Penn State Nittany Lions
With three consecutive losses, Penn State finds itself in the team's first non New Year's Day bowl appearance in eight years. Inconsistency on the offensive side of the football was detrimental to the Lions -- not one aspect of the team's offensive play emerged as a strength during any part of the season. That being said, the Lions are a team that will be playing for pride, and with over a month to prepare for the Aggies, expect coach Joe Paterno to have his troops ready to play. The Lions need their offensive line to come together so the team can unleash its talented stable of running backs. If the Lions can establish the run, that will open up the offense and allow QBs Rashard Casey and Kevin Thompson to look downfield for their athletic corps of wide receivers. The Casey-Thompson saga has made for an interesting season at the quarterback position. When watching film on this team it becomes clear that the Nittany Lion offense is more dangerous and productive with Casey in the game. His ability to make opponents defend against the dual threat makes the Lion offense more versatile. Paterno is obviously more comfortable with Thompson's drop-back style, but he has made more costly mistakes with the ball than Casey has this season. The best thing for this offense would be to start Casey and let him play the entire game, but expect Paterno to continue to use a rotation at the position as he has done the entire season.

Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M wrapped up an emotional season with a win over in-state rival Texas, allowing it to head into the Alamo Bowl on a high note. That being said, the Aggies should have their hands full with a Penn State team that played in the toughest conference in football and will show up ready to rumble. The Aggies need to establish a running game with RB Ja'Mar Toombs, a 265-pound, sophomore bruiser. Penn State had problems with bigger backs this season (see Thomas Hamner of Minnesota and T.J. Duckett of Michigan State), so a straight-ahead running game might best neutralize the athleticism of the Nittany Lions' defense. QB Randy McCown is not the most talented guy, but if he plays within his system and takes advantage of the athletes he has at WR, this should be a good game.

Keys to the game
1. Whether Penn State will be able to run the football. If Penn State finds its running game, the entire complexion of the Lion offense will have changed since the regular season. Opposing linebackers have been playing the Lions well off the line of scrimmage, and an effective running game will force them to play further up and open up more passing options for Penn State's quarterbacks. As it stands, Penn State has difficulty throwing the short- to intermediate-range balls.

2. Whether Texas A&M will establish a viable passing attack. McCown is not going to win games by himself, but if he can establish a rhythm throwing the football early, then it will definitely soften up the Penn State defense and open up the running game for Toombs. Toombs is the type of back who has been successful against the Lions this year -- a big, physical, north/south runner. The lateral quickness of Penn State's athletic front seven forces teams to run between the tackles, so expect to see a lot of this from the Aggies.

3. Whether either team cares enough to win this football game. Both teams have had emotional, roller-coaster type seasons. Texas A&M won its season finale a week after 11 of its students were killed when a stack of bonfire logs collapsed. Penn State was a favorite to play in the national championship game, but finished the season with three consecutive losses. R.C. Slocum and Joe Paterno will need to go to great lengths to see that their teams are "up" for a non-New Year's Day bowl game which is, for the most part, meaningless in the rankings.

War Room Edge: Penn State Nittany Lions
Coach Paterno has made a habit of getting teams that underperformed during the regular season ready for bowl games. Penn State is laden with seniors who will be playing the last game of their college careers, so expect the Nittany Lions to show up game ready and hungry for a win. If offensive coordinator Fran Ganter works out some of the kinks on the his side of the football, particularly on the offensive line, the Lions should roll.

Material from The War Room. Visit their web site at http://www.nflwarroom.com