Kickoff Classic

Last updated

Kickoff Classic (defunct)
Stadium Giants Stadium
Location East Rutherford, New Jersey
Operated19832002

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 and Bud Wilkinson
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 SportsTim 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 State62,711
August 25, 1996#11 Penn State 24#7 USC 7 Curtis Enis TBPenn State77,716ABC Sports
August 24, 1997#17 Syracuse 34#24 Wisconsin 0 Donovan McNabb QBSyracuse51,185ABC Sports
August 31, 1998#2 Florida State 23#14 Texas A&M 14 Peter Warrick WRFlorida State59,232ABC Sports
August 29, 1999#12 Miami (FL) 23#9 Ohio State 12 Kenny Kelly QBMiami (FL)73,037ABC Sports
August 27, 2000#15 USC 29#22 Penn State 5 Sultan McCullough TBUSC78,902ABC Sports
August 26, 2001#10 Georgia Tech 13 Syracuse 7 Kelly Campbell WRGeorgia Tech41,517ABC Sports
August 31, 2002 Notre Dame 22#21 Maryland 0 Nick Setta PKNotre Dame72,903ABC Sports

Rankings from AP Poll prior to game. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giants Stadium</span> Former stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey

Giants Stadium was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and concerts. It was the home field of the New York metropolitan area's two National Football League teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ReliaQuest Bowl</span> American college football game

The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Tampa, Florida. The event was known as the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to 2022. It was held at Tampa Stadium from 1986 until 1999, when it moved to then-new Raymond James Stadium. The bowl is played on New Year's Day and has often been the first game to kick off on a day that is traditionally filled with post-season college football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garden State Bowl</span> Defunct annual postseason college football game

The Garden State Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, from 1978 until 1981. Freezing temperatures each year at the game, together with a lack of successful local college teams, contributed to its rapid demise.

The Gotham Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game that was played in New York City, United States, in 1961 and 1962. The game was initially created as a fund-raising attempt for the March of Dimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowl game</span> Category of football games in North America

In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivision had avoided using a playoff tournament to determine an annual national champion, which was instead traditionally determined by a vote of sports writers and other non-players. In place of such a playoff, various cities across the United States developed their own regional festivals featuring postseason college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals. Despite attempts to establish a permanent system to determine the FBS national champion on the field, various bowl games continue to be held because of the vested economic interests entrenched in them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cramton Bowl</span> American stadium

Cramton Bowl is a 25,000-seat stadium located in Montgomery, Alabama. Cramton Bowl opened in 1922 as a baseball stadium and has been home to Major League Baseball spring training and to minor league baseball. Today, however, its primary use is for American football.

The Pigskin Classic was a season-opening college football game played at Anaheim Stadium from 1990 until 1994, and continued from 1995 to 2002 at various stadiums. It was initially created as a west-coast counterpart of the Kickoff Classic and hosted by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. From 1990 to 1994 it was sponsored by Disneyland and referred to as the Disneyland Pigskin Classic. Until 2002 the NCAA only allowed for teams to play a 12-game regular season schedule if the first game were a licensed Classic. In 2002 the NCAA ended the allowance of an extra 12th game, thus effectively ending the Classics. Kickoff games would later see a revival, in 2008 the Aflac Kickoff Game was organized as a neutral-site game held in Atlanta.

The 2000 Iowa State Cyclones football team represented the Iowa State University in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was Dan McCarney's sixth season as head coach. The team captains were Chris Anthony, Ryan Harklau, Reggie Hayward, and Sage Rosenfels. The Cyclones were quarterbacked by Sage Rosenfels. Sage is among many former Cyclones from the 2000 team to make it to the NFL. Others were J. J. Moses, Reggie Hayward, Ennis Haywood, Tony Yelk, Mike Banks, Jordan Carstens, Tyson Smith and James Reed. It was Iowa State's first appearance in a bowl game since the 1978 Peach Bowl. The Insight.com Bowl victory was the programs first victory ever in bowl game. Iowa State was picked by the media to finish 5th in the Big 12 North Division. Two players participated in post season bowl games. Sage Rosenfels played in the Senior Bowl and Reggie Hayward played in the Hula Bowl where he won the defensive MVP. Iowa State's nine victories were the most since 1906.

