2011 Bowl Games: Penn State and Teams That Must Have Strong Bowl Performances

Nobody got more of a raw deal in 2011 than the Penn State football team.

The No. 22 Nittany Lions were one of the many victims in the horrific Jerry Sandusky scandal and were passed over by better bowls because of it. It’s completely unfair to the players, and now they must show the bowl committees just how wrong they were.

Besides the Sandusky bias, Penn State also needs to prove they are in fact one of the best teams in the Big Ten. Their 45-7 debacle to end the year against No. 10 Wisconsin says otherwise, but you can’t forget the seven-game winning streak they enjoyed in the middle of the season.

Taking care of a Houston team that plays in Conference USA will finally put some joy into Happy Valley ahead of an offseason that promises to be very unhappy.

Here are two other teams with a lot to prove in the next month:

No. 19 Houston Cougars

So it looks like the TicketCity Bowl is going to be really important. Penn State’s opponent on Jan. 2 is desperate to seek the approval of their big-conference brothers.

Senior QB Case Keenum (5,099 yards, 45 TDs) went from the penthouse to the outhouse in the span of 60 minutes against No. 21 Southern Mississippi, and he has only 60 more minutes to fix his plummeting draft status.

Their No. 1-ranked offense is matching up against a fifth-ranked Penn State defense that gives up less than 16 points per game. This is the one shot Houston has of showing the world they have the size and strength in the trenches to beat a Big Ten team.

Besides, Keenum must show that Penn State is a joke for having a QB in Matthew McGloin that sports eight total TD passes compared with Keenum, who threw for nine in one game earlier this season.

Texas A&M Aggies

The 6-6 Aggies are in the Meineke Car Care Bowl where they will meet the 6-6 Northwestern Wildcats in their final game as a member of the Big 12.

This team was ranked as high as No. 8 early in the season, but a defense that is 76th in points allowed (28.7) has come up small in every big game they have played this season. They couldn’t beat an SEC opponent in Arkansas, and they couldn’t beat any of the top teams in the conference (OSU, OU, KSU, UT).

Getting a win to finish over .500 and head to the SEC with some sort of momentum will go a long way in ensuring the players aren’t in over their heads in the SEC. These guys aren’t stupid—they know how strong the SEC is, and heading into the ridiculously tough conference off a winning season is extremely important.