Blue White Illustrated

t's been more than a decade since Penn State has visited East Rutherford, N.J., and a lot has changed over the years. When the Nittany Lions faced Southern Cal in the 2000 Kickoff Classic, the place was known as the Meadowlands. The stadium itself was known as Giants Stadium, but no matter what anyone called it, no one seemed to think it was adequate for two NFL teams by the mid-2000s, and so it was demolished in 2010 to make way for the New Meadowlands. This being New Jersey, the transition was immortalized in a Bruce Springsteen song. Now known as MetLife Stadium, the 80,566-seat facility will provide a gaudy backdrop to the opening of Penn State's 127th football season. It may be across the river from Manhattan, but it's still a pricey piece of real estate. In fact, at a cost of $1.6 billion, it's the most expensive stadium in the NFL. On Aug. 31 it will play host to Penn State and Syracuse in the resumption of an Eastern rivalry that dates back to 1922 but has only been contested twice since 1990. METLIFE STADIUM The Nittany Lions have enjoyed their share of success when they've traveled to East Rutherford. They've won eight of their 11 games at the Meadowlands, including a 35-7 victory over the Orangemen in their firstever trip in 1979. Syracuse is the first opponent in what figures to be a challenging 2013 schedule. The Nittany Lions will face six teams that played in bowl games last season – Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska and Wisconsin – and one of the upcoming opponents that didn't play in a bowl – Ohio State – may have been national championship material had it not been banned from postseason play by the NCAA. The challenges begin in the nonconference season. Although Syracuse is the Nittany Lions' only nonconference opponent to play in a BCS-affiliated conference, there are a couple of under-the-radar threats lurking on the September schedule in Central Florida and Kent State. Those two teams combined to go 216 last year, with UCF claiming Con- ference USA's East Division and Kent State winning the Mid-American Conference's East Division. The Big Ten season begins at Indiana, a team that had plenty of offense last year (442 yards per game, second-best in the league) and almost no defense (463.5 yards per game, worst in the league). Then comes the toughest stretch of the conference season: games against championship hopefuls Michigan and Ohio State. The Nittany Lions do get to face Michigan at home, and they have a week off before heading to Columbus. But these are two major hurdles for a Penn State team that is dealing with scholarship limitations and will be breaking in a new quarterback. November brings five games, including Senior Day against Nebraska and the season finale at Wisconsin. There's no bowl game in Penn State's future this year, but the Nittany Lions will have a few opportunities to grab the nation's attention. It all begins Aug. 31 in East Rutherford, N.J. – MATT HERB

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