Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum wasn't a bit surprised when he first learned that his Aggies would be facing a team of Penn State's quality in Tuesday's Alamo Bowl. And he certainly isn't surprised to see that the Aggies are being viewed as the underdogs.

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Slocum, after all, is quite familiar with facing favored major powerhouses in the postseason. He's done it ever since he's been the head coach at Texas A&M. And that's why he's a little defensive about his 2-6 bowl record since 1989.

"That's just the way it has worked out," said Slocum, who has faced Florida State, Notre Dame (twice), Michigan, UCLA and Ohio State in the last six A&M bowl games.

"That (bowl record is) the one thing I get hammered for as a coach, and you take that. If you go back and check the opponents, we've been the underdogs in most of those games, and sometimes pretty heavy underdogs. I don't think there's any question that this year out of the Big 12 schools, we've got the toughest opponent. When you look back at how many times the underdog has lost in bowl games, it's a high percentage of the time. That's been our role lately in bowl games, including this year."

The Aggies, who are 6-point underdogs in the Alamo Bowl, have been the underdog in eight consecutive bowl games under Slocum. The only time A&M has been favored in a bowl game during Slocum's tenure as head coach was in 1989, when the Aggies lost to Pittsburgh 31-28 in the John Hancock Bowl.

To make matters more difficult for the Aggies in their effort to turn their bowl trends around, A&M will be facing one of the most successful postseason teams in NCAA history and one of the best bowl coaches ever. The Alamo Bowl will be Joe Paterno's 30th bowl game in 34 seasons as the Nittany Lions' head coach. Paterno's 19-9-1 postseason record gives him the most bowl wins of any coach in NCAA history.

Nevertheless, the A&M players say it is extremely important to conclude this season, which began with national title aspirations, with a bowl victory.

"Definitely," said A&M linebacker Brian Gamble. "That's the one big step we need to take. In the past couple of years, we've had some success beating teams in the Top 10 and winning at home, but we haven't won the bowl games. We're looking forward to going into this bowl game against a top-notch opponent and coming out with a win. That would be an end to a pretty good season this year."

The Nittany Lions enter the postseason on the heels of a three-game losing streak, becoming the first Penn State team to lose its last three games since 1914. No Paterno team has ever lost four straight games.

"It is a challenge," Slocum said of beating Penn State. "It's something we'd like to do. Over the past 10 years or so, we have played teams that are traditional bowl teams like Florida State, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA and Notre Dame. If you check the number of bowls those teams have been in and their experience of playing in bowls, and then you check our record you'll see a difference. For us to get better, that's the next step. We've really haven't had a bad performance.

"A couple of years ago, everyone thought UCLA was going to drill us. We came very close to winning that game. Last year, I think Ohio State was a 15- or 16-point favorite, and that ended up being a 10-point game. We're close, but it goes down as a 'W' or and 'L.' With our players, I told them we are going down there with every intent to win the ball game. We'll give it our best shot. We'll find out which team's better."

The Personnel File

DORR HONORED: Texas A&M quarterbacks coach Ray Dorr was selected as one of two recipients of the 1999 Broyles Lifetime Achievement Award which was presented Dec. 8 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Ark. The award is presented to assistant coaches who have made significant contributions during their collegiate coaching careers. The other recipient is San Diego State defensive coordinator Claude Gilbert.

Dorr, 58, is a 33-year veteran of the coaching profession. He came to Texas A&M in 1997. Dorr was diagnosed earlier this year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease." He has not missed a single meeting or practice due to the disease.

Dorr started his coaching career at Akron University as a graduate assistant and made stops at Kent State, Washington, Southern California and Kentucky before arriving as an assistant coach at Texas A&M. The only time he has not served as an assistant coach was 1984-87 when he was head coach at Southern Illinois University. Among his many quarterback pupils have been Warren Moon, Chris Chandler, Hugh Millen, Rodney Peete, Tom Flick, Steve Pelluer and Rob Johnson.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Randy McCown, Sr., QB. He certainly won't be a candidate for any national or regional awards, but McCown was often solid and even outstanding at times. Although his passes weren't always pretty and his on-the-field decisions were sometimes questionable, McCown finished the season with 2,437 passing yards, second most in school history (2,463 by Kevin Murray in 1986) and 4,250 in his career, fifth most in school annals. His 14 touchdown passes this season tie for the fifth most in school history while his 22 career TD tosses are the sixth most in A&M history.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jason Webster, Sr., DB. The best open-field tackler on the team and one of the best in the nation, Webster tied for third on the team with 74 tackles. He also intercepted a pass in each of the Aggies' first four games. As a result, opposing offenses tended to avoid throwing in Webster's direction throughout much of the rest of the season.

COACH UPDATE: R.C. Slocum (102-31-2 in 11 years at A&M). Slocum, the winningest coach in Texas A&M history, came under some fire from fans following back-to-back road losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska by the combined score of 88-6. But Slocum, who has guided A&M through the tarnished-image days of the post-Jackie Sherrill era, has incredible job security from A&M officials who matter. Slocum also ended any speculation that he might be considering another job when, prior to the Texas game, he announced he would be staying put.

