Penn State, Pitt add football games

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, PA.

In-state rivals Pittsburgh and Penn State will face each other on the football field again for a home-and-home series in 2016 and 2017.

Both schools said Tuesday they were excited about resuming play, even if only for two seasons. Pittsburgh will host the Nittany Lions at Heinz Field on Sept. 10, 2016. The next year, the Panthers will play Penn State in Beaver Stadium on Sept. 16, 2017.

Tim Curley, Penn State’s director of athletics, and Steve Pederson, Pitt’s director of athletics, made the announcement about the resumption.

“We are very excited about renewing our rivalry with Pitt,” Curley said in a statement. “We have worked our schedules to play some of our neighboring rivalries like Syracuse, Rutgers and Temple and are glad to have identified dates that worked for our schedules to play Pitt.”

College football fans are plentiful in Pennsylvania and both schools command loyal followings for their teams. Pittsburgh plays in the Big East, Penn State in the Big Ten.

“The Penn State-Pitt game was one that football fans across the Commonwealth have been passionate about,” Curley said, adding that there have been plenty of memorable games between the two.

“The tremendous history of this rivalry is well documented and the passion that fans have for this game is enormous,” Pederson said. “We are very pleased that this two-game series is now in place and a new generation of fans can experience the excitement of a Pitt-Penn State football game beginning in 2016.”

The two schools have met 96 times with the first game played in 1893. Since then, they played every season from 1900-1931 and from 1935-1992, when Penn State joined the Big Ten.

Four more games were played from 1997-2000. Penn State has a 50-42-4 series advantage.