Penn State football has never beaten these FBS teams
By Josh Yourish
From years of being one of the best independent programs in the country, and then spending the last 31 years in the Big Ten, Penn State football has matched up against and beaten 85 different FBS programs, but there are eight teams that the Nittany Lions have played but never beaten.
Many of those have been one-off matchups in bowl games, like the 2023 Peach Bowl, which Penn State lost to a first-time opponent. Of the list of eight teams, four are from the SEC, two are ACC teams, one is from the Big 12 (but moving to the SEC) and another is a nearby MAC opponent.
Across 130 seasons, Penn State has an all-time record of 908-401-37 and is 31-20-2 in 53 bowl games. Yet, Penn State has never beaten these teams.
Arkansas
The only time that Penn State has faced the Razorbacks was on New Year’s Day 2022, in the Outback Bowl. The Nittany Lions finished the regular season 7-5 and Arkansas came into the game at 8-4.
The Nittany Lions went into halftime with a 10-7 lead but gave up 17 points in the third quarter and didn’t score again in the 24-10 loss. Penn State allowed 353 rushing yards in the loss and it capped off back-to-back disappointing seasons for James Franklin.
Arkansas is down right now, so it isn’t likely that the teams will meet anytime soon, even with the expanded 12-team playoff.