YORK, Pa. — Since the inception of its storied program in 1887, the Penn State has played 164 different college football teams, according to Winsipedia.com.
Few are more obscure than the Nittany Lions' opponent on November 27, 1902. That day, Penn State took on Steelton YMCA...and lost.
A recent thread on Reddit listed the most obscure program for each major college football program unearthed the game. Penn State faced the Steelton YMCA in a game played in the Dauphin County borough.
Details from the game are scant, but the record shows the Nittany Lions lost the game, 6-5, in the final week of their season.
It was the one and only matchup between the two teams.
Penn State finished the season with a 7-3 record after the loss. The Lions' other losses came against Penn (17-0) and Yale (11-0) that year. All of Penn State's seven wins, which came against the likes of Pitt, Villanova, and others, came via shutout.
Coached by William "Pop" Golden, Penn State competed as an independent team in the 1902 season, Golden's last at the helm.
Little else is known about the Steelton YMCA team.
(As an aside, Winsipedia is a gold mine of interesting Penn State trivia. In addition to Steelton YMCA, Penn State has faced the Army Ambulance Corps, the Carlisle Indian School, and the Wissahickon Barracks.)
Penn State will host UCLA this Saturday at noon.