Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904141
That's because the teams and their fans, for the most part, like each other. It's the same with Wisconsin, the team that replaced Michigan State as the last game when the Spartans rotated off the Lions' Big Ten schedule from 2011-13. The truth is, of all the teams in the con- ference, Penn State would rather beat Ohio State than any other, and Michigan State's priority has always been Michi- gan. Which brings us to the two newest Big Ten entrants and former Eastern foes that are now in the mix for that regular- season-ending rivalry game, Maryland and Rutgers. Based on their initial games with Penn State since joining the confer- ence in 2014, both teams and their dedi- cated fans have made it clear that the Nittany Lions are public enemy No. 1. With the Big Ten schedules set through 2021, Maryland is now the final game for this year and next, while Rutgers will fill that spot in the 2020 and '21 slates. The problem is, neither school fits the mold of a traditional football rival. Remember, it takes three ingredients – rancor, intensity and competitiveness – to create a true, bitter rivalry. Funda- mentally, winning can't be one-sided. Unless things change drastically, that would seem to eliminate both Maryland and Rutgers. In 40 games with the Ter- rapins before this season, the Nittany Lions have lost only two and tied one, while in the 28 games with the Scarlet Knights, the Nits have also lost just twice. Narrowing the gap Maryland has been the most frustrated because it has had much better teams than Rutgers. It could have won several of those close games with Penn State, partic- ularly when just two points or less separated the victors from the vanquished: 1963, '74, '84, '85, '86 and 2015. Two more tidbits: That first Terps victory over the Lions in 1961, 21-17, at Byrd Stadium, was tainted by an official's controversial call in the last two minutes that took away what would have been the winning Penn State touchdown on a pass reception in the end zone. Furthermore, there were 19 Pennsylvanians on the Maryland roster, including two standout players Penn State had tried to recruit, quarterback Dick Shiner and end Gary Collins. There may be enmity and hostility with Maryland and Rutgers, but it is one-sided, as it usually is on the losing side. Both teams gave perfect examples of that in their first Big Ten games against Penn State in 2014. In Maryland's last pre-Big Ten en- counter with Penn State in 1993 at College Park, the Lions scored the most points ever in the series with a crushing 70-7 victory. The Terps and their fans seethed for nearly 20 years, particularly as they con- tinued to lose recruiting battles HEATED BATTLE Maryland and Penn State players sparred during pregame warmups in 2014. The Terps won the game, 20- 19. Photo by Steve Manuel