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Capital One Bowl
Thursday,
January 1, 2010
1:00 PM
Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando Florida |
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Penn St. - 19 |
VS. |
LSU - 17 |
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Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida |
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 Collin
Wagner kicked a 21-yard field goal with 57 seconds left, and
the No. 11 Nittany Lions staved off a last-ditch drive by
No. 13 LSU for a 19-17 victory Friday.
Penn State (11-2) gave up a 13-point, second-half lead after
Stevan Ridley's 1-yard touchdown run put LSU (9-4) ahead
17-16 with 12:49 left.
But quarterback Daryll Clark led the Nittany Lions on the
game-winning, 12-play drive in crunch time. Penn State had
two critical third-down conversions to help set up Wagner's
game-winner - one of four field goals on the day for junior
kicker.
On the ensuing drive, LSU got to midfield but was whistled
for a personal foul penalty that pushed them back to their
own 40. Quarterback Jordan Jefferson hit Rueben Randle for a
25-yard gain on the game's last play to the Penn State 35
but fumbled as time expired.
 Penn
State coach Joe Paterno got his record 24th bowl win and
handed Les Miles his first loss in five bowls as LSU coach.
This game will be remembered as much for the messy beginning
as the dramatic finish. A driving rainstorm at the start of
the game made parts of the field look like a mosh pit.
Bad footing and dropped passes were normal in the first
half, and Clark fumbled the snap exchange twice - though
both were recovered by Penn State.
Clark, nagged by questions of whether he can win a big game,
ended his college career on a high note. He finished
18-of-35 for 216 yards and 37-yard touchdown pass to Derek
Moye in the first quarter.
Clark also threw one interception - though he could have had
a couple more if LSU had held on to the wet ball.
The Nittany Lions emerged from the muck at halftime with a
13-3 lead, but LSU gained traction after rain subsided in
the second half.
Brandon LaFell's 24-yard touchdown pass from Jefferson with
13 seconds left drew the Tigers within 16-10 to awaken the
slumbering LSU crowd.
Jefferson was 13-of-24 for 202 yards with the TD and one
interception, while LaFell finished with five catches for 87
yards.
Penn State stalled on its next drive, and Trindon Holliday -
the reigning NCAA 100-meter dash champion - returned a punt
37 yards to the LSU 49 to help set up Ridley's TD run.
The teams exchanged stalled drives before Penn State took
over for its game-winning effort with 6:54 left. Clark hit a
Graham Zug one third-and-4 from the LSU 42 for a key
conversion to keep the drive alive.
The field took another pounding after poor conditions
hampered the Champs Sports
Bowl earlier in the week on the same turf. The grounds
crew worked frantically all week in attempt to get the field
in shape for Friday's game.
Rain started falling about a couple hours before game time,
and the field started getting ripped up during warmups.
Pregame routines by the marching bands didn't help either.
Conditions were so bad for both offenses early on that the
teams combined for 15 punts - shattering the bowl record of
10 set Miami, Ohio and Florida in 1973. |
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