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was not expected to win many games. In the preseason, Penn State was tagged as "the sleeping giant" of the East behind Army and Navy and was a two-touchdown favorite over the Cornhuskers. Penn State was sluggish from the start, and the first half was scoreless. Early in the fourth quarter, Penn State went ahead, 7-0, on a long drive. The lead didn't last long. A hotshot sophomore named Pat Fischer, who was part of a famous Nebraska football family, ran back the kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, and that seemed to stun the Nittany Lions. A fumble halted one drive and a goalline stand stopped another, and Nebraska scored the winning touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-goal at the 1yard line. Engle said afterward that Fischer's kickoff return "broke our morale." It did more than that. That kickoff seemed to have a psychological effect on the team that lasted for weeks. The Lions rebounded to finish with a respectable 6-3-1 record, but only Army had a better team that year. Penn State lost a heartbreaker at home to Syracuse and was tied by West Virginia in Morgantown. As for Fischer, he went on to enjoy an All-Pro career with the Washington Redskins. I should add that the captain of that 1958 Penn State team was a center-linebacker named Steve Garban. Yes, the same Steve Garban who was chairman of the Penn State board of trustees when the Sandusky scandal broke. And the senior manager was Ed Hintz, who is still a member of the board. The university's on-campus alumni center is named after Ed and his wife. Of course, I have not seen every opening game since 1958. Between 1970 and 1983, I lived in the Midwest and remember seeing only two regular-season games in person, neither of which were openers. I did see Joe Paterno's first game as head coach, against Maryland in 1966, but neither that game nor the other opening games between 1961 and '69 were very memorable. After that 1958 Nebraska game, the opener I remember most was on Sept. 7, 1985, at Maryland. It was the hottest game in my lifetime, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees on the playing field at Byrd Stadium. In 28 previous games, Maryland had defeated Penn State just once, but this was supposed to be the year the Terps got their revenge. They were rated No. 7 in the preseason polls with veteran quarterback Stan Gelbaugh, while the Nittany Lions were hardly considered a Top 20 team. Maryland returned the opening kickoff to its 25-yard line, and on second-and-long, Gelbaugh threw a screen pass into the flat. I can still see Penn State strong safety Michael Zordich running for a touchdown with the 32-yard interception. That play not only set the tone for the game – won by Penn State, 20-18 – but for the season, as the Lions went undefeated before losing in the national championship game to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. I also remember the opening game the next season against Temple, but that's because it was the first night game at Beaver Stadium, starting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6. That summer, Penn State had begun the football program's centennial celebration, and the night game with two Green Beret parachutists delivering the game ball before the kickoff and a spectacular fireworks show was part of the festivities. Temple never had a chance, losing 45-15. After 1986, there were several memorable openers. The first one that comes to mind was Penn State's first game in the Big Ten on Sept. 4, 1993, when Bobby Engram set a record with four touchdown catches in a 3820 rout of Minnesota. I also remember that a gunman had barricaded himself in a construction site near Beaver Stadium 24 hours earlier and virtually shut down the area for eight hours, with police warning everyone to stay away from their hotel rooms, including the Minnesota team. Another memorable opener took SEE PRATO PAGE 59 The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions A diary by Lou Prato, author of the Penn State Football Encyclopedia and four other Nittany Lion books Personalized autographed copy available soon through Lou Prato and Associates Call 814-692-7577 or email louprato@comcast.net Price: $19.95 plus tax and shipping

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