Capital One Bowl Tickets - No. 11 Penn State Prepares For No. 13 Lsu

Penn State coach Joe Paterno told the press he expected a replay of the 1974 Orange Bowl

. Penn State began preparing this week (Dec.14-18) for the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla., where the team will face LSU for only the second time in school history. Get Capital One Bowl tickets and see these two great teams battle it out on the field.

The Lions won the first meeting, 16-9, in the Orange Bowl nearly 36 years ago. That was the first time Penn State finished the season 12-0. Paterno said, "I have good memories of that game, because we won it, but more than that because it was a good, tough football game. It's the kind of game you like to be in. Probably the same kind of game we're going to play this year."

Penn State players said they want to finish the season with a "marquee" victory. Lions linebacker Sean Lee stated that his team did not beat anybody in the Top 25 and would like to end the season on a positive note. Quarterback Daryll Clark reflected the same message when he said, "LSU being a good football team, this will really mean something to the program to go down there and win."

Penn State's best wins this season were against Temple and Northwestern, and the Lions struggled while losing their biggest games at home against Iowa and Ohio State. So a victory against a big-time SEC team like LSU would mean a lot to the Lions program.

Paterno, who has more bowl game appearances (35) and victories (23) than any other coach, finally began on focusing on the Capital One Bowl on Dec. 10. Penn State began a three-day stretch of home workouts (Dec. 10-12). The Lions will reconvene in Daytona Beach on Dec. 20, the day before Paterno's 83rd birthday, for a few days of drills before heading to Orlando. Although the Lions were disappointed they were not selected for a BCS bowl game, Paterno told his team, "It doesn't matter if it's a BCS bowl game or not. What matters is the level of opponent."

It's the Big Ten versus the SEC, so the obvious question of speed was brought up to several Lions players. Penn State linebacker Josh Hall shot that question down quickly when he said, "We have some skill guys who are just as fast as the skill guys at LSU are."

Cornerback A.J. Wallace brought up an interesting point. He pointed out that LSU is a Southern school and he believes they get to run around without feeling the other element. The cornerback continued to say, "Because most of the times when we're playing late in the season, it will be cold and the sun won't be out... We have a lot of people, surprisingly, that run sub-4.4 or sub-4.3 [40-yard dash], so we have a very fast team."

Paterno proclaimed the team "is in good health" with no major injuries. Lions receiver Chaz Powell missed the regular-season finale with a right shoulder injury but should be ready to go by the bowl game.

by: Brent Warnken

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