Thus ends another Penn State football season.

The Nittany Lions fell 27-24 in a heartbreaker to Notre Dame on Thursday in Miami Gardens, Florida. Despite advancing to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff, Penn State couldn’t toss oranges from the stage after 60 minutes of action.

Our beat writers were in attendance for the Orange Bowl showdown, taking in all of the sights of a fairly warm kickoff.

Notre Dame Fans Take Slight Margin Of Attendance

Penn State fans traveled well to Saturday’s game, but Notre Dame fans did it better. Notre Dame controlled around 60% of the 66,881 fans in attendance and had the noise to demonstrate it, too. While neither fanbase made enough noise for a false start, Drew Allar seemed slightly uncomfortable at times in the atmosphere.

Still, Penn State fans were loyal to wearing white, and the white wall behind the end zone was still pretty impressive.

Hard Rock Stadium: Cool F1 Track, Just Another NFL Stadium

Hard Rock Stadium was the third NFL stadium Penn State played in this year (four, if you count the Coliseum), but it didn’t really jump out as anything more notable than the rest. It was the only active NFL stadium the Nittany Lions played in with an open roof, which makes sense given the climates of various games this year.

However, Hard Rock Stadium is also home to an F1 racing circuit, which was very cool to drive around in a big tour bus. If I ever go back to Miami, I plan on doing donuts on the track in a crappy rental car.

Floridians Cannot Handle The Cold

As a cold front swept Pennsylvania, the same was happening in Miami, though not at the same level. Saturday’s game kicked off at 59º, making it the second-coldest Orange Bowl in history. The locals in attendance weren’t all that thrilled with the weather, bundling up in parkas. However, for the largely northern crowd, a 60º game sounded like a warm day in October, and folks dressed accordingly.

The Capital One Bank Guy Is Awesome

For some reason, the hero of the day was the Capital One Bank Guy from the commercials. The celebrity (?) helped deliver the game ball, while the referee addressed him as “the Capital One Bank Guy,” and spent some time juggling the oranges out of the trophy — no joke.

The Capital One commercial with Derek Jeter and astronaut Karen Nyberg played on the big screens during a game break, and the Capital One Bank Guy got a rousing round of applause from his section. It was surreal.

Unfortunately, the Capital One Bank Guy couldn’t help Onward State staffer Nolan Wick when his credit card declined on an Uber ride. That job fell to the very nice person on the other end of the helpline.

Crushed Oranges & A Tale Of Two Tunnels

Notre Dame players wasted no energy in celebrating what was, admittedly, an impressive win. An offensive lineman crushed orange juice into his mouth without peeling the fruit, Fighting Irish players were dancing on the podium, and tracking their mess across the field.

The tunnel leading to Penn State’s locker room was dry as a bone. It looked almost like it had been swept, there was so little dirt on it. The tunnel leading to Notre Dame’s locker room, however, was a sloppy mess of orange pulp and blue and gold confetti. To the winners go the spoils.