Penn State Vs. Houston, TicketCity Bowl: Case Keenum Throws For 533, Coogs Win 30-14

14: Times in which a Penn State opponent passed more than 40 times in a game against the Nittany Lions. An opponent had passed over 50 times twice in that span, over 60 times once. Houston, meanwhile, went over 40 passes 13 times this year, over 50 five times, and over 60 twice. There are quite a few different ways to play football, eh? For the game, Keenum threw 69 passes, 38 to Patrick Edwards and Justin Johnson alone. They each caught more passes than Penn State’s entire team.

27: Rob Bolden’s completion percentage. He was 7-for-26 for 137 yards, one long touchdown and three interceptions. Watching Rob Bolden is a jarring, sad experience. He has the mechanics and poise of a solid quarterback, but the results just aren’t there. With solid form, he calmly throws a 14-yard short-hopper to a receiver 20 yards down field. With the poise of a senior, he steps into the pocket and throws a pick into triple coverage. You cannot read what is about to happen by watching Bolden; but after two years, it is, to put it kindly, easy to wonder about his potential.

Keenum added to his NCAA record passing totals by completing 45-of-69 pass attempts for 533 yards and three touchdowns as the 20th-ranked Cougars downed the beleaguered Nittany Lions 30-14. The win was a school-record 13th for the Cougars, and the first for new head coach Tony Levine, who was hired when Kevin Sumlin left for the Texas A&M Aggies job.

Keenum credited offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for a solid game plan that allowed the Cougars to open up a 17-point lead on Penn State in the first quarter.

Keenum got the Cougars off to a fast start while leading his team to scores on their first three possessions. The Cougars jumped out to a 17-0 lead following a pair of touchdown passes from Keenum and never led by fewer than 10 points after that. Although the Cougars were held out of the endzone and Keenum was stopped from essentially rewriting the record book (he did set a record for most completions in a bowl game) during the second half, they were able to move the ball whenever they needed to and avoided any turnovers.

The Cougars actually picked up 24 yards rushing on the drive, but the heavy lifting was done by Keenum. At the end of the drive, he was closing in on several bowl records. He has completed 40 of 59 passes for 491 yards.

The touchdown came one play after the Nittany Lions nearly turned it over when Bolden was hit in the back and fumbled. But Penn State recovered the ball. On the next play, Bolden found Justin Brown behind the Houston defense. Brown made a finger-tips catch and sprinted into the endzone.

The Cougars offense hasn’t exactly looked bad, but it has not been nearly as effective as it was in the first half. The Cougars punted on their first possession, just the second of the day, and settled for a field goal on their second after failing to convert a third-and-1 situation.

On the play, Keenum stepped up in the pocket nicely to avoid the pressure and then found Edwards all alone about 45 yards down field. Edwards caught the pass in stride and could have almost walked into the endzone from there.

In case you’re wondering, the Keenum was able to attempt 46 passes in no small part because the Cougars essentially ignored the running game. Houston called just four running plays in the half.

Live TicketCity Bowl box score, TicketCity Bowl FAQ, and Jan. 2 bowl game TV schedule.

For more on the TicketCity Bowl, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries and Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire, plus SB Nation Pittsburgh.

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

On Thursday, we saw two thoroughly enjoyable football games, though for the most part they were two completely different sports. Florida State-Notre Dame was half-football/half-rugby, an athletic slugfest and defensive struggle. Meanwhile, Baylor-Washington was half-football/half-relay race. All game long, ball-carriers were running in the open field without another defender visible on the television screen. The way those games were played, it was nearly impossible to envision teams from these two games on the same field. What the hell would happen if Baylor played Florida State? Cannot even fathom it.

Penn State on the other hand is just trying to get the 2011 season over with so they can put behind them a scandal ridden year. In the wake of Jerry Sandusky and a plethora of other problems which ultimately led to the firing of legendary head coach Joe Paterno, the Lions will bring a struggling offense and an excellent defense to try and knock off the Cougars. The Nittany Lions average just 19.8 points per game, which won’t be enough to keep up with the Cougars, even with a defense that only gives up 15.7 points per game on average.

Game date, time: 12:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, January 2nd

For more on the TicketCity Bowl, head over to the SB Nation Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries, as well as the game’s official site. For more on the 2011-12 bowl season, check out our NCAA Football hub.

For more Nittany Lions, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries.

Jones and Thomas did not travel with the team to Dallas due to “academic reasons.”

Meanwhile, Drake and Kersey did not make the trip due to “personal reasons.”

It’s affected recruiting in big and obvious ways, and recruits who’ve lingered sound like they’re getting nervous. Current players aren’t quite sure how to issue assurances, either:

What would’ve been a pressure-packed coaching search anyway has turned into a monster due to its extended length, the lack of other coaching searches, and a coach making major moves on the other side of the conference.

In a statement, athletic director Mack Rhoades gushed about his new coach:

Levine has been an assistant at UH for four years, becoming assistant head coach two years ago. He’s also been running the special teams and coaching tight ends. Previous stops have landed him at Louisville and Louisiana Tech, with a Carolina Panthers gig in there too.

The Penn State interim coach said Bolden will be punished internally.

For more on the Nittany Lions, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries.

But our own Ben Jones of Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries reports McGloin took quite a bit of damage during the altercation, though it’s not clear whether Drake was actually involved:

The Nittany Lions are practicing to play the Houston Cougars in the 2012 TicketCity Bowl.

As Stewart Mandel discovered, one can purchase TicketCity Bowl tickets for cheaper on TicketCity.com, a ticket re-selling service, than on TicketCityBowl.com, the TicketCity Bowl’s official site.

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The 2011 TicketCity Bowl is sponsored by TicketCity, an Internet-based ticket vender not far removed from a number of big-name rivals. Guess where it’s possible to get tickets to the 2011 TicketCity Bowl for less than face value?

As pointed out by Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel on Twitter, the TicketCity Bowl is selling tickets from its official bowl website to the game, featuring Penn State taking on one-loss Houston at the Cotton Bowl, for $25, $50, $75, and $125. But check out TicketCity’s listings for the TicketCity Bowl, and things get significantly cheaper: there are a few of the cheapest $25 tickets for a few dollars off, but many more of the more expensive ones are more deeply discounted below face value, like a $75 “premium” ticket going for just $31.

Going 35-17 at UH and nearly reaching the BCS, Sumlin now becomes the first African-American head coach at a major Texas program and A&M’s first-ever SEC head coach. Expect A&M to officially announce him shortly.

For more on the Aggies, visit Texas A&M blog I Am The 12th Man. And check in with our 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker.

At a quick glance, the TicketCity Bowl matchup between Houston and Penn State looks pretty interesting. You’ve got that whole big-conference vs. small-conference thing, as well as a matchup between the nation’s top offense and one of the top defenses on Jan. 2 being played in one of the more historic college football venues.

The problem, though, is that motivation could be a significant issue on both sides. This is not the bowl game either team was hoping to play in, as this is a far cry from the Cotton Bowl, even if that’s where it is played.