Capital One Bowl Location, Awful Field Overshadow Penn State Win

The Capital One Bowl location is usually a paradise in Orlando, Florida. But the Capital One Bowl location was defined by mud and slop today. The Citrus Bowl field stopped Penn State and LSU in their tracks, along with the rain and wind. Therefore, this game between two of the top 15 teams in the nation became one of survival. In the end, the Capital One Bowl was a good location for Penn State, as the Nittany Lions pulled out a 19-17 win.

The field in Orlando had been chewed up non stop even before today's game. High school title games, the recent Champ Sports Bowl, and bad weather had plagued the grounds crew for weeks. A bad rainstorm earlier today didn't help either.

They tried to solve it with paint and divots, but the Nittany Lions and Tigers quickly messed up the grass soon enough. By the end of the Capital One Bowl, the location overshadowed and hampered the play of these two prolific programs.

However, Penn State and LSU still had a game to play, and provided a thriller as best they could. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 13-3 lead at halftime, as the Tigers had a much harder time moving the ball on the bad field. Yet they didn't stay down for long, as LSU rallied in their typical fashion for two second half touchdowns, going up 17-16.

The Nittany Lions lost chances to put the game away early, settling for three field goals by Collin Wagner. Yet in the end, a field goal was all they really needed, as Daryll Clark moved them along on his final drive as a Nittany Lion. Wagner kicked a short 21-yard field goal with 57 seconds left, to close out the Capital One Bowl for Penn State.

Despite the difficult location, the Capital One Bowl gave Joe Paterno another 11 win season on his resume. This was a year in which Penn State faced doubters all year, since they beat mostly sub .500 teams, and badly lost their two biggest games at home to Iowa and Ohio State. But in the record books, this was a big year for them, likely to end in the top 10. With Clark graduating, they'll have a harder time repeating it in 2010 with a new quarterback.

For LSU, the Capital One Bowl was not their desired destination. Like Penn State, they lost their two biggest tests of the year, to Florida and Alabama. They also lost a controversial game at Ole Miss to boot, and now finish the year 9-4. Les Miles may start to feel the hot seat, after two straight subpar years by recent LSU standards.

The Capital One Bowl itself will be defined by its battered location and field, rather than much of the play. It brought a sloppy end to a day where Florida hosted three big bowls - though this one got the worst conditions by far. But the grounds keepers in Orlando now have a lot more time to fix things up, before the next round of football games.

Sources

ABC News- "No.11 Penn St. Nips No. 13 LSU 19-17 at Cap One"

ESPN- "Sloppy field major concern for Capital One Bowl"