The 2008 New York Giants season was the franchise's 84th season in the National Football League (NFL) as the team looked to defend its Super Bowl XLII title. They improved upon their 10–6 record from 2007, becoming NFC East champions and finished with the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs for the only time in the Tom Coughlin era. Despite a franchise best 11–1 start and clinching the number 1 seed for the first time in eight years, the Giants lost three of their last four games, including their first playoff game against the Eagles, ending their season. The Giants were the only NFC team from the 2007 playoffs to qualify for the 2008 playoffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS</span> Annual selection of best U.S. team

A national championship in the highest level of college football in the United States, currently the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), is a designation awarded annually by various organizations to their selection of the best college football team. Division I FBS football is the only National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport for which the NCAA does not sanction a yearly championship event. As such, it is sometimes referred to as a "mythical national championship".

The 1963 Texas Longhorns football team was an American football team that represented the University of Texas as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1963 NCAA University Division football season. In their seventh year under head coach Darrell Royal, the Longhorns compiled an overall record of 11–0, with a mark of 7–0 in conference play, and finished as SWC champion. Texas concluded their season with a victory over Navy in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

The 1963 Liberty Bowl was a college football bowl game played at Philadelphia Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 21, 1963. The fifth edition of the Liberty Bowl was played between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the North Carolina State Wolfpack before a crowd of 8,309 fans in brutally cold weather. Coach Paul E. Davis led Mississippi State to victory, but the significant dropoff in attendance from prior games led organizers to relocate the 1964 edition of the bowl to the Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as the first college bowl game ever played indoors.

The 2009 Armed Forces Bowl was the seventh edition of the Armed Forces Bowl, a college football bowl game, and was played at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. The game started at 12:00 PM US EST on Thursday, December 31, 2009. The game was telecast on ESPN and matched the Houston Cougars of Conference USA and the Air Force Falcons of the Mountain West Conference. The game earned a 1.6 rating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Miami Hurricanes football team</span> American college football season

The 1999 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 1999 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the Hurricanes' 74th season of football and ninth as a member of the Big East Conference. The Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach Butch Davis and played their home games at the Orange Bowl. They finished the season 9–4 overall and 6–1 in the Big East to finish in second place. They were invited to the Gator Bowl where they defeated Georgia Tech, 28-13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College Football Playoff National Championship</span> End of season American football event

The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. The game is held on the second Monday of January and serves as the final game of the College Football Playoff, a bracket tournament between the top four teams in the country as determined by a selection committee, which was established as a successor to the Bowl Championship Series and then its similar BCS National Championship Game.

The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and ended on December 9, 2017.

The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 149th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ended on December 8, 2018. The postseason began on December 15, and aside from any all-star games that were scheduled, concluded on January 7, 2019, with the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The Clemson Tigers won the title game over the Alabama Crimson Tide, the school's third national title and second in three years, and also becoming the first team since the 1897 Penn Quakers to have a perfect 15-0 season.

The 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 151st season of college football games in the United States. Organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision, it began on September 3, 2020.

Week 0 refers to the opening weekend of college football games in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), in which a small number of games are played to begin the regular season, a week before the vast majority of teams begin their season in "Week 1". Although the FBS football season has traditionally begun on the first Saturday before Labor Day, the NCAA has sporadically awarded waivers for games to be played a week earlier in order to bring a game to a national television audience, or as part of the "Hawaii Rule" that grants teams that play a game in Hawaii, usually away games against the Rainbow Warriors, an extra regular season home game to offset travel costs. Games in Alaska, Puerto Rico and other outlying territories would nominally count towards the Hawaii Rule, but those locales do not field FBS programs or have venues that meet NCAA minimum attendance guidelines.

The 2022 Sugar Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2022, with kickoff at 8:45 p.m. EST and televised on ESPN. It was the 88th edition of the Sugar Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Sponsored by insurance company Allstate, the game was officially known as the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

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".
  3. "Football - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings".