Since the football season is coming to an end and in anticipation to the renewed rivalry with Penn State, I was curious to see how Pitt and Penn State fared against common opponents since the last time they played. Below is a breakdown per year. I gave Pitt a win if they beat an opponent that Penn State lost to and a loss if they lost to an opponent that Penn State beat. If they fared the same, then I gave a tie.
2001
Pitt lost to Miami 21-43
Penn State lost to Miami 7-33
W-L-T: 0-0-1
2002
No Common Opponent
2003
Pitt beat Boston College 24-13
Penn State lost to Boston College 14-27
Pitt beat Temple 30-16
Penn State beat Temple 23-10
W-L-T: 1-0-2
2004
Pitt beat Boston College 20-17
Penn State lost to Boston College 7-21
W-L-T: 2-0-2
2005
Pitt beat Cincinnati 38-20
Penn State beat Cincinnati 42-24
Pitt beat South Florida 31-17
Penn State beat South Florida 32-13
W-L-T: 2-0-4
2006
Pitt lost to Michigan State 23-38
Penn State beat Michigan State 17-13
W-L-T: 2-1-4
2007
Pitt lost to Michigan State 13-17
Penn State lost to Michigan State 31-35
W-L-T: 2-1-5
2008
Pitt beat Iowa 21-20
Penn State lost to Iowa 23-24
Pitt beat Syracuse 34-24
Penn State beat Syracuse 55-13
Pitt lost to Oregon State 0-3
Penn State beat Oregon State 45-14
W-L-T: 3-2-6
2009
Pitt beat Syracuse 37-10
Penn State beat Syracuse 28-7
W-L-T: 3-2-7
2010
No Common Opponents
2011
Pitt lost to Iowa 27-31
Penn State beat Iowa 13-3
W-L-T: 3-3-7
2012
No Common Opponent
2013
Pitt beat Syracuse 17-16
Penn State beat Syracuse 23-17
W-L-T: 3-3-8
If my post-Christmas math is correct and based on my highly elaborate scoring system, Pitt would have won 3 times, Penn State would have won 3 times and they would have tied each other 8 times. Not sure what this tells us other than I am glad this will soon be decided on the field.