2005—Kelly came into the season already having distinguished himself as the first Nittany Lion true freshman to earn placekicking duties in a season-opener since Craig Fayak in 1990. Kelly got the nod in the opener against South Florida and as the regular-season concluded he had further distinguished himself by breaking Fayak’s school freshman scoring record. But, Kelly forever etched his name in Penn State lore in the FedEx Orange Bowl, connecting on a 29-yard field goal in the third overtime to lift the Nittany Lions to a thrilling 26-23 victory over Florida State. Kelly handled the pressure well throughout his rookie season and ranked fifth overall in the Big Ten in scoring (second among kickers) with 99 points. The Sporting News and collegefootballnews.com recognized his efforts by selecting Kelly as a third-team Freshman All-American. He also was named to TSN’s Freshman All-Big Ten team. He connected on 16 of 23 field goal attempts and was 49-of-50 on PAT attempts. His 99 points were good for ninth place on the Penn State season list and shattered Fayak’s freshman scoring mark of 74 points in 1990. Kelly’s game-winning field goal against Florida State gave him 16 for the season to break a tie with Fayak for the Penn State freshman mark. The 16 treys were tied for 11th place on the school season field goal list overall. Kelly came through with the top game of his rookie season against Purdue, connecting on all four of his field goal attempts and going three-of-three on PAT tries to break the school freshman season scoring mark. He made field goals of 27, 25, 33 and 22 yards en route to tallying a season-best 15 points. His 33-yard effort came on the last play of the first half for a 16-7 Penn State lead. The last time a Nittany Lion had made four field goals was Robbie Gould at Wisconsin in 2002. Against Minnesota, Kelly made three field goals, including a 47-yarder, his longest of the season. He also connected on a 41-yard field goal in the huge 17-10 win over Ohio State. Besides his kicking talents, Kelly took a fumbled hold at Michigan and alertly found a seam and demonstrated his athleticism by running for a two-point conversion and an 18-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

High School —Kelly had an outstanding career at Neshaminy HS, where he was a four-year starter in football and a two-year starter on the baseball diamond. He was an Associated Press first-team all-state pick and a four-time all-league selection for Coach Mark Schmidt on the gridiron. Kelly was the Bucks County Courier-Times and The Trentonian’s first-team all-area placekicker. He was 10-of-17 on field goals as a senior and did not miss an extra point his last two years. As a freshman, he connected on a 54-yard field goal and helped Neshaminy win the 2001 Class AAAA state championship. He was selected to play in the 2005 Big 33 Classic against Ohio. Kelly also earned honorable-mention all-state honors and was all-league twice in baseball.

Personal—Full name is Kevin Patrick Kelly. He has an older sister, Meghan, and lists sports and music as hobbies. Kelly is considering a career as a physical education teacher. Born August 1, 1987 in Bristol, Pa.