With an announced crowd of 53,304, Saturday's Croke Park Classic between UCF and Penn State became Ireland's most-attended college football game of all-time surpassing the 48,820 that witnessed the 2012 Navy-Notre Dame matchup in Aviva Stadium.

That number includes an estimated 20,000 American visitors, meaning the majority of fans were Irish locals.

Just like fans posting on UCFSports.com, the Irish sport fans over at Boards.ie were commenting throughout the game and afterward some recapped their experiences. It was the first American football game many had attended in person, so some of their observations are quite interesting.

Here's a sampling of some of the comments from the 40-page thread, which dates back to the initial announcement of the game.

After Penn State took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, JONJO THE MISER expected to see an offensive shootout.

"Always will be high scoring for a match abroad as they have been told to go for lots of points to show off the game to foreign crowds," he posted.

During UCF's early goal-line series that was stopped on four downs, padraig_f could sense that coaches were hesitant to test Pete DiNovo's arm.

"UCF don't seem to trust their QB too much, pretty conservative there."

The Irish watching on the "telly" didn't know what to think by the on-field demonstration of "road bowling," which was one of several segments geared to educate the American TV audience about sport in their country.

From Hammar: "Why not a piece on Gaelic Football using clips of last weeks great game. Road Bowling??? Its played in maybe two or three counties in a few different areas."

Others commented that road bowling is big in Cork, which is the hometown of UCF kicker Sean Galvin.

Dirty Dingus McGee then weighed in: "It always annoys me but whenever foreigner arrive in this country it seems that the official line is that hurling is pretty much the only sport we actually play. Apparently we're mad for hurling in this country despite most counties not bothering with it (unfortunately). If we promoted hurling as much to the people of this country we'd be much better off."

After a sluggish first half, UCF replaced DiNovo with quarterback Justin Holman who sparked the Knights to a 24-23 lead with about a minute remaining. That proved to be too much time on the board as Penn State drove down the field and kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired.

padraig_f : "Fun game, UCF unlucky not to hang on."

jack presley: "Yeah, great craic. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Was hoping UCF would make a stand at the end but not to be."

Craic is an Irish term that means "good fun" or "good times."

In the hours to follow, many who were there in person began sharing their experiences.

baby and crumble: "That's was a great game! My first time ever seeing live football, only got sucked in in the last few years. Now I reeeeeally want to see if I can get tickets to one of the Wembley games! The Penn State support was great, really cool to be in the thick of it."

jack presley posted a photo of someone at the game wearing a Johnny Manziel Cleveland Browns jersey, which others found quite amusing.

OU812 says the experience converted his brother into a football fan.

"Fantastic game. Made a converted out of my brother who begrudgingly came along, moaning right up to the start. He was screaming at the pitch at the end and has just called me to find out when the next one is... When is the next one?"

It seems like some even did their homework as one fan noted he was surprised DiNovo had beat out Holman for UCF's starting quarterback job.

From JaMarcusHustle: "Very enjoyable day. The first half got a bit boring, especially the second quarter but that second half of football was terrific. Was surprised that Holman didn't start at QB as he was supposed to have the better spring. But he looked like a superstar when he came. Had he started, I don't think it would have been very close at all. Penn State had more than 10 times the total yardage that UCF had before he came in."

From Shedite27: "Fecking savage day. 8th game I've been to (3 college, 5 NFL) and first I've seen settled by the final play. Had the over backed too so happy out. