Penn State rallies, beats Texas A

Evan Royster broke a tie with a 38-yard touchdown run, Deon Butler caught a 30-yard scoring pass and Penn State erased an early two-touchdown deficit to defeat Texas A&M;, 24-17, on Saturday night at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

Joe Paterno, college football’s leader in bowl appearances (34), led the Nittany Lions (9-4) in a thriller that brought the coach his record 23rd postseason victory.

The 81-year-old coach now has 372 career victories, one behind Florida State’s Bobby Bowden for the most in major college football. His team had to rally from a 14-0 deficit to beat the Aggies.

“When you’re down 14-0, you don’t feel great,” Paterno said. “I knew we had work ahead of us, but I knew we could get it done.”

Penn State’s Rodney Kinlaw ran for 143 yards in 21 carries and Royster finished with 65 in nine carries.

With the Nittany Lions leading, 24-17, Texas A&M;’s Stephen McGee led a 15-play drive to the Penn State two before losing four yards on fourth-and-goal after slipping on an option play with about eight minutes left.

McGee said the defense appeared to have snuffed out the play anyway.

“That’s just tough. You get one yard and I’m thinking maybe we could get the win,” McGee said. “They were ready for it.”

Another Texas A&M; (7-6) drive ended with a punt with two minutes left, and Penn State ran out the clock.

Mississippi State 10, Central Florida 3 -- Anthony Dixon scored on a one-yard run with 1:54 remaining, Derek Pegues had two interceptions and the Bulldogs kept the Knights’ Kevin Smith from breaking the single-season rushing record in the Liberty Bowl at Memphis, Tenn.

In a game featuring anemic offenses and few big plays, Mississippi State (8-5) kept Central Florida (10-4) out of the end zone and held Smith to 119 yards. The junior finished 61 yards shy of Barry Sanders’ single-season record of 2,628 yards set for Oklahoma State in 1988.

It was the lowest-scoring Liberty Bowl since Penn State beat Tulane, 9-6, in 1979.

Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10 -- Behind speedy receiver Kenneth Moore and a swarming defense, the Demon Deacons reeled off 24 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Huskies in the Meineke Bowl at Charlotte, N.C.

Wake Forest (9-3) secured the second-most wins in team history, behind only last year’s improbable 11-3 mark that included an Atlantic Coast Conference title and an Orange Bowl berth.

The Demon Deacons finished with nine wins in their last 11 games.

Moore, a senior playing in his hometown in his final game, caught 11 passes for 112 yards. Riley Skinner completed 29 of 38 passes for 268 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Fresno State Coach Pat Hill suspended eight players, keeping them out of Monday’s Humanitarian Bowl against Georgia Tech.

None of the eight were starters and four were injured players not expected to play in the game.