Nittany Lions cap dream season with 3OT Orange Bowl victory

Miami, Fla. Jan. 3 -- Kevin Kelly and the Nittany Lions proved the adage that the third time's the charm. In the third overtime period of the 72nd FedEx Orange Bowl, Penn State's defense held Florida State to a field goal attempt, which Gary Cismesia bounced off the right upright and missed. Kevin Kelly -- who had chances to win the game at the end of regulation and in the first overtime, ended the five-hour contest when he converted a 29-yard field goal on the ensuing series.

Meeting for just the third time in their storied histories, Penn State defeated Florida State 26-23 in triple-overtime in front of 77,773 at Dolphins Stadium in South Florida.

Kelly's game-winning attempt at the end of regulation sailed wide left, but he had another chance to win the game on Penn State's first overtime possession when the Nittany Lion defense held and Cismesia missed his 44-yard kick. Kelly's second game-winning try also went left, forcing a second overtime period.

"I was upset after the first miss but upbeat after the second," said Kelly after the game. "I figured what are the odds of missing a third try?"

In the second overtime, Austin Scott punched it in from two yards out and Kelly drilled the extra point, giving the Lions a 23-16 lead. The Seminoles tied it at 23-23 when B.J. Dean ran it in from two yards out, setting up the third and final overtime.

"This game was everything this senior class has been through," said an elated Michael Robinson after the game. "We were up, we were down, but we got back up again and took care of business."

Penn State improves to 4-1 all time in the Orange Bowl, with every visit under legendary coach Joe Paterno, who leads all coaches with 21 bowl victories.

Like sumo wrestlers circling each other before a bout, Penn State and Florida State spent most of the first quarter sizing each other up. Then, the Nittany Lion offense -- with a kick from backup tailback Austin Scott -- took control of the game's momentum.

Scott carried five times for 57 yards on Penn State's second drive -- which covered 85 yards in eight plays -- and skipped untouched off left tackle for the first score of the game. For the game, Scott led Penn State's rushing attack with 26 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

At the end of the first period, the Nittany Lions led 7-0.

In a wacky second quarter, the Seminoles went ahead with 13 unanswered points before yielding the lead to Penn State as the half drew to a close. With four minutes left in the half, Florida State knotted the game at 7-7 when Willie Reid returned a Jeremy Kapinos punt 87 yards for a touchdown. Penn State punted on its next possession, and on the first play of the ensuing Seminole drive, Weatherford hit Lorenzo Booker for a 57-yard touchdown. Cismesia missed the extra point making the Florida State lead 13-7.

The Lions answered with a lightning-quick scoring drive before the half to take the lead into the break. It took just two plays; Robinson completed a pass to Jordan Norwood for 15 yards and connected for a 25 yard completion to Ethan Kilmer, who made a circus catch over the back of a Florida State defender for the touchdown. Kevin Kelly's extra point gave Penn State a 14-13 lead at halftime.

Down a point, deep in Nittany Lion territory and faced with fourth-and-short in the waning moments of the third quarter, Bobby Bowden elected to try for the conversion. Calvin Lowry and Tamba Hali ran Lorenzo Booker out of bounds, thwarting the threat and turning the game's momentum squarely in Penn State's favor.

The Lions used that momentum early in the fourth quarter, when Jim Shaw forced Seminoles quarterback Drew Weatherford into grounding the ball in the end zone -- a safety. The play gave Penn State a 16-13 lead.

Florida State then tied the game with a 48-yard field goal by Cismesia, making the score 16-16 with four minutes left, setting up overtime.

The winning kick was supposed to be a fake on second down, but the Lions did not get the defensive look they wanted. Holder Jason Ganter made the correct call to go ahead with the kick and Kelly brought the show to a close.

"That was the longest football game I have ever been involved in," joked Paterno afterwards. "I was looking at my watch thinking 'when is this thing going to be over. I am usually in bed for a few hours by this time.'"

Naturally, much of the Orange Bowl hype surrounded the coaching match-up between Bowden and Paterno; the game featured the all-time winningest major college coaches in the game's history.

In his 40th season as head coach and 56th as a member of the Penn State coaching staff, Joe Paterno's career record improves to 354-117-3 (74.9). Bowden, who also is in his 40th season as a head coach (30th at FSU), now owns a 359-107-4 career mark. Joe Paterno improves to 7-1 all time against Bowden.

The Nittany Lions finish the season on a wave of success, having won 13 of their last 14 games overall, dating to a dramatic last minute goal line stand to preserve a 22-18 win at Indiana on Nov. 13, 2004.

Penn State opens the 2006 season at Beaver Stadium against Akron on Sept. 2.