Kickoff Classic

Last updated

Kickoff Classic (defunct)
Stadium Giants Stadium
Location East Rutherford, New Jersey
Operated1983–2002

The Kickoff Classic was a season-opening college football game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1983 to 2002.

Contents

History

In 1978, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), which operated and scheduled events at Giants Stadium, decided to host an end-of-season bowl game, called the Garden State Bowl. There were four such bowl games held, but attendance was lower than hoped by the NJSEA due to December weather and less attractive teams.[ citation needed ] Consequently, NJSEA decided to host a "bowl" game in the beginning of the season instead. This would attract more popular teams and ensure better attendance due to more favorable weather conditions.

The first contest, held on August 29, 1983, was the first regular-season college football game to be played in the month of August. [1] The game featured the defending national champions Penn State Nittany Lions and the pre-season No. 1 ranked team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game was not carried by any of the networks broadcasting college football at the time; instead, the rights to the game were sold into syndication by Michael Botwinik's Katz Communications, and the game aired on various local stations throughout the country. (One of these stations, Philadelphia's WKBS, signed off for good right after the game, making the inaugural Kickoff Classic the last program the station carried.)

Eventually there would be twenty Kickoff Classics, many of which were carried by ABC Sports nationally. Participation in the Kickoff Classic allowed teams to play a twelve-game regular season. Rule changes by the NCAA regarding season opening 'extra games' brought an end to the series in 2002, as well as similar games, such as the west coast-based Pigskin Classic and the midwest-based Eddie Robinson Classic.

In 2008, a new form of kickoff games were born. While not cut from the same mold, the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game held its inaugural game in Atlanta, Georgia in an effort to direct the nation's attention to one site for the start of the college football season. [2]

Game results

DateWinning TeamLosing TeamMVPAnnouncers
August 29, 1983#1 Nebraska 44#4 Penn State 6 Turner Gill QBNebraska71,123Katz Sports Curt Gowdy, Lee Corso and Dave Diles
August 27, 1984#10 Miami (FL) 20#1 Auburn 18 Bernie Kosar QBMiami (FL)51,131Katz SportsCurt Gowdy and Len Dawson
August 29, 1985#10 BYU 28 Boston College 14 Robbie Bosco QBBYU51,227 Raycom Sports Merle Harmon, Bud Wilkinson and Kevin Kiley
August 27, 1986#5 Alabama 16#9 Ohio State 10 Chris Spielman LBOhio State68,296Raycom Sports Merle Harmon, Steve Davis and Kevin Kiley
August 30, 1987#17 Tennessee 23#16 Iowa 22 Reggie Cobb RBTennessee54,681 ABC Sports Keith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 27, 1988#2 Nebraska 23#10 Texas A&M 14Steve TaylorQBNebraska58,172Raycom SportsPhil Stone and Dave Rowe
August 31, 1989#2 Notre Dame 36 Virginia 13 Tony Rice QBNotre Dame77,323Raycom SportsPhil Stone and Dave Rowe
August 31, 1990#9 USC 34 Syracuse 16 Todd Marinovich QBUSC57,293Raycom SportsPhil Stone and Dave Rowe
August 28, 1991#7 Penn State 34#8 Georgia Tech 22 Tony Sacca QBPenn State77,409Raycom Sports Tim Brant and Dave Rowe
August 29, 1992 NC State 24#16 Iowa 14Terry JordanQBNC State46,251Raycom SportsPhil Stone and Dave Rowe
August 28, 1993#1 Florida State 42 Kansas 0 Derrick Brooks LBFlorida State51,734ABC SportsKeith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 28, 1994#4 Nebraska 31#24 West Virginia 0 Tommie Frazier QBNebraska58,233ABC SportsKeith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 27, 1995#12 Ohio State 38#22 Boston College 6 Eddie George TBOhio State62,711ABC SportsKeith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 25, 1996#11 Penn State 24#7 USC 7 Curtis Enis TBPenn State77,716ABC SportsKeith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 24, 1997#17 Syracuse 34#24 Wisconsin 0 Donovan McNabb QBSyracuse51,185ABC Sports Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Dean Blevins
August 31, 1998#2 Florida State 23#14 Texas A&M 14 Peter Warrick WRFlorida State59,232ABC SportsKeith Jackson and Bob Griese
August 29, 1999#12 Miami (FL) 23#9 Ohio State 12 Kenny Kelly QBMiami (FL)73,037ABC Sports Brent Musburger, Dan Fouts and Dean Blevins
August 27, 2000#15 USC 29#22 Penn State 5 Sultan McCullough TBUSC78,902ABC SportsKeith Jackson, Tim Brant and Todd Harris
August 26, 2001#10 Georgia Tech 13 Syracuse 7 Kelly Campbell WRGeorgia Tech41,517ABC Sports Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Lynn Swann
August 31, 2002 Notre Dame 22#21 Maryland 0 Nick Setta PKNotre Dame72,903ABC Sports Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson and Jack Arute

Rankings from AP Poll prior to game.

References

  1. ↑ Two other games involving collegiate teams were played in August beforehand: on August 31, 1894, the University of Chicago defeated the "Chicago Dining Club", 4-0, but contemporary news accounts indicate that this was more of an intra-squad game, with the Maroons' opponents being hand-picked by U of C athletic director Abe Bowers. On August 25, 1944, the March Field squad (one of the military teams that played a collegiate schedule during World War II) lost to the NFL's Washington Redskins, 7-3, in front of 55,000 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This makes the Kickoff Classic the first August matchup between two actual college teams.
  2. ↑ "'Kickoff' aims for college football spotlight". Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
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