Boston College vs. Penn State: Score, Twitter Reaction for 2014 Pinstripe Bowl

Penn State went from not being eligible for a bowl game at all earlier in the year to Pinstripe Bowl champions on Saturday night, beating Boston College, 31-30, in overtime at Yankee Stadium.

In the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the Nittany Lions had been banned from a postseason bowl when the 2014 season began. Then, in September, the NCAA overturned that sanction.

Head coach James Franklin said before the game that the Pinstripe Bowl not only served as a reward for those who stuck around but could also help get the team back on the path toward prominence.

"You want to end on a real positive note," he said, per Audrey Snyder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "[Also] laying the foundation for the expectation moving forward."

Franklin and his players can go home happy, especially since the Penn State senior class hadn't won a bowl game entering Saturday night. The dramatic nature of the victory will only serve to sweeten the moment.

BC kicker Mike Knoll banged home his only field-goal attempt of the night, putting the Eagles ahead, 24-21, with two minutes, 10 seconds left in the game.

That left a lot of time on the clock for Christian Hackenberg and the Penn State offense to at the very least get into field-goal position. The sophomore quarterback engineered a great drive down to the Eagles 27-yard line. Sam Ficken tied the game at 24 with 20 seconds remaining.

Despite having three timeouts and 16 seconds with which to work, Boston College head coach Steve Addazio decided to take a knee following the kickoff, sending the game into overtime.

BC running back David Dudeck drew first blood in OT with a 21-yard touchdown catch. Knoll put Eagles fans on edge after he hooked the ensuing extra-point attempt wide right. USA Today's Dan Wolken was almost apoplectic after the miss:

"

You can’t flat miss an extra point in overtime. You just can’t.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 28, 2014"

Nittany Lions tight end Kyle Carter tied the game with a 10-yard touchdown reception. That left the game at the feet of Ficken, whose extra point split the uprights and gave the win to Penn State.

Hackenberg had his best showing of the season, throwing for 371 yards and four touchdowns. His 34 completions set a school record for a bowl game. Michael Robinson owned the previous mark, per OnwardState.com:

Sports on Earth's Matt Brown thinks the sophomore built some great momentum heading into 2015:

This game featured a battle of strengths between the 13th-best rushing offense (BC) and the top run defense (PSU) in the country. In that respect, Boston College owned a significant advantage. Eagles running back Jon Hilliman went for 148 yards and a touchdown, with quarterback Tyler Murphy right behind him with 105 rushing yards and a TD.

It was the first time BC had two players run for at least 100 yards in a bowl game, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Penn State did well limiting Murphy through the air, as the senior threw for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Defense was the overarching theme of the first half, with the two teams combining for 14 points. Boston College really struggled, moving eight yards or fewer on four of its seven drives. Penn State, meanwhile, stagnated upon crossing the 50, either punting or fumbling three times after entering Eagles territory.

The only two first-half scores came within a minute of one another in the opening frame.

With a little under six-and-a-half minutes left in the first quarter, Murphy threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, turning the ball over to the Nittany Lions on the Penn State 30-yard line. A few plays later, Penn State looked at a 3rd-and-12 on its own 28-yard line.

Rather than play it safe and then punt, Franklin decided to gamble. That decision paid off in spades as Hackenberg floated a ball perfectly over the top of the secondary and into the arms of wideout Chris Godwin for a 72-yard touchdown.

Grantland's Matt Hinton joked that Hackenberg would use tape of the pass in his NFL draft highlight video:

Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.com wondered where the Nittany Lions had been hiding that play all year:

"

Penn State can do that!?

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 27, 2014"

Sensing an opportunity, Franklin opted for an onside kick immediately after the TD. Unfortunately for him and Penn State, this gamble backfired in a big way. A Nittany Lions player recovered, but he was out of bounds when he touched the ball, drawing a penalty that gave Boston College possession at its 48-yard line.

Two plays later, Hilliman broke free and scampered 49 yards into the end zone to tie the game at 7 with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter.

That concluded the scoring until halftime. Penn State had a great chance to put some points on the board until Hackenberg fumbled at the BC 21-yard line early in the second quarter. The Nittany Lions QB had an otherwise strong half. He and Hilliman accounted for 277 of the 358 yards between the two teams, per Bob Flounders of PennLive.com:

Having been hemmed in for the majority of the first 30 minutes of the game, the two offenses exploded for 21 points in the third quarter, with Boston College jumping ahead, 21-14.

Murphy was responsible for the two Eagles scores, first hitting Shakim Phillips with a 19-yard touchdown pass and then keeping the ball on a designed option play and scampering for a 40-yard touchdown run.

Boston College's first touchdown illustrated the difference in the offense between the first and second halves. The Eagles ate up nearly seven minutes off the clock to begin the third quarter, converting on a 4th-and-3 three plays before Phillips' TD.

Mark Wogenrich of the The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, highlighted how well BC also performed on third downs during the drive:

Another fumble from Hackenberg set up the Eagles' second TD of the quarter. Boston College started with the ball on its own 37-yard line, and the offense only needed four plays for Murphy to find the end zone and take a 21-7 lead with 2:12 until the fourth quarter.

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out the Nittany Lions' uncharacteristic struggles stopping the run:

Penn State answered back as the third quarter closed. Hackenberg looked for a quick slant over the middle at the BC 7-yard line. Eagles defensive back Justin Simmons got his fingertips on the ball and knocked it into the air. Luckily for Hackenberg and the Nittany Lions, the pass fell right into the arms of wide receiver Geno Lewis after the deflection, closing the deficit to seven points, 21-14.

Penn State then tied the game with 6:48 left in the fourth quarter. Hackenberg got his third touchdown of the night, hitting wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton over the middle from 16 yards out. Hackenberg threaded the needle with the throw, as Eagles DB Ty-Meer Brown nearly got his hands on the ball, per Mark Brennan of FightOnState.com:

That TD pass set the stage for a fantastic finish. It was a bit of a shame, though, that a missed extra-point attempt was the deciding factor.

Penn State won't care how it won the game. The Nittany Lions are still a few years away from potentially being a national power again, but Franklin has the school on the way back.

For Boston College, it's another heartbreaking loss. Four of the Eagles' defeats this year came by four points or fewer.