Dec. 29, 2007
SAN ANTONIO, Texas --Evan Royster broke a tie with a 38-yard touchdown run, Deon Butler caught a 30-yard pass and Penn State erased an early 14-point deficit to beat Texas A&M 24-17 on Saturday night at the Valero Alamo Bowl.
Paterno, college football's leader in bowl appearances (34), led the Nittany Lions (9-4) in a thriller that brought him his record 23rd postseason win. The 81-year-old coach now has 372 career victories, one behind Florida State's Bobby Bowden for the most in major college football.
"It was a good tough game," Paterno said after the game surrounded by jubilant Nittany Lions. "If I had a choice, I'm glad we won."
Penn State's Rodney Kinlaw ran for 143 yards on 21 carries and Royster finished with 65 on nine carries.
Nervously pacing the sideline in his standard khakis and black sneakers, Paterno couldn't breathe easy until the clock ticked down to zero in a roller coaster of a game.
Texas A&M's Stephen McGee led a 15-play drive to the Penn State 2 before losing 4 yards on fourth-and-goal after slipping on an option play with about eight minutes left.
Another Texas A&M (7-6) drive ended with a punt with 2 minutes left, and Penn State ran out the clock.
The Nittany Lions secured their third straight bowl victory and spoiled Gary Darnell's one-game stint as interim head coach. Darnell took over Nov. 23, when Dennis Franchione resigned, and A&M has hired Mike Sherman, currently offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, take over as head coach in 2008.
McGee finished 19-of-31 passing for 164 yards and an interception, and ran for 34 yards on 10 carries.
Penn State had scored 17 straight points to take the lead before Matt Szymanski kicked a 38-yard field goal for Texas A&M to tie it at 17 with 3:57 in the third quarter. The 18-play, 78-yard drive took 8:45, the longest drive by plays and time of possession this season for A&M's often beleaguered offense.
The Nittany Lions took the lead for good on the next drive. Anthony Morelli connected with Derrick Williams for a 21-yard reception to the Aggie 41 on a third-and-6 before Royster burst up the middle for the decisive score for plays later.
It looked rough early for Penn State after falling behind 14-0 on two touchdown runs in a 12-second span by A&M's Mike Goodson. A sea of maroon-clad fans that made up most of the record crowd of 66,166 at the Alamodome roared its approval in hopes of ending a distraction-filled season a high note.
It wasn't to be, and the Nittany Lions rallied for their ninth win in the their last 11 bowl games. It Penn State's largest comeback win since rallying from 16 points down at Northwestern on Sept. 29, 2005.
Penn State's defense clamped down after Goodson's early runs, and the offense gained traction behind the running of backup quarterback Darryl Clark and tailback Kinlaw and a couple clutch throws from Anthony Morelli.
On fourth-and-4 from the A&M 30, Morelli threw a wobbly pass to Butler, who had position inside on cornerback Arkeith Brown. The ball sailed just long of Butler, who fell forward in the end zone and appeared to catch the ball just before it hit the ground. A replay review confirmed the touchdown that cut A&M's lead to 14-7.
Maurice Evans then forced a Goodson fumble on the next drive that was recovered by Penn State's A.J. Wallace. Goodson had 65 yards on 14 carries.
Clark, a seldom-used backup who is a better runner than Morelli, then scored from 11 yards out on the next play, scrambling up the middle before leaping head-first into the end zone.
Clark lost the ball at the end of the play, though officials said the fumble didn't count because he had already crossed the goal line.
Morelli's 32-yard completion to Terrell Golden on 3rd-and-20 later helped set up a 25-yard field goal by Kevin Kelly that gave Penn State a 17-14 lead at halftime.
NOTES...
ALAMO AGGIES - The Aggies have produced big crowds in all three trips to the Alamo Bowl. Tonight's crowd of 66,166 was the largest crowd for any sporting event in the Alamodome. The Aggies previously produced crowds of 65,380 in the 1999 Alamo Bowl (vs. Penn State) and 64,597 in the 1995 edition against Michigan. In other games at the Alamodome, the Aggies drew 64,583 vs. Army in 2006, 64,824 vs. Nebraska in the 1997 Big 12 Conference Championship game and 51,056 vs. SMU in 1994.
FIRSTS - Making their first career starts were defensive tackles Kellen Heard and Lucas Patterson +++ Backup placekicker Richie Bean booted the first extra point of his career after the Aggies' first touchdown. Bean had missed the only other PAT attempt of his career (vs. Louisiana-Monroe) +++ Defensive back Kenny Brown recovered the first fumble of his career in the first quarter, which the Aggies parlayed into a touchdown on the ensuing play when Mike Goodson scored on a 16-yard jaunt. +++ Safety Stephen Hodge, making his second career start, made the first interception of his career in the third quarter and made a season-and career-best 10 tackles versus the Nittany Lions. +++ 5-foot-5 walk-on cornerback Ben Bitner played his first meaningful defensive snap of his career in the third quarter. Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli threw to the other side of the field.
MISCELLANEOUS - Game captains for the Aggies were the 2007 Permanent Team Captains, Cody Wallace and Red Bryant, but they were joined by the rest of the A&M Senior Class. +++ Representing the Texas A&M student body was 12th Man Nick LaMantia, a junior fullback from Mission, Texas. It was the 24th 12th Man start for LaMantia, which gives him the most 12th Man starts in school history (LaMantia entered the game tied with John Ray, who had 23 from 2003-05). +++ MLB World Series MVP Josh Beckett was on the Aggies' sideline for the second-straight game. Beckett signed a national letter-of-intent with A&M, but opted to pursue his pro career straight out of Spring High School.