Penn State Football: Reflecting on Big Ten Era Opening Days

I am one of the 93,000 and change who attended Penn State's first Big Ten game in 1993. I have the commemorative coin somewhere to prove it. I had been to Penn State games before, but for some reason, this is the first time I can vividly recall moments from the game itself.

Of course, at a younger age and really just starting to learn the depth of the game, I recall the women who sat behind me marvelling not over Joe Paterno, Kerry Collins or Bobby Engram, but instead commenting on the nice golden shiny helmets worn by the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

"They look like Notre Dame," one of the women said. Sure, in that they were gold helmets and white jerseys. Same could have been said about Boston College, and in fact may have been more appropriate given the schools' color schemes.

Regardless of the commentary that was overheard one row behind me, at the time I knew I was witnessing something special. Penn State was playing a conference game for the first time in school history.

Mind you, the importance of this ground-breaking development was lost on me as an 11-year-old. So what? Penn State is in a conference. Weren't they before? I soon learned that the CFA was not in fact a conference, but a way of allowing independent football programs to thrive.

Today just about every school is a part of a conference, and the threat of super conferences remains a possibility as the Big Ten moves to 12 members, the Pac-10 has become the Pac-12 and the SEC could soon be growing in to Texas and who knows where else.

Back on opening day in 1993, I was witnessing one of the last great independents abandon the concept and join a conference. And they were going to dominate, so I was told at the time. Penn State went on to win their first Big Ten game in program history, 38-20, and they would have a 10-win season, but expectations of dominating the Big Ten were put to rest with back-to-back losses against Michigan and Ohio State.

Two years later, Penn State opened up the 1995 season fresh off an undefeated season and a Rose Bowl championship and no major national championship to brag about. We knew this Penn State team would not be quite the same, after losing Collins, Ki-Jana Carter, Kyle Brady and some stud linemen to the NFL. But nobody expected the Nittany Lions needing to hang on for dear life against a hapless Texas Tech team out of the Southwest Conference.

The Red Raider fans still think back with smiles on that game, despite losing. Until they knocked off top-ranked Texas on an incredible Michael Crabtree catch and run for a touchdown, that may have been their biggest game in program history. Nobody seemed to go home happy that day though, and when you have a four hour ride home with a father who is a big fan, it can make for an unpleasant trip.

As you know now, Penn State rarely loses on opening day. The only losses they have had since joining the Big Ten came in 2000 in a dismal Kickoff Classic outing against an equally disappointing USC team, and in 2001 against a dominant (BCS champion) Miami squad loaded with NFL talent.

Miami may have blown away a struggling Penn State team, but that night was magical and memorable for a number of reasons. Forget the fact that it was the first official game, under the newly expanded Beaver Stadium, to jump the venue over the 100,000 capacity mark.

This game was played less than a year after a young player named Adam Taliaferro was injured against Ohio State so bad it was thought that walking again would be an incredible long shot. But there he was, leading the Nittany Lions out of the tunnel under the prime-time stadium lights, all smiles and pumping his fist on the way out. There was not a dry eye in the stadium and despite Penn State being far away from a competitive team that season, they had their moment to smile and be proud.

Few opening day performances though compare to what developed on August 28, 1999. the third-ranked Nittany Lions were set to host the fourth-ranked Arizona Wildcats. Arizona, some thought, was going to travel across the country in what was to be a Rose Bowl preview for the Pigskin Classic. Instead Arizona was dealt one of their worst opening day losses to the tune of a 41-7 blowout. The game was so out of hand Joe Paterno was able to get some of his younger players, including Larry Johnson, in to the game. Johnson took advantage of his opportunity, scoring a touchdown in the game.

Until Oregon and LSU meet this weekend, that Pigskin Classic will remain the only season opener to feature two teams in the Top Five of the rankings.

Will this weekend's game against Indiana State present any new memories? Probably not any classic images that we will all be recalling 10, 20, 30 years from now, but the best part is just being at the game. Many of you may be there Saturday afternoon, creating your own memories surrounding Penn State football. We here at Bleacher Report invite you to share your stories in the comments section below. Feel free to talk about some of your favorite opening day memories, as well.

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.