When felony assault charges stemming from an on-campus fight on Oct. 7 were refiled earlier this month against PSU’s Chris Baker and Navorro Bowman, it assured that the two key defensive players would not be playing for the Nittany Lions for the second straight game. Three others – Knowledge Timmons, Tom McEowen and Willie Harriott -- also did not make the trip to Texas.

No matter how you spin it, this is not good news for Penn State at the Alamo Bowl. Without Baker, a starting tackle, and Bowman, a reserve linebacker, the Lions did not fare well in the regular season finale at Michigan State. The lack of depth up-front was apparent as the Spartans overcame a 17-point second half deficit and prevailed 35-31, and rolled up 288 of their 425 yards of offense in the second half.

Massive MSU tailback Jehuu Caulcrick ran for 99 yards and scored the game-winning TD. That doesn’t bode well for the Alamo Bowl because Texas A&M’s Jorvorskie Lane is also a tailback and he is probably bigger than the 255-pound Caulcrick.

“(Lane) weighs from 265 to 310 pounds depending on what day of the week it is,” said Aggies’ quarterback Stephen McGee. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN.