Opening week is upon us; while an opener does not necessarily a season make, they certainly seem to stand out. What are some of your best/ worst memories from Opening Day?
My Top 5 Best:
1.) 2004 Michigan State- still have a couple of the papers from the next day in my office at work.
2.) 2006 @ UNC- after the 2005 Illinois debacle this opener was exactly what the doctor ordered and helped set the tone for a great year.
3.) 2014 @ WSU- I don't care what WSU's final record was- this was a great game and went a long way in making the 2014 season a successful one. Hardly anyone across the country thought we were winning this game.
4.) 2003 Buffalo- while we won a fairly nondescript 23-10 game, this game featured the debut of Brian Leonard and after years of looking like the Keystone Cops, you could tell we actually looked like we knew what we were doing on the field.
5.) 1998 Richmond- my first-ever game at Rutgers Stadium (my freshman year) and a so ugly it's beautiful 7-6 victory over the Spiders.
My Top 5 Worst:
1.) 2005 @ Illinois- although this game was the birth of 'Keep Chopping', 11 years later and I still can't even stand to think about this game.
2.) 2009 Cincy- newly-expanded Rutgers Stadium, 53K in the house going crazy, we were considered a legitimate BE contender that year...and the game was over in about 10 minutes.
3.) 2002 Villanova- half of what became to be known as the 'Buffanova' disaster that opened up our 2002 season and reminded us of just how far we had to go to even be mediocre at the time.
4.) 1995 @ Duke- bowl or bust season for Graber, veteran squad loaded on offense, Duke had a mild 'dream run' to the HOF (now Outback) Bowl the year before and was expected to come back to Earth...and we lost 24-7 in 600-degree weather to kick off a dud of a 4-7 season.
5.) 2008 Fresno- we were so much better than what we showed on the field that day.
Joe P.
My Top 5 Best:
1.) 2004 Michigan State- still have a couple of the papers from the next day in my office at work.
2.) 2006 @ UNC- after the 2005 Illinois debacle this opener was exactly what the doctor ordered and helped set the tone for a great year.
3.) 2014 @ WSU- I don't care what WSU's final record was- this was a great game and went a long way in making the 2014 season a successful one. Hardly anyone across the country thought we were winning this game.
4.) 2003 Buffalo- while we won a fairly nondescript 23-10 game, this game featured the debut of Brian Leonard and after years of looking like the Keystone Cops, you could tell we actually looked like we knew what we were doing on the field.
5.) 1998 Richmond- my first-ever game at Rutgers Stadium (my freshman year) and a so ugly it's beautiful 7-6 victory over the Spiders.
My Top 5 Worst:
1.) 2005 @ Illinois- although this game was the birth of 'Keep Chopping', 11 years later and I still can't even stand to think about this game.
2.) 2009 Cincy- newly-expanded Rutgers Stadium, 53K in the house going crazy, we were considered a legitimate BE contender that year...and the game was over in about 10 minutes.
3.) 2002 Villanova- half of what became to be known as the 'Buffanova' disaster that opened up our 2002 season and reminded us of just how far we had to go to even be mediocre at the time.
4.) 1995 @ Duke- bowl or bust season for Graber, veteran squad loaded on offense, Duke had a mild 'dream run' to the HOF (now Outback) Bowl the year before and was expected to come back to Earth...and we lost 24-7 in 600-degree weather to kick off a dud of a 4-7 season.
5.) 2008 Fresno- we were so much better than what we showed on the field that day.
Joe P.
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