i! 7: Page 12 The Lion’s Eye Eve On Sports December 2007 RS —— a EE SR To PENN STATE Tr INVADES AB THE LINC By Bryan Drissel Lions Eye Sports Editor bmd5061@psu.edu The cold, rainy weather on November 10 didn’t stop fans from com- ing to Lincoln Financial Field bright and early to see the Penn State Nittany Lions take on the Temple Owls. The record crowd of 69,029 was well over the average 30,000 that come to Temple home games, and most of them were not even Owls fans. Lions’ fans outnumbered Owls’ fans by an esti- mated 200 to one. “We have so many Penn Staters down here. It was nice to be here,” replied coach Joe Paterno when asked about the number of Penn State fans. The Penn State faithful were not disappointed either. Quarterback Anthony Morelli threw three touchdown passes, two to Jordan Norwood and one to Deon Butler, to lead the Lions to a 31-0 victory.’ The win improved Penn State’s record to 33-3-1 all-time versus the Owls. The Owls haven’t won against the Lions since October 18, 1941. It wasn’t always pretty. Penn State got off to a slow start as Temple: took the opening drive down to the Penn State three yard line before missing a field goal. Temple stayed in the game throughout most of the first quar- ter, but was unable to score. “We got sloppy early. We didn’t tackle well,” Paterno pointed out. Fortunately, a combination of good running by Rodney Kinlaw, who finished with over 120 yards and a touchdown run on the day, and Morelli’s 260 yards passing to go with his three touchdown passes dashed any hopes Temple had of an upset. PSU Heads to the Alamo Bowl * |By Bryan Drissel “Lions Eye Sports Editor * 1bmd5061@psu.edu Penn State and Texas A&M will collide in the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl wu lin the fourth meeting between the schools and second in a post-season con- test. The Aggies today were selected to meet the Nittany Lions in the 15th Alamo Bowl, to be played in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday, December 29. Kickoff is at 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. 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 remains 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 be making their 34th post-season trip under Paterno, the all-time leader in bowl wins (22-10-1) and appearances. Paterno will be inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Tuesday, becoming just the third active coach to gain induction. “We are delighted to be playing in the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M,” stated Paterno, who is in his 42nd season as head coach and has an overall ark of 371-125-3 (74.6). “We had a great time the last time we were there. Morelli, who is often maligned by Penn State fans for his incon- sistency, only made one mistake which was a fumble on the Temple one yard line that costed Penn State a score, but played well the rest of the day. Paterno seemed to agree after the game, “I thought he had a good day; you can’t look at all the negative stuff.” The game also served as Paterno’s first chance to coach against his former player, Al Golden who is in his first year as Temple’s coach. Golden is trying to improve Temple’s football program, which has done very well in recent year. He has managed to improve the team’s record compared to last year, now with three wins on the year compared to last year’s one. “I told him to keep doing good a job. He needs a couple more good players, but he’s doing a good job,” Paterno replied when he was asked about how it felt coaching against a former player. The game was also Penn State’s second straight shutout against the Temple Owls. INTRAMURAL SPORTS Intramural Sports Sign-up Intramural Indoor Soccer Sign up date: January 17,18,19 (Common hour-Lion’s Den) Start Date: Monday, January 23rd Intramural 3 on 3 Basketball Sign up date: March 21,22,23 (Common hour-Lion’s Den) Start Date: Monday, March 27th San Antonio is a wonderful city. It will be a lot of fun for us. Hopefully we’ll lay well and give everyone a good game.” The Nittany Lions will bring an 8-4 record into the Alamo Bowl, with hree of the losses by seven points or less. Penn State has won 30 of its last 39 ames overall and ranks among the Top 15 nationally in the best cumulative ecord from 2005-07 (28-9). Currently, PSU is number 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 llast game against Nebraska in 2003. The Lions have played the Cornhuskers the most of any Big 12 team, holding a 7-6 series advantage. lowa State and Oklahoma State are the only teams the Nittany Lions have not played. The Nittany Lions are 6-2 vs. Big 12 teams in bowl games: Baylor (1-0), Kan- sas (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, gimore than anyone in college football history. Big Ten teams have earned a 7-6 overall record in the Valero Alamo BB owl. Nittany Lion Club members and 2007 season ticket holders can pur- hase tickets today for the 2007 Valero Alamo Bowl at: http://gopsusports. stv.com/tickets/psu-tickets.html. The general public can purchase tickets over he phone beginning Monday, Dec. 3 at 10:00 a.m. ET by calling (814) 865- 5555 or (800) 863-3336. Penn State students can purchase Valero Alamo Bowl tickets via a alk-up sale from on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Beaver * : Stadium ticket office adjacent to Gate E. There will be a two (2) ticket limit ber student ID and tickets can be purchased with cash only. Information on the alero Alamo Bowl: www.alamobowl.com.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers