Sam Ficken drilled home the game winner, only to flee the scene.
Penn State's kicker outran his euphoric teammates to the opposite end of Yankee Stadium's makeshift field before allowing himself to be swarmed at the 15-yard line. The celebration would soon make its way to the top of the first-base dugout, where players embraced each other, family, fans—nyone within reach.
Not the climax of a national championship or a Rose Bowl, this was the scene following a mere chip shot to win the Pinstripe Bowl, a minor, late-December matchup.
But for a tight-knit group of players who just 29 months earlier were slammed with sanctions rendering their football program bowl-ineligible through the 2015 season and scholarship-handicapped even longer, Ficken's extra point to defeat Boston College represented much more.