Series history: Penn State holds dominant record over Rutgers

Penn State and Rutgers have a lengthy history, dating back over 100 years, but the Nittany Lions have an overwhelming dominance in the matchup.

Penn State holds a 32-2 record over Rutgers. In fact, one of the two losses for the Nittany Lions was the first matchup in 1918. The Nittany Lions would go on to win the next 15 before dropping their second game, and last game to Rutgers in 1988 in a 21-16 Scarlet Knights victory in Beaver Stadium.

Since then, Penn State has won 17 straight. The teams have played every year since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014. However, when the four former Pac-12 teams joined the Big Ten last season, that ended the streak.

The teams are separated by just 227 miles, or a three-hour and 38-minute drive. However, the likely geographical closeness that would typically grow a rivalry hasn't formed because of the overall dominance of the Nittany Lions.

In the teams' most recent matchup, Penn State defeated Rutgers 27-6 in Piscataway, New Jersey. The offensive numbers weren't there in that game for either team.

Drew Allar threw the ball just 13 times for 79 yards, while Beau Pribula led the way on the ground for the Nittany Lions with 71 rushing yards. Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton ran for 69 and 61 yards, respectively, in an all-around ground attack.

Penn State's defense limited Rutgers' offense. Gavin Wimsatt completed just 10 passes for 130 yards while throwing an interception to Kevin Winston Jr.

Penn State's 234 rushing yards led the way and could be very similar to the numbers seen in Penn State's most recent game last weekend against Nebraska.

Rutgers has been shut out four times out of Penn State's 32 wins. That's good for 12.5% of the games being shut out among games the Scarlet Knights lost. Additionally, Rutgers hasn't scored more than 10 points in a game since 1995, when it lost 59-34 to the Nittany Lions.

It has been overall dominance from Penn State. Entering Saturday's game with a 17-game winning streak, Penn State is back to what it was supposed to be, which isn't a good sign for Rutgers, which attempts to break that record streak.

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on X, Facebook, and Threads.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Series history: Penn State holds dominant record over Rutgers