SAN ANTONIO -- After a sluggish start, Penn State came alive in the second quarter and led 17-14 at halftime. The Nittany Lions showed resiliency in responding to a very quick Aggie start.

The Lions drove 65 yards on their opening possession and then faltered as kicker Kevin Kelly pulled right a 47-yard field goal. Texas A&M responded, scoring on Mike Goodson's 24-yard option play on which the A&M tailback ran untouched into the corner of the end zone.

On the ensuing kickoff, Penn State returner A.J. Wallace fumbled on the Lions 16-yard line when swarmed by A&M defenders Matt Featherston and Kenny Brown. Goodson sliced through Penn State's helpless-looking defense on the very next play for a 16-yard touchdown run that gave the Aggies a 14-0 lead and a heavy helping of momentum from the pro-A&M crowd.

The Nittany Lions then clamped down defensively and pummeled the Texas A&M defense with steady doses of senior tailback Rodney Kinlaw, who rushed for 90 yards on 13 first-half carries.

At the start of the second quarter, the Penn State defense finally stood up to the Aggies, forced a three-and-out and then used Kinlaw to propel a 65-yard scoring drive that culminated in a diving touchdown grab by Deon Butler with 11:06 remaining in the half.

Kinlaw rushed for 35 yards on four plays on the drive. Kinlaw's mobility from the backfield set up the pass, as Butler later sneaked past defensive back Arkeith Brown on a high-lofted 30-yard pass from quarterback Anthony Morelli. That narrowed the score to 14-7.

On A&M's subsequent possession, Aggie tailback Mike Goodson fumbled a screen pass in the middle of heavy Penn State traffic -- and the Lions hopped on the loose ball, swinging momentum in their favor.

Backup quarterback Daryll Clark, inserted sporadically throughout the first half, infused a spark in the Penn State offense and on the Lions next possession cut up the middle of the field on an 11-yard touchdown scramble. He evened the score, 14-14, with 9:07 remaining in the half.

Clark, who regularly lined up in the shotgun and breaking loose on options or designed sweeps, rushed for 42 first-half yards.

With 22 seconds remaining in the first half, Kevin Kelly capped an exhausting 16-play drive by hitting a 23-yard field goal to give the Lions the 17-14 edge going into halftime.

-- Mark