Penn State and Michigan never met on the football field before the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993, so this is a young rivalry by this conference’s standards. The Wolverines have had the better of it, winning 15 of 25 meetings through 2021.

Only 11 games in the Michigan vs. Penn State series have been decided by single digits, so there have been some blowouts. Here are the top 11 (2 games tied for 10th on this list, 1 in favor of each team):

1. No. 4 Michigan 49, Penn State 10 (2016)

What transpired afterward was way more surprising than this late September rout.

The Wolverines ripped the unranked Lions in Ann Arbor as expected, as De’Veon Smith led a ground game that racked up 326 yards and 6 TDs.

But then the Lions, recovering from sanctions post-Sandusky scandal and unranked since 2011, reeled off 9 straight wins to reach and win their only Big Ten Championship Game. Michigan reached 9-0 and No. 2 before losing 3 of its last 4.

2. No. 5 Michigan 42, No. 14 Penn State 7 (2018)

The Wolverines hammered the Lions in every possible way, forcing 3 turnovers and holding the visitors to 186 yards and 11 first downs. Running back Karan Higdon (132 rushing yards) and QB Shea Patterson (11-17, 144, 2 TDs) led UM to its 8th straight win after a season-opening loss to Notre Dame. Harassed all day, PSU QB Trace McSorley had the worst start of his illustrious, 31-win career (5-13, 83, INT, minus-6 rushing yards).

Michigan reached 10-1 before losing to Ohio State and Florida to close the season at No. 14. Penn State wound up 9-4 and 17th.

3. No. 2 Penn State 42, No. 19 Michigan 13 (2017)

In Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley’s final year together, Penn State avenged its biggest blowout loss to UM the previous year with its biggest win in the series. McSorley and Barkley each scored 3 touchdowns and the Lions rolled up 506 yards at home.

Michigan never scored again after closing to 14-13 in the second quarter, dropped to 5-2 and eventually wound up 8-5 and unranked. Penn State lost by 1 point the next week at Ohio State and finished 11-2 and No. 8.

3. No. 3 Penn State 46, Michigan 17 (2008)

The only surprise was that the Lions trailed the unranked Wolverines 17-7 early and were still down at the halftime break. But Daryll Clark passed for 1 TD and ran for 2 more as Penn State scored the game’s final 39 points.

Penn State won at Ohio State the next week to reach 9-0, but then lost 24-23 at Iowa and went to the Rose Bowl rather than to a matchup elsewhere for the national championship. Michigan finished 3-9 in Rich Rodriguez’s first year as head coach.

5. No. 22 Michigan 27, No. 9 Penn State 0 (1998)

Some dude named Tom Brady threw 2 TD passes as the Wolverines blanked the Lions to hand them their second loss of the season. UM won its 7th straight in front of 110,000+ at Michigan Stadium.

Future NFL great LaVar Arrington was on the field for Penn State, but Michigan proved to have the better collective defense.

UM finished the season 10-3 and No. 12. PSU finished 9-3 and No. 17.

6. No. 4 Michigan 34, No. 2 Penn State 8 (1997)

Brian Griese threw 2 TD passes, one of them to 2-way star Charles Woodson, and Michigan romped past Penn State and its record Beaver Stadium crowd in an early November battle of 8-0 national title contenders.

Michigan went on to take the national championship under coach Lloyd Carr, finishing 12-0 after taking down Washington State in the Rose Bowl.

Penn State entered the game on a major college-best 12-game winning streak, but QB Mike McQueary and TB Curtis Enis couldn’t get anything going. The Lions finished 9-3 and No. 16.

7. No. 13 Penn State 35, Michigan 10 (2009)

Daryll Clark threw 4 TD passes, 3 of them to Graham Zug, and Penn State blew out Rich Rodriguez’s Wolverines for the second straight year.

The loss was the first of 5 straight to end the year for UM, which suffered a 2nd straight non-bowl season since Rodriguez succeeded Lloyd Carr as head coach.

Penn State went on to finish 11-2 and No. 9, Joe Paterno’s last top 10 team.

8. No. 20 Michigan 33, Penn State 11 (2000)

Anthony Thomas rushed for 171 yards and the host Wolverines won the turnover battle 5-3 to drop the struggling Lions to 4-7 on the season.

The QB battle was ugly, as PSU’s Rashard Casey and UM QB/future baseball player Drew Henson both threw 3 interceptions.

Michigan went on to finish 9-3 and No. 11.

9. No. 15 Michigan 20, Penn State 0 (2001)

The Wolverines held the Lions to 25 yards on 26 rushing attempts, embarrassing the 0-3 Lions in their home stadium.

Efficient QB John Navarre and running back BJ Askew led the UM attack. The Wolverines went on to finish 8-4 and No. 20.

Penn State won 5 of its last 7 but still finished with its second straight losing season at 5-6.

10. No. 14 Michigan 28, Penn State 16 (2015)

In the first meeting of the teams’ current head coaches, Jim Harbaugh got the better of James Franklin. Michigan limited Christian Hackenberg to 137 passing yards and sacked him 4 times. The Wolverines improved to 9-2 on their way to a 10-3, No. 12 finish.

Penn State fell to 7-4 and didn’t win again that season.

10. No. 11 Penn State 29, No. 16 Michigan 17 (1996)

Penn State forced 5 second-half turnovers and blocked a punt for the go-ahead touchdown, then pulled away to improve to 9-2 and drop UM to 7-3. A crowd of 105,898 at Michigan Stadium watched in stunned disbelief.

Curtis Ennis rushed for 114 yards and the late TD that iced the game. Despite its struggles, Michigan led 17-16 before the blocked punt swung the momentum in Penn State’s favor.