Gary Cismesia? He just left as the latest Florida State kicker to not get it done.

It was an epic Orange Bowl, a triple-overtime classic between the two winningest coaches in major college football history, a battle between the champions of the Big 10 and Atlantic Coast conferences.

But it came down to a couple of kickers who struggled mightily as a long night turned into early morning.

Kelly missed two potential winning field-goal chances, the first a 29-yarder with 35 seconds left in regulation, then a 38-yard try to end the first overtime. But the freshman ended it in the third overtime, coming through from 29 yards out to give Penn State a 26-23 win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

“Everybody just telling me to relax and stay focused. ‘Don’t worry about the first one, don’t worry about the second one. You’ll get the third one, eventually,”‘ Kelly said. “It’s something most people can only dream about. It was a great experience, just going through the ups-and-downs with the team.”

When Kelly got to Penn State coach Joe Paterno after the second miss, the veteran coach patted his back and tried to comfort him, as if to say that everything would turn out fine.

JoePa knew best.

“One play here, one play there and it could have gone the other way,” Paterno said. “But we got it, and I’ll take it.”

Kelly’s misses probably will soon be forgotten.

Cismesia, a sophomore, almost certainly won’t be as lucky.

It’s an exclusive club, one no Florida State kicker wants to be part of. The group’s defining trait is missing big kicks in the Seminoles’ biggest games, particularly ones either against or in Miami.

And Cismesia became a charter member Tuesday night, when he missed a critical extra point, plus two field goals — including one off the right upright in the third overtime, helping seal Florida State’s fate.

“When they pick the all-time missed field goal coach, I’ll probably get the award,” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. “We’re masters at that.”

Nearly every Florida State kicker in recent memory, from Gerry Thomas to Dan Mowrey to Matt Munyon to Xavier Beitia — and now Cismesia — has been in this position.

Beitia missed a 43-yarder wide left against Miami as time expired in 2002, allowing Miami to escape with a 28-27 win. He missed again in the 2004 Orange Bowl, when the Hurricanes won 16-14, then had a field goal blocked when Miami beat Florida State in overtime to open the 2004 regular season.

Thomas missed a 34-yarder wide right in 1991 that gave Miami a 17-16 win over Florida State. Mowrey missed a 39-yarder wide right the following year that gave the Hurricanes a 19-16 win. And in 2000, Munyon missed a 49-yarder as time expired and Miami won 27-24 in Wide Right III.

And Cismesia’s last kick? Maybe it’ll be known as Right Goalpost I.

He walked slowly off the field after his last miss, then slammed his helmet twice into the turf. Teammates surrounded him, shielding him from television cameras. And he didn’t come into a postgame media session.

But nothing will be able to shield him from becoming the star of the Seminoles’ latest kicking nightmare.

“It’s a tough situation, no matter how you want to look at it,” said Kelly, who added that he felt bad for Cismesia. “It came down to the wire and we pulled it off. It could have gone either way.”

It’s only fitting it took him awhile to win the Orange Bowl.

After Kevin Kelly’s 29-yard field goal in the third overtime gave No. 3 Penn State a 26-23 victory over No. 22 Florida State, Robinson rushed the field with his teammates, pumped his arms and then hugged tackle Andrew Richardson at midfield.

“This game is what our senior class has been through, we’ve been up, we’ve been down, but we finished it right,” Robinson said, standing next to coach Joe Paterno and a bowl of oranges.

Robinson was 21-for-39 with a touchdown and interception. But he couldn’t quite break out against Florida State’s quick defenders for some of the big runs that highlighted his year.

He finished with 21 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Still, the Orange Bowl win put an exclamation point on Robinson’s final season in Happy Valley. He was happy, at last, as a starting quarterback after also playing at running back and receiver during his career.

Heading into the season, Paterno entwined his fate with how Robinson would play, though the senior had never spent a full season at quarterback since coming to Penn State. Some fans clamored for strong-armed backup Anthony Morelli to step up.

Instead, it was Robinson who stepped up and showed he could lead the team, after cutting down on turnovers and making big plays with his arms and legs.

“This guy, this guy over here, has been making plays in the clutch all year,” a smiling Paterno said after the game.

They’ve grown so comfortable that Robinson said he argued with Paterno on the sideline after a fake field goal was called for on second down in the third overtime. That play was scratched after Robinson’s input.

“Once I heard what it was … me and coach had it out,” Robinson said.

But they quickly patched things up, as they always do. In fact, it was Robinson who gave an impassioned defense of the venerable coach as the Nittany Lions celebrated on the field.

