The Pitt vs. Penn State Rivalry “More than Just a Game”
(Editor’s Note: The Keller & Munro Pharmacy, in conjunction with therecord-online, is staging a ticket give-away contest for the Penn State at Pitt football game Saturday, Sept. 10. With the resumption of the longtime series, Keller & Munro owner/pharmacist Jeff Packech is providing a series of columns on the rivalry between these two in-state schools. The first of those columns is below).
This Saturday, Sept. 10 Pitt and Penn State will play a football game against each other for the first time in 16 years. Perhaps this is why many forget that for 10 years, from 1975 to 1985 this was one of the most intense rivalries in all of college football. During those 10 years, both teams were consistently ranked in the Top 10 and often in the Top 5 for large portions of the season. It wasn’t just a battle for state supremacy but often a fight for national supremacy.
As of 1975, the teams had played 74 times with Penn State winning 36 times, Pitt 35 times and there were 3 ties. What was already an intense rivalry would become legend over the next 10 years. The games included names like Chris Bahr, Greg Buttle, Hugh Green, Steve Geise, Chuck Fusina, Mark May, Bruce Clark, Bill Fralic, Johnny Majors, Joe Paterno, Randy Sidler, Dan Marino and of course the greatest running back in college football history, Tony Dorsett. Families would be divided, friends would become enemies for a week and bragging rights for an entire year would be at stake.
The rivalry has always had special meaning to me. Perhaps it is because I grew up in Johnstown, PA which is a 90 minute drive from both Heinz Field and Beaver Stadium and is populated with equal parts Pitt fans and PSU fans. Perhaps it is because most of my friends from high school went to Penn State and I went to Pitt. Or perhaps because shortly after graduation, I moved to the heart of Penn State country beside neighbors who bled Blue and White. Regardless of which team wins that game on September 10, it is my hope that it will mark a return to the intense rivalry games of the 70s and 80s and a time when the game has national implications.
Through this Saturday I am excited to be able to share some of the best memories from the Pitt versus Penn State rivalry during those golden years. I’ll also write about why the game is so special and why it should go back to becoming an annual event. If you are my age or older, I hope these columns bring back vivid and fond memories. If you’re younger and not familiar with what the rivalry once was, I hope to make you as anxious for September 10 as I am.
