It took a little extra time, 3 overtimes, but Joe Pa and his # 3 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions came away smiling at this epic FedEx Orange Bowl. The Florida State Seminoles gave it everything they had, but came up just short losing 26-23. One thing was for certain: The game lacked a bit of offense.

It really was a battle of whose defense would break first. The Seminoles only managed to rack up 292 total yards. In a normal game that might not seem so bad, but this includes 3 overtimes. Penn State had quite a few more yards, 403, but still only managed to accumulate 3 more points.

The Nittany Lions should have walked away with the victory much earlier, but the kicker, Kevin Kelly, missed 2 field goals. The first one came at the end of regulation. It was a chip shot, only 29 yards, but the pressure of a huge game got to him. It got to him once more in the first overtime when he had a shot to win it from 38 yards. Florida State’s kicker didn’t get off easily either. He blew an extra point on their second touch down and had a chance to connect on a 48 yard field goal in the first overtime that would have won it. Clearly a solid kicking game is a life-saver. Finally, another attempt at a 29 yarder was all Kelly needed and the game finally ended.

It definitely was exciting to watch, and it was more exciting to hear Joe Pa talk about the game after. The better team did win; it just took a little longer than expected. Congratulations to the Nittany Lions and Joe Paterno.

The game ball goes to Kevin Kelly for finally ending the game. I know he missed several opportunities to win the game, but it was a big game and he did finally pull through.