College Gameday made it's way to Happy Valley to kickoff the 1999 college football season in style. The Pigskin Classic featured a matchup of the #3 Arizona Wildcats and the #4 Penn State Nittany Lions. Although both teams entered with national championship hopes -- the Wildcats' aspirations were immediately crushed as the game quickly turned into a rout, with Penn State jumping out to a 31-0 halftime lead en route to a 41-7 victory.
Penn State's shocking offensive explosion was led by senior wideout Chafie Fields -- who caught 3 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 110 yards on 3 carries and another touchdown. The Nittany Lions also received strong quarterback play from Kevin Thompson (5 of 8 for 135 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 intercption) and Rashard Casey (6 of 10, 107 yds, 23 yards rushing) in the debut of their new 2-quarterback system. Defensively, the Nittany Lions were led by All-American linebacker LaVar Arrington's 3 tackles-for-loss, as well as multi-sack games by defensive ends Courtney Brown and Justin Kurpeikis.
The impressive win propelled Penn State to a #2 ranking the following week.