Lost in all of the Capital One Bowl postgame talk about field conditions at the Florida Citrus Bowl, the MVP performance turned in by Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark and another postseason win for legendary coach Joe Paterno, is the story of walk-on kicker Collin Wagner.

Collin Wagner (#36) and Jeremy Boone (#41) (Photo by Scott McCall)

The homegrown 5-9, 173-pound junior out of State College, Pa. capped off the season with a career day following what otherwise may have been remembered more as a statistical underachievement.

His 21-yard field goal with 57 second to play after the final 12-play drive of the game for Penn State, led by Clark, was Wagner’s fourth field goal in as many tries against LSU in a 19-17 win. That tied a Nittany Lion bowl game record with Travis Forney, who kicked four field goals in the 1999 Outback Bowl.

“Coach told us before we got out there ‘All we need is a couple points so let’s get down there and get in some field goal range. If we can score a touchdown, we can score a touchdown. If not, we have a reliable kicker in Collin Wagner’,” said Clark.

Paterno not only praised Wagner but also credited the entire special teams group for their efforts.

Collin Wagner (Photo by Kevin Baldinger)

“Those kids from LSU came awfully tough on that last one,” said Paterno. “And if there was just that much of a hesitation, if we had to make that much of an adjustment, or Wagner doesn’t have confidence, doesn’t step through it, we might not get it.”

If Wagner was indeed beaming with any measure of confidence, he doesn’t exactly seem to be someone who wears it on his sleeve. Afterwards he was just as calm and cool (if not uncomfortable) while talking to members of the media about kicking in the muck that the Citrus Bowl turf had become.

Each time he was called upon to kick he said he did his best to find a decent patch of grass to plant his foot on before eventually converting on chip shots from 18, 20, 21 and 26 yards out.

If getting the opportunity to make the game-winner was not enough, it was the first time he’s ever made four field goals in any game of his football career. And the impact he had at the culmination of bowl week for Penn State was not lost on the life-long Nittany Lion fan.

“It’s almost indescribable actually, to come out, especially in these kind of conditions, and to perform in this way,” Wagner said.

Game-winning field goal by Collin Wagner. (Photo by Scott McCall)

Although he finished the regular season as one of three placekickers in the Big Ten to nail every one of his extra-point attempts (45-of-45), he ranked just No. 8 in the conference in made field goals and No. 9 in field goal percentage (61.1 percent on 11-of-18 tries).

Not quite the resume that would foreshadow such a storybook ending. Yet such is the life of a walk-on.

“It’s great just to get a chance at the Division I level and Penn State gave me that chance,” he said. “It’s a credit to the coaches – I thank the coaches – for even giving me that chance.”

He won the starting job this season after converting on his only field goal attempt a year ago while playing behind the program’s record-setting kicker, Kevin Kelly. Wagner’s long this year was a 47-yarder in a win against Minnesota and he also went 2-for-2 in road wins against both Northwestern and Michigan.

From here on out though it’ll be what he did at the Citrus Bowl that all other games he plays will be measured by.