San Antonio, TX – The University of Texas and Oregon State University have accepted invitations today to play in the 20th Anniversary Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday, December 29, 2012 at 5:45 p.m. CST in San Antonio’s 65,000-seat Alamodome.
#13 Oregon State is led by Head Coach Mike Riley, the Beavers all-time winningest coach with a record of 81-66 in 12 seasons. Riley, who has a 5-1 record in bowl games, has helped the Beavers back to a bowl game for the first time since the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl. Oregon State finished the regular season 9-3 (6-3 Pac-12), improving their win total by six games from 2011, tied for the best turnaround in NCAA FBS.
The Oregon State offense, averaging 33.0 points per game is highlighted by senior wide receiver Markus Wheaton and redshirt freshman running back Storm Woods. Wheaton, a first team All-Pac 12 selection, owns the school record for career receptions. Woods, a Pflugerville, Texas native is the leading rusher for Oregon State with 822 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. Senior cornerback Jordan Poyer leads the Pac-12 and ranks second nationally with seven interceptions and was recently named a First Team All-American by the AFCA.
“It is a tremendous honor for the Beavers to play in such a prestigious bowl game,” head football coach Mike Riley said. “Our team is ecstatic to represent the Pac-12 Conference and Oregon State University in the great state of Texas. We are looking forward to playing a very good Texas Longhorn team and spending part of the Holiday season in San Antonio.”
Head Coach Mack Brown will lead the Longhorns to the Alamo Bowl for the second time and to its his 14th bowl appearance in 15 seasons. Texas defeated Iowa 26-24 in the 2006 Alamo Bowl in front of a crowd of 65,875, the second-largest attendance in Alamo Bowl history. The game finished with a television rating of 6.0, which equated to the second-highest in Alamo Bowl history. Brown has a 12-7 bowl record in his career and 9-4 at Texas, including wins in six of their last seven bowl appearances.
The #23 Longhorns come to San Antonio with a record of 8-4 (5-4 Big 12). Case McCoy and David Ash have split time at quarterback for the Longhorns, who averaged 441.0 yards and 36.1 points per game throughout the season. Malcolm Brown, a San Antonio native and one of the Longhorns many options at running back, finished the season strong, scoring two touchdowns in the season finale against #6 Kansas State.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play in the Alamo Bowl against a great Oregon State team,” head coach Mack Brown said. “I’ve known (Oregon State head coach) Mike (Riley) for a long time, have tremendous respect for him and am looking forward to a great game.”
The 20th Anniversary Valero Alamo Bowl will be the third all-time meeting between Oregon State and Texas, with the Longhorns holding a 2-0 record. Both prior games were played in Austin, with Texas winning 35-0 on September 27, 1980 and 61-16 on September 26, 1987.
Tickets for the 2012 Valero Alamo Bowl can be purchased online at www.alamobowl.com or through the university box offices. Tickets can also be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. In addition, fans can purchase tickets at the Alamodome Southwest Box Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Both head coaches will be in San Antonio on Thursday, December 6 for a 10:00 a.m. press conference as part of the Golf Classic at The Club at Sonterra.
To download the Valero Alamo Bowl logo, request a credential or view a tentative media schedule, please visit the Media Center section of the bowl’s website at www.alamobowl.com. For more information, please call Doug Self at (210) 704-6389 or Rick Hill at (210) 704-6388.
Oregon State University Notes
• Oregon State finished the season 9-3 overall, 6-3 in the Pac-12 Conference.
• The Beavers six-win improvement (3-9 to 9-3) from 2011-12 is tied for the best in the nation with Middle Tennessee (2-9 to 8-4) and Ohio State (6-7 to 12-0). It is also the biggest swing in wins in Oregon State history.
• Wide receiver Markus Wheaton set a new school record for career receptions after finishing with 12 against Nicholls State, giving him 224 for his career.
• Wheaton currently has 2,957 yards receiving, needing 43 yards in the Valero Alamo Bowl to become the third player in OSU history with 3,000 or more.
• Oregon State set a new school record by scoring 77 points against Nicholls State on Saturday. It was the fourth time in school history that the Beavers surpassed 70 points and the first time since 1931.
University of Texas Notes
• Mack Brown has an overall record of 149-43 at Texas and he is 235-117-1 in 29 years as a head coach.
• Texas is 26-22-2 all-time in bowl games and their 50 bowl appearances is the second-most all-time
• The Longhorns have won six of their last seven bowl appearances, including a 26-24 win over Iowa in the 2006 Alamo Bowl
• Last bowl appearance was a 21-10 win over California in the 2011 Holiday Bowl
• Defeated two ranked teams, #22 Oklahoma State and #20 Texas Tech, on the road this season
