T
he last time Penn State opened a
conventional football season
against a Big Ten opponent,
Ki-Jana Carter rushed for 210 yards and
three touchdowns and the Nittany Lions
thrashed Minnesota, 56-3, in September
1994, launching what would turn out to
be Joe Paterno's fifth and final unde-
feated campaign.
The last time the Lions visited Camp
Randall Stadium, in 2013, Christian
Hackenberg threw for 339 yards and
four touchdowns, and he and his team-
mates stunned 14th-ranked Wisconsin,
31-24, in what would turn out to be Bill
O'Brien's final game as their head coach.
Minus the part where they lose their
coach shortly afterward, the Nittany
Lions would be quite happy to mash up
those two results when they begin their
2021 season with a visit to Wisconsin on
Sept. 4. A conference win over the West
Division's marquee program would
make just the sort of statement Penn
State wants to make about its capabili-
ties and intentions this fall. It would
help reestablish the Lions as contenders
for the Big Ten Championship Game
while enabling them to build some con-
fidence at the outset of a season in
which they must also travel to Iowa and
Ohio State, among other destinations.
It bears mentioning, however, that PSU
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