NCAA Division 1 powerhouses taking on smaller, less capable opponents is sort of the big teams' "fall training warm up." It's supposed to be a pretty easy game, they can solidify the plays and give everyone some playing time as a warm up.
Occasionally, though, things won't go as planned...
Penn State's first game of the season was against Appalachian State. AS has a decent team, but they're not a contender. They did upset Michigan in the first game of the season in 2007, a game which has been called one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history... Michigan was ranked number 5 before the game... and became the first team ever to fall completely out of the top 25 because of a single game loss.
It looked as if PSU was going to roll over AS, but AS' offense went white hot in the second half, and they had the lead with less than a minute to go. It took a touchdown by Penn State on the last drive, and a TD and interception in overtime, for PSU to eek out the win.
PSU dropped from 10 to 13 in the national standings because of that game.
The BEST thing about that game, though, was the reaction of the Penn State fans. As the Appalachian State team left the field, 100,000 fans gave them a standing ovation.