Blue White Illustrated

PRATO CONTINUED FROM 53 place two years earlier. Penn State had an early start on the season when it was invited to play against Georgia Tech in the 1991 Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Carole and I were there on Aug. 28, as Penn State won, 34-22, but I hardly remember the game. The memorable game was the home opener the next week when the Nittany Lions walloped a thoroughly outmatched Cincinnati team, 81-0. That was the day the new upper deck in the north end zone opened, increasing seating capacity by 10,000 seats, and a record crowd of 94,000 celebrated as if it were the Coliseum in ancient Rome and the Christians were losing to the real lions. The score was 40-0 at the half, and Penn State threw just two passes. A true freshman tailback named J.T. Morris stole the show with touchdown runs of 53 and 57 yards, as Penn State won by the largest margin since 1926. The Lion mascot, Tim Curran, performed a record 543 pushups that day. Frankly, since that game, only one other opener has been truly memorable. I do remember the 1995 game against Texas Tech at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 9 when Tech, a decided underdog, shocked the home fans by taking a 20-7 lead at the end of the first half. But the Lions fought back, and with four seconds left in the game, Brett Conway – who had missed two field goals earlier – kicked a 39-yarder to give Penn State a 2423 victory. Then there was the Kickoff Classic the next season when Penn State defeated USC, 24-7, on Aug. 27 in Giants Stadium. What I remember most was not the game, but the half-dozen fans wearing USC shirts sitting in our Penn State section who were antagonizing the Lion fans. I struck up a conversation and discovered they were really big-time Michigan fans who attended the games of other Big Ten teams just to cheer against them. As years passed, I learned that seemed to be common among Big Ten fans. Then there was the Pigskin Classic in 1999 when an Arizona team that was rated No. 4 in the preseason polls roared into Beaver Stadium and was demolished by the No. 3 Nittany Lions, 41-7. But those games were not as memorable as the Sept. 2 home opener against Toledo, one week after USC thoroughly defeated Penn State, 29-5, in another Kickoff Classic in 2000. It looked like the players had traded uniforms before the game, as Toledo dominated the Lions in a 24-6 upset. That was undoubtedly the worst Penn State opener Carole and I ever saw, and we hope there will never be another one like it. So tee up that football, and let's get on with the 2013 season. Football is I back. Hallelujah!

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