College Football Odds - Alamo Bowl

What: Alamo Bowl
Who: Penn State (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (7-5)
Where: Alamodome, San Antonio
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
WagerWeb.com line: Penn State -5 (51.5)

If you aren't going to watch the New England Patriots go for NFL history on Saturday night, then this game between the Big Ten's Nittany Lions and Big 12's Aggies is your other football option.

Interesting coaching dichotomy in this one: Penn State's Joe Paterno will coach his 500th game for PSU; Paterno is 8-2 in bowl games since Penn State entered the Big Ten in 1993 and will coach the Nittany Lions in their 34th bowl game.

The Aggies, meanwhile, have dropped six of their seven bowl appearances since 1997. Gary Darnell will lead the team pending Mike Sherman's arrival from the Houston Texans; Darnell, the Aggies' defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, took over after coach Dennis Franchione resigned about an hour following a 38-30 home win over Texas in the regular-season finale on Nov. 23.

The ground games will play big roles in this matchup.For PSU, senior tailback Rodney KinlawAustin Scott and finished with 1,186 yards rushing and 19 TDs, and he has five 100-yard games this season. Penn State went 4-1 when Kinlaw ran for more than 100 yards.

Penn State also went 7-1 this season in games when inconsistent QB Anthony Morelli threw for at least 195 yards; he threw two TD passes and four picks in the Nittany Lions' four losses. A&M ranks 100th nationally in pass efficiency defense.

The Aggies' offense revolves around Stephen McGee. The quarterback led Texas A&M in rushing this season with 858 yards. He threw for a career-high 362 yards and three touchdowns while completing 25 of 36 passes in the season finale against Texas.

And A&M features power back Jorvorskie Lane and speedster Mike Goodson. Lane averages 4.7 yards per attempt and has 16 TDs this season. Goodson averages 4.6 yards per carry. Texas A&M is No. 12 nationally in rush offense at 215.6 yards per game, but Penn State is No. 6 nationally in rush defense at 87.9 yards per game. Penn State has allowed just four foes to rush for 100 yards in a game - but in those four (all losses), the Nittany Lions surrendered 181.8 yards per game and five rushing TDs (PSU allowed just seven rushing TDs this season).

Because of off-the-field issues, Penn State will be without five players, including starting defensive tackle Chris Baker, for the game.

The Nittany Lions lead this series 2-1, with the last meeting in the 1999 Alamo Bowl, a 24-0 victory.

Prediction: A&M's three-headed ground attack, and big home-type crowd, leads the upset. A&M 24, PSU 21. became the team's primary ball carrier midway through the season after the suspension of