STRENGTHS: As usual, the Aggies have a rock-solid defensive unit. Despite giving up a combined 88 points to Oklahoma and Nebraska -- which was primarily a result of the A&M offense's futility in both games -- the Aggies finished 20th nationally in scoring defense and 12th in total defense. Of course, the No. 1 strength could be punter Shane Lechler, who helped A&M lead the nation in net punting. Lechler ended his career with a four-year average of 44.6 yards per punt, breaking the former mark of 44.3 set by Mississippi's Bill Smith from 1983-86. Lechler also broke the NCAA mark for career 40-yard plus game averages with his 37th.

CONCERNS: The Aggies have struggled to maintain balance on offense all year. The running game improved dramatically in the season's final two games, but overall the offense was a major disappointment. The offensive line has not consistently played well. Another major concern is the place-kicking situation. A&M had seven field goals blocked in 1999.

Noteworthy

REMEMBER THE '95 ALAMO: The last time the Aggies played in the Alamo Bowl, A&M's All America running back Leeland McElroy did not participate due to an ankle sprain. In his absence, freshman running backs Eric Bernard, D'Andre Hardeman, and Sirr Parker combined for 147 yards rushing and one touchdown and outshined Michigan's Tim Biakabutuka, who entered the game averaging 143 per game. The Aggies upended the Wolverines 22-20.

While Parker is gone, Hardeman and Bernard will be playing their final game in an A&M uniform against Penn State. Those are the only two players on the current A&M roster who participated in the '95 Alamo Bowl. But that game did have an impact on the A&M future.

"I remember watching that game as a high school senior," said A&M senior cornerback Jason Webster, probably the Aggies' most consistent defender this year. "The excitement of that game, it probably had an impact on my decision to come to A&M."

The similarities between that game and this year's Alamo Bowl are numerous. The Wolverines went into the 1995 game with a 9-3 record and a No. 14 ranking. The Aggies were 8-3 and ranked 19th. This year, the Lions (9-3) are ranked 13th in the latest Associated Press poll, while the 8-3 Aggies are No. 18.

COMPARISONS A COMPLIMENT: From their "Linebacker U" reputations to their conservative offensive philosophies, and from their consistency in the Top 25 to their head coaches' longtime associations with their schools, Texas A&M and Penn State have numerous similarities. A&M head coach R.C. Slocum says he takes a great deal of pride in hearing those comparisons.

After all, Slocum says, he has always admired Penn State and emulated Joe Paterno.

"I think that's a heck of a compliment. I would take that as a big compliment, other than the fact that I wouldn't want them to think that both teams have old coaches," the 55-year-old Slocum said with a grin. "When I took over as head coach in '89, I looked at other teams and said if I could pattern my program after any team, and which one would fit A&M, then I'd say that image you have of Penn State is an image that would be fitting of A&M. I've always had a good impression of them."

PATERNO PREPARED FOR NOISE: Texas A&M and Penn State have met just twice in their histories, with the Aggies beating the No. 6 Nittany Lions in 1979 in State College and Penn State winning at Kyle Field in 1980. The A&M-PSU game in College Station was the debut of the third decks at Kyle Field. So, Joe Paterno knows something about the reputation Texas A&M fans have for making plenty of noise.

Of course, he not so up-to-date in A&M traditions. "When we played down at Texas A&M (in '80), I'd heard about the '12th Guy' and all of that kind of stuff in the stands," Paterno said of the Aggies' 12th Man tradition. "I was really impressed with the tremendous college environment and atmosphere there."

Although it's not technically a home game for A&M, Paterno and the Lions can expect more noise than ever inside the Alamodome. For the first time in the seven-year history of the Alamo Bowl, the game was sold out in advance. And rest assured, most of those ticket holders will be wearing maroon and yelling for the Aggies.

Paterno, in fact, already has been warned by one of his Big 10 colleagues about the potential crowd noise inside the Alamodome. "I was with (Michigan coach) Lloyd Carr, and he said, 'You better be ready for that noise, baby,' " Paterno said.

Carr's Wolverines lost to A&M in the 1995 Alamodome, 22-20.

BOWL REGULARS: Texas A&M will be making its 25th bowl appearance. The Aggies rank No. 19 nationally in bowl appearances. Only 28 teams in the nation have 20 or more bowl appearances to their credit. Alabama leads the nation with 50 bowl appearances. The game marks A&M's third-straight bowl trip and the ninth of R.C. Slocum's 11-year career as the Aggies' head coach.

A Look Ahead

Here's a glance at who the Aggies will have to replace in the starting lineup next season.

OFFENSE: Five. The Aggies will miss quarterback Randy McCown's intangibles and the clutch-play capabilities of wide receivers Chris Cole and Matt Bumgardner. Mostly, though, A&M will probably miss the blocking abilities of offensive line anchor Semisi Heimuli and fullback D'Andre "Tiki" Hardeman.

DEFENSE: Three. The front seven returns intact and should be improved. But the Aggies lose three starters in the secondary, including dependable coverage cornerback Jason Webster. But at least the backups -- cornerbacks Jay Brooks and Sammy Davis and safety Terrence Kiel -- did get some valuable experience in '99.

SPECIAL TEAMS: One. Unfortunately for the Aggies, that one loss has probably been the team's MVP the last two season. All-American punter Shane Lechler will be sorely missed. And A&M had better solve its problems at kicker, where Terence Kitchens began the season with a bang but ended it with seven blocked attempts.