Last time Penn State played Notre Dame: Revisiting the series history between former rivals

Penn State and Notre Dame will meet in the 2025 Orange Bowl. The Nittany Lions and the Fighting Irish have a rivalry that goes back over a century, but they haven’t played against each other regularly.

The first time these two schools matched up was back in 1913. The game was held in State College, Pennsylvania and ended with a Notre Dame victory, 14-7. They have played 19 total times, and the all-time record is tied at 9-9-1 with the tie being a 0-0 finish in 1925.

With the tiebreaker looming, let’s re-visit the last time Penn State and Notre Dame played, while also looking at the series as a whole.

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When was the last time Penn State played Notre Dame?

The most recent of the 19 matchups between these blue-chip programs was in 2007. It was held in State College in September that season. The Nittany Lions held strong at home, winning 31-10. To give fans an idea of who was playing in the game, Jimmy Clausen was still the quarterback for Notre Dame. He finished with 144 yards and an interception.

Notre Dame mustered 144 yards of offense, and the lone touchdown was a pick-six by Darrin Walls. Penn State’s quarterback was Anthony Morelli. He finished with 131 yards, a touchdown to Jordan Norwood and an interception. The star for the Nittany Lions was running back Austin Scott. He had 28 carries and tallied 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Penn State was ranked No. 14 in the country at the time of the game. The Nittany Lions finished 8-4 in the regular season and won over Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl that year. Notre Dame had a brutal year in 2007, with the loss to Penn State being a bad omen for things to come. The Fighting Irish finished 3-9 but did its final two games of the season over Duke and Stanford.

Penn State vs. Notre Dame all-time series

Penn State and Notre Dame have matched up 19 times in their history. They head into the 20th meeting at this year’s Orange Bowl with a tied 9-9-1 record, with the lone tie coming in 1925.

Here’s a look at how every matchup between the two teams has played out. It’s worth noting that the 1976 game was the Gator Bowl that year.