Dec. 29, 2007
SAN ANTONIO; Dec. 29, 2007 - A record crowd will be on hand when Penn State and Texas A&M collide in the 15th Valero Alamo Bowl here this evening.
The quickest sellout in the bowl's history will feature a crowd in excess of last year's record of 65,875 in The Alamodome. The Nittany Lions will have been involved in two of the top three crowds in Alamo Bowl annals.
Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT and the contest will air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.
The Valero Alamo Bowl will be Joe Paterno's 500th game as head coach of the Nittany Lions. He is second among major college coaches in victories with a 371-125-3 record.
Penn State and Texas A&M will be meeting for the fourth time overall and second time in a post-season contest.
The last Penn State-Texas A&M meeting came in the Nittany Lions' only other appearance in San Antonio, as they defeated the Aggies, 24-0, in the 1999 Alamo Bowl to finish 10-3. The game drew a standing room only crowd of 65,380, which is second-largest in Alamo Bowl history. Penn State and Texas A&M also played a home and home series in 1979 and '80. The Aggies won, 27-14, in Beaver Stadium on Sept. 22, 1979. The Nittany Lions captured a 25-9 victory at Kyle Field on Sept. 20, 1980.
The Nittany Lions will bring an 8-4 record into the Alamo Bowl, with three of the losses by seven points or less. Penn State has won 30 of its last 39 games overall and ranks among the Top 15 nationally in the best cumulative record from 2005-07 (28-9).
The Aggies (7-5) are coming off a 38-30 victory over their archrival, No. 11 Texas, on Nov. 23. Prior to beating the Longhorns, Texas A&M lost consecutive games to Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri -- teams ranked in the Top 10 in this week's Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls.
The Nittany Lions will be making their 34th post-season trip under Paterno, who is the all-time leader in bowl wins (22-10-1) and appearances. Paterno was inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame earlier this month, becoming just the third active coach to gain induction.
The Nittany Lions are No. 3 in the nation with 25 post-season victories and first nationally in bowl winning percentage (66.7, 25-12-2) among schools with at least 10 bowl wins.
Penn State is 21-13 all-time against teams from the Big 12, with the last game against Nebraska in 2003. The Nittany Lions are 6-2 vs. Big 12 teams in bowl games: Baylor (1-0), Kansas (1-0), Missouri (1-0), Oklahoma (0-2), Texas (2-0) and Texas A&M (1-0).
Paterno has an impressive 68.2 winning percentage in bowl games, third-best all-time among coaches with at least 12 bowl appearances. He is the only coach to win the Rose, Fiesta, Orange, Sugar and Cotton Bowls. Paterno has taken Penn State to 13 different post-season contests, winning in 11 locales, more than anyone in college football history.
The Nittany Lions are led by senior All-America linebacker Dan Connor, the school's career tackles leader with 410 and winner of the 2007 Bednarik Award; junior linebacker Sean Lee; junior cornerback Justin King; sophomore defensive end Maurice Evans, a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award; senior quarterback Anthony Morelli, the first Penn State signal-caller to throw for more than 2,000 yards in season twice, junior wide receivers Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood and Derrick Williams and senior tailback Rodney Kinlaw, who has rushed for 1,186 yards this year.
The Nittany Lion defense is ranked in the Top 10 nationally in rushing (6th, 87.9 ypg), scoring (8th, 17.6 ppg) and total defense (19h, 396.5 ypg), as well as sacks (2nd, 45) and tackles for loss (10th, 96). Penn State leads the Big Ten in sacks, and is No. 2 in rushing, scoring and total defense. The Nittany Lions have recorded two shutouts this season and held four other teams to either one offensive touchdown or field goals. Penn State has held eight opponents to 90 rushing yards or less in 2007.
Three Penn State seniors will be making their final starts: Connor, Kinlaw and Morelli.