 19 #12 Penn State 16
5 October 23, 1948 State College, PA Tie14Tie14
6 October 22, 1949 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 24 Penn State 0
7 October 20, 1951 State College, PA #3 Michigan State 32 Penn State 21
8 October 25, 1952 East Lansing, MI #1 Michigan State 34 Penn State 7
9 September 25, 1965 State College, PA Michigan State 23 Penn State 0
10 September 24, 1966 East Lansing, MI #1 Michigan State 42 Penn State 8
11 November 27, 1993 East Lansing, MI #14 Penn State 38 #25 Michigan State 37
12 November 26, 1994 State College, PA #2 Penn State 59 Michigan State 31
13 November 25, 1995 East Lansing, MI #14 Penn State 25 Michigan State 20
14 November 23, 1996 State College, PA #7 Penn State 32 Michigan State 29
15 November 29, 1997 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 49 #4 Penn State 14
16 November 28, 1998 State College, PA #23 Penn State 51 Michigan State 28
17 November 20, 1999 East Lansing, MI #15 Michigan State 35 #13 Penn State 28
18 November 18, 2000 State College, PA Penn State 42 Michigan State 23
19 November 24, 2001 East Lansing, MI Penn State 42 Michigan State 37
20 November 23, 2002 State College, PA #16 Penn State 61 Michigan State 7
No.DateLocationWinning teamLosing team
21 November 22, 2003 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 41 Penn State 10
22 November 20, 2004 State College, PA Penn State 37 Michigan State 13
23 November 19, 2005‡ East Lansing, MI #5 Penn State 31 Michigan State 22
24 November 18, 2006 State College, PA Penn State 17 Michigan State 13
25 November 17, 2007 East Lansing, MI Michigan State 35 Penn State 31
26 November 22, 2008 State College, PA #8 Penn State 49 #15 Michigan State 18
27 November 21, 2009 East Lansing, MI #14 Penn State 42 Michigan State 14
28 November 27, 2010 State College, PA #10 Michigan State 28 Penn State 22
29 November 29, 2014 State College, PA #10 Michigan State 34 Penn State 10
30 November 28, 2015 East Lansing, MI #6 Michigan State 55 Penn State 16
31 November 26, 2016 State College, PA #7 Penn State 45 Michigan State 12
32 November 4, 2017 East Lansing, MI #24 Michigan State 27 #7 Penn State 24
33 October 13, 2018 State College, PA Michigan State 21 #8 Penn State 17
34 October 26, 2019 East Lansing, MI #6 Penn State 28 Michigan State 7
35 December 12, 2020 State College, PA Penn State 39 Michigan State 24
36 November 27, 2021 East Lansing, MI #12 Michigan State30 Penn State 27
37 November 26, 2022 State College, PA #11 Penn State 35 Michigan State 16
38 November 24, 2023 Detroit, MI #11 Penn State42 Michigan State 0
Series: Penn State leads 19–18–1[3]

‡ Hosted ESPN's College Gameday

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Snyder, Amanda (November 23, 2022). "Land Grant Trophy origins: Michigan State, Penn State and a reward like no other". The Athletic. Retrieved June 27, 2024. But college football has gotten something out of Michigan State-Penn State that no other rivalry has come close to producing: the Land Grant Trophy. One of the quirkiest trophies in sports might also be one of the best conversation pieces.
  2. ^ Gross, Mike (October 2, 2016). Written at State College, PA. "Penn State Notebook: So, so many trophies". LNP. Lancaster, PA. Retrieved September 15, 2024. One underrated (in terms of weirdness) aspect of Penn State's football history is the regular-season trophies it plays for. Both of the trophies/games/'rivalries' were concocted when Penn State joined the Big Ten [...] Unlike Floyd, the Land-Grant Trophy is somehow both bland and grotesque, like a junior high wood-shop project gone off the rails.
  3. ^ a b "Winsipedia – Michigan State Spartans vs. Penn State Nittany Lions football series history". Winsipedia.
  4. ^ a b c d e Bracken, Ron (November 27, 1993). "Lions, Spartans shop at Rent-O-Rivalry". Centre Daily Times. Retrieved June 26, 2024. It'll take more than the Land Grant Trophy to add some meaning to this game.
  5. ^ "Big Ten reveals new football schedules for 2024–28 seasons". ESPN. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  6. ^ "Rivalry week: MSU Vs. U-M, 5 days until kickoff". The State News. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  7. ^ "Big Ten Schools to Play Nine Conference Games Beginning With 2017 Season" Archived August 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Big Ten, August 4, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  8. ^ Olson, Eric (November 27, 2019). "Sorry, Ohio St-Michigan, Wisconsin-Minnesota is biggest game". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved September 16, 2024. No conference loves a good rivalry more than the Big Ten. There are 17 trophy games recognized by the conference, after all. FORCED RIVALRY Take your pick. Michigan State-Penn State, Land Grant Trophy. The story goes that when Penn State joined the league, schedulers decided to have these teams play the last week of the regular season as designated rivals. The logic? Both land grant universities were founded in 1855. Big Ten expansion in 2011, and accompanying scheduling issues, caused the series to go on a three-year hiatus. Since 2014, they've met annually as members of the East Division, but the meetings aren't locked into Rivalry Week.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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