1999

SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl | Wednesday, December 29, 1999
Penn State 24 vs. Texas A&M 0

Attendance: 65,380
TV Rating: 5.2
Team Payout: $2,956,650 combined

Offensive MVP: Rashard Casey, QB, Penn State
Defensive MVP: LaVar Arrington, LB, Penn State
Sportsmanship Winner: Jason Webster, CB, Texas A&M

Head Coaches: Joe Paterno (Penn State), R.C. Slocum (Texas A&M)
Final Records: Penn State 10-3, Texas A&M 8-4

Game Recap

No. 13 Penn State’s All-American defense stifles No. 18 Texas A&M

The No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lions used the spark from its strong defensive squad to defeat No. 18 Texas A&M 24-0 in the 1999 SYLVANIA Alamo Bowl. A then-record crowd of 65,380 was on hand, and another 6.4 million watched the two tradition-rich programs square off on ESPN.

The Nittany Lion defense attacked early and often as A&M quarterback Randy McCown had his first two pass attempts intercepted, including a 34-yard return for the first score of the game by Penn State’s Derek Fox.

While the dominating Penn State defense stifled the A&M offense, Penn State quarterback Rashard Casey, who earned Offensive MVP honors, threw for one touchdown and ran for another, stretching Penn State’s lead to 21-0.

All-American linebacker and Defensive MVP LaVar Arrington led the defensive charge for Penn State with a then-Alamo Bowl record 14 tackles. The defense, led by future NFL standouts Arrington, defensive end Courtney Brown, and linebacker Brandon Short, pressured McCown into four interceptions. Brown and Arrington were selected with the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the 2000 NFL Draft, respectively.

Note: Penn State later vacated this win due to NCAA penalties.

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

PSU: Fox 34-yd INT return (Forney kick)

Second Quarter

PSU: Drummond 45-yd pass from Casey (Forney kick)

Fourth Quarter

PSU: Casey 4-yd run (Forney kick)
PSU: Forney 39-yd FG

Final Score

Team	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	Total
Penn State	7	7	0	10	24
Texas A&M	0	0	0	0	0

Team Stats

Category	Penn State	Texas A&M
First Downs	17	16
Net Yards Rushing/Att.	175/39	80/39
Net Yards Passing	146	122
Comp-Att-Int	8-17-1	15-28-4
Total Offense (Plays)	56	67
Total Net Yards	321	202
Avg. Gain Per Play	5.7	3.0
Possession Time	29:23	30:37
Third-Down Conversions	4/12 (33%)	7/16 (44%)

Individual Stats

Rushing (Att-Yds)

PSU: McCoo 6-43; Johnson 6-30; Casey 7-27; Mitchell 8-26; Watson 4-19; Fields 1-12; Luke 3-10; Easy 3-9
A&M: Toombs 19-70; Hardeman 10-41

Passing (Comp-Att-Int, Yds)

PSU: Casey 8-16-1, 146
A&M: McCowan 13-22-4, 105; Farris 2-6-0, 17

Receiving (Rec-Yds)

PSU: Stewart 2-27; Fields 2-11; Drummond 1-45; Gilmore 1-34; Cerimele 1-16; McCoo 1-13
A&M: Taylor 6-38; Bumgardner 5-59; Toombs 2-7; Porter 1-13; Hodge 1-5

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