“Coach Paterno took a lot of criticism,” Robinson said, standing next to the man himself. “I can’t believe people wanted him to leave. We finished it the way we wanted to finish it.”

But he had to do it without some key weapons. Star freshman Derrick Williams has been out since the last-second loss to Michigan with a broken left arm and starting running back Tony Hunt left in the first quarter after appearing to hurt his left ankle.

Robinson got help from some lesser-known Nittany Lions. Austin Scott came in for Hunt and had 110 yards and two scores, while Ethan Kilmer had six catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Waiting at the door, wife Sue shouted his name three times before he heard. She dropped her cane as she rose from a chair, gave him a hug, kissed his cheek and rubbed his back.

‘’It’s late,'’ Paterno said.

Way past his bedtime, in fact, as he wryly noted. But the 79-year-old coach showed in the Orange Bowl that he’s still spry enough to win a marathon.

Paterno’s Nittany Lions needed 4 1/2 hours, three overtimes and three tries at a game-winning field goal to beat 76-year-old Bobby Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles, 26-23. The epic ended at 1 a.m. Wednesday, and Paterno found the result worth the wait.

After consecutive losing seasons left restless fans in Happy Valley grumbling ‘’Joe must go,'’ Paterno quieted critics with an 11-1 record marred only by a last-second loss to Michigan. His first Orange Bowl win since 1974 could vault the Nittany Lions to No. 2 in the final rankings Thursday.

‘’To think that people actually wanted him to give up the game, to call it quits - I’m at a loss for words,'’ Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson said. ‘’He’s a great coach.'’

Five victories separate Bowden and Paterno, who rank 1-2 in Division I-A wins, and the margin between them was even slimmer in Miami.

Smothering defense and sudden scoring strikes - including an Orange Bowl-record 87-yard punt return by Florida State’s Willie Reid - kept the teams close. So did errant kicks by both sides that could have won the game.

Gary Cismesia missed first: His failed extra-point attempt in the second quarter was his first in 46 career attempts.

Penn State’s Kevin Kelly , hampered by a shaky hold, was wide left on a 29-yard field-goal attempt with 35 seconds left in regulation, and the game went into overtime at 16-all.

Florida State had possession first, and Cismesia missed again, this time on a 44-yard field-goal attempt. It was all painfully familiar to Bowden, beaten by archrival Miami six times because of missed or blocked field goals.

‘’When they pick the all-time missed field-goal coach, I’ll probably get the award,'’ he said.

Kelly then attempted a 38-yard game-winner. Bowden started onto the field, thinking the kick was good, but Kelly pushed it left.

When the dejected freshman reached his bench, Paterno gave him a pat on the back.

‘’He said to me, ‘Coach, I’m sorry,”’ Paterno said. ‘’I said, ‘You’re going to have another chance to win the game. Forgot about that one. Just get your head on right to get the next one.”’

In the second overtime, each team scored a touchdown - and even managed to kick the extra point.

Then Cismesia misfired for the third time, his 38-yard try bouncing off the right upright as thousands of Florida State fans groaned in unison.

Penn State picked up a first down at the 13. On second-and-9, Paterno ordered a fake field goal and sent Kelly back into the game.

Quarterback Robinson argued with his coach.

‘’He kept jabbering at me, ‘We don’t need to do that,”’ Paterno said. ‘’He wanted to run the ball.'’

Florida State’s defensive alignment negated plans for the fake, and Kelly instead split the uprights for his first game-winning field goal since ninth grade.

No. 22-ranked Florida State finished 8-5, Bowden’s worst season since 1981. For the Seminoles, the ending could have been so much sweeter.

‘’It came down to one play,'’ said Paterno, munching on a breakfast roll Wednesday at the team hotel after sleeping less than two hours. ‘’His kid hit the goal post and it goes out, and ours goes in.'’

To Paterno, the shame about the game is that many fans missed the wild finish because they were asleep. He dislikes the way the Bowl Championship Series allows television to dictate starting times, and would prefer an earlier kickoff.

That’s especially true with two septuagenarian coaches involved.

‘’My daughter said to me, ‘When you and Bowden are going to play each other again, they have that early-bird dinner. Why don’t you have an early-bird TV game?”’ Paterno said.

‘’I thought that was pretty good. I’m going to propose that to ABC - that we play the game at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I’m sure they’ll be very happy with that.'’

An email has been sent to you giving you details how to login to the administration section. From there you can change the design by clicking on the tab MANAGE and then click on the tab THEMES. If you have any questions ask them in the forum. We are only too willing to help.