Kickoff Classic

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

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. The game featured the defending national champions Penn State Nittany Lions and the pre-season Number 1 ranked team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game was carried that first season by a number of TV stations across the country via syndication, including WKBS-TV, Channel 48 in Philadelphia. It was the beginning for the Kickoff Classic but the end for WKBS; the station signed off for the final time following the game.

Eventually there would be twenty Kickoff Classics, many of which were carried by ABC Sports nationally. 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. In 2008, a new form of the Classic was born. While not cut from the same mold, the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff held its inaugural game in Atlanta, GA in an effort to direct the nation's attention to one site for the start of the college football season.

Game results

Year	Attendance	Winning Team		Losing Team		MVP
1983	71,123	Nebraska	44	Penn State	6	Turner Gill	QB	Nebraska
1984	51,131	Miami	20	Auburn	18	Bernie Kosar	QB	Miami
1985	51,227	Brigham Young	28	Boston College	14	Robbie Bosco	QB	Brigham Young
1986	68,296	Alabama	16	Ohio State	10	Chris Spielman	LB	Ohio State
1987	54,681	Tennessee	23	Iowa	22	Reggie Cobb	RB	Tennessee
1988	58,172	Nebraska	23	Texas A&M	14	Steve Taylor	QB	Nebraska
1989	77,323	Notre Dame	36	Virginia	13	Tony Rice	QB	Notre Dame
1990	57,293	Southern California	34	Syracuse	16	Todd Marinovich	QB	Southern California
1991	77,409	Penn State	34	Georgia Tech	22	Tony Sacca	QB	Penn State
1992	46,251	North Carolina State	24	Iowa	14	Terry Jordan	QB	North Carolina State
1993	51,734	Florida State	42	Kansas	0	Derrick Brooks	LB	Florida State
1994	58,233	Nebraska	31	West Virginia	0	Tommie Frazier	QB	Nebraska
1995	62,711	Ohio State	38	Boston College	6	Eddie George	TB	Ohio State
1996	77,716	Penn State	24	Southern California	7	Curtis Enis	TB	Penn State
1997	51,185	Syracuse	34	Wisconsin	0	Donovan McNabb	QB	Syracuse
1998	59,232	Florida State	23	Texas A&M	14	Peter Warrick	WR	Florida State
1999	73,037	Miami	23	Ohio State	12	Kenny Kelly	QB	Miami
2000	78,902	Southern California	29	Penn State	5	Sultan McCullough	TB	Southern California
2001	41,517	Georgia Tech	13	Syracuse	7	Kelly Campbell	WR	Georgia Tech
2002	72,903	Notre Dame	22	Maryland	0	Nick Setta	PK	Notre Dame

See also

• Pigskin Classic
• Eddie Robinson Classic
• Chick-fil-A College Kickoff

References

Source: New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority.