ORLANDO, Fla. — Dampened by rain, slowed by mud and trailing late in the fourth quarter, Daryll Clark was determined to get Penn State some points.
The No. 11 Nittany Lions and their star quarterback emerged from the muck for a thrilling 19-17 win over No. 13 LSU at the Capital One Bowl.
The late-game drive led by Clark helped set up Collin Wagner's 21-yard field goal with 57 seconds left, and Penn State staved off a last-ditch effort by the Tigers to preserve the victory.
"No matter what … whatever it takes, we have to keep these chains rolling," the senior said in recounting a talk with the offense before the drive. "All we need is a couple points."
Penn State coach Joe Paterno got his record 24th bowl win and handed Les Miles his first loss in five bowls as LSU coach. It was just the second game ever between two popular college football programs.
But the drama extended well beyond the high-profile coaches.
A driving rainstorm turned the field into a mosh pit in some places. LSU rallied from a 13-point deficit late in the second half to take a 17-16 lead on Stevan Ridley's 1-yard touchdown run with 12:49 left.
And LSU had one final chance after Wagner's game-winner. The junior kicker said it was the first time he had ever hit four field goals in a game.
The Tigers got to midfield but right guard Lyle Hitt was whistled for a disputed 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 Randle fumbled as time expired.
LSU was still fuming after the game.
"So the opportunity to go down there and have a chance at a field goal late in the game certainly would have been what we planned," Miles said. "It didn't work out that way."
This game will be remembered as much for the messy beginning as the dramatic finish.
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.
Nevertheless, Clark had a good time in the mud.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "We couldn't use that as an excuse, because they had to play on it, too."
The Tigers weren't as happy afterward.
"That was by far the worst field conditions I've ever seen in my life. For them to say this is the best bowl outside the BCS, I would expect to play on the best field outside the BCS," said LSU receiver Brandon LaFell.
OUTBACK BOWL
AUBURN 38, NORTHWESTERN 35, OT: At Tampa, Fla., Auburn stopped Northwestern's final trick play of the game and, after two earlier celebrations, the Tigers held on for an overtime win.
Wes Byrum kicked a 21-yard field goal in overtime, and the Tigers overcame several mistakes that gave the Wildcats chances for their first bowl victory in 61 years.
On the game's final play, the Wildcats sent backup kicker Steve Flaherty onto the field to try to force a second overtime. But a fake field goal failed when holder Zeke Markshausen took the snap, circled right end and was forced out of bounds by Auburn's Neiko Thorpe at the 2-yard line.
Northwestern kicker Stefan Demos had been injured earlier in the overtime.
The Tigers intercepted Mike Kafka five times — twice in the end zone — and shut down a fake field-goal play to end Northwestern's gallant bid on the last play.
Kafka threw for a career-best 532 yards and four touchdowns. He rallied Northwestern from a 14-point deficit in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Wildcats wasted a chance to win it in regulation.
Auburn (8-5) finished its first season under Gene Chizik with the second-most wins by a first-year coach in school history.
Northwestern (8-5) fell to 1-7 all-time in postseason games. The lone win came against California in the 1949 Rose Bowl.
Walter McFadden returned one of two interceptions 100 yards for a touchdown and Ben Tate ran for 108 yards and two TDs for Auburn, which led 35-21 before Northwestern stormed back with a pair of touchdowns and a 2-point conversion to force overtime.
Demos squandered a chance to win it in regulation, hooking a 44-yard field goal attempt wide right with no time remaining.
Byrum gave Auburn the lead on the first possession of the extra period, and then things got real interesting.
Thinking they had won the game when officials ruled Kafka fumbled when he was sacked for a 10-yard loss, the Tigers rushed off the sideline to celebrate until the call was overturned in the replay booth.
Four plays later, Demos lined up for a 37-yard field goal to tie but hit the right upright, setting off another premature celebration. This time, Aairon Savage was penalized for roughing the kicker, giving Northwestern new life — but also leaving the Wildcats without Demos, who limped off the field.
With Demos injured, the Wildcats sent out Flaherty, and the Tigers were ready for the fake.
Kafka only threw seven interceptions during the regular season and entered Northwestern's first New Year's Day game in more than a decade with a streak of 116 consecutive passes without one.
GATOR BOWL
FORIDA STATE 33, WEST VIRGINIA 21: At Jacksonville, Fla., Bobby Bowden watched the clock run down to :00, then took his last walk to midfield as his Florida State players jumped up and down, thrusting their helmets into the air.
The coach went out a winner, carried off by the Seminoles.
Jermaine Thomas ran for two touchdowns, Florida State scored 20 straight points to take control and the Seminoles knocked off No. 18 West Virginia in the final game of Bowden's storied 44-year career as a head coach.
Bowden finished with a 389-129-4 record, and most importantly to him, a 33rd consecutive winning season. Next week, Jimbo Fisher takes over at Florida State, which finished 7-6 for the third time in the last four years.
That run of mediocrity was the 80-year-old Bowden's downfall — he wanted to stay at least one more season — but on this day, none of that mattered to the Florida State faithful, which serenaded him with "Bob-by! Bob-by!" chants throughout the day, saving their loudest cries for the very end.
With 1:39 left, Bowden trotted down to the Florida State band section, removing his autographed white cap and tossing it into the seats — and the celebration began. "It's got to be memorable," Bowden said. "It's my last dadgum ballgame after 57 years of coaching."
Bowden leaves as major college football's second-winningest coach. Joe Paterno earned his 394th victory Friday.
Noel Devine rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown for West Virginia (9-4), which ran out to a 14-3 lead, then sputtered the rest of the way.
There was even a "wide right" — in Bowden's favor, for a change.
This was Bowden's day, and the Seminoles made sure he wouldn't be denied.
Everything about the matchup was arranged with celebrating Bowden in mind, and that didn't change on game day.
More than 350 of Bowden's former players were there as guests, and thousands of fans — many of whom arrived 2 hours before Bowden — braved 52-degree air and steady rain to line the route the coach and his wife, Ann, would take into the stadium, followed by the rest of the Seminole roster.
There was a pregame video of Bowden highlights. He got a new car, a gift from Toyota and the Gator Bowl. And then came a rare treat even for Bowden, the right to take the flaming FSU spear from Chief Osceola and slam the point into the turf at midfield, one of Florida State's most revered pregame traditions.
"I'm very excited. Ann and I are very excited to be here in front of the Seminoles and also the Mountaineers," Bowden said from the field to a sold-out crowd moments before kickoff. "I couldn't help but get nostalgic when I heard the West Virginia band play their fight song. And then also, to hear the Seminoles play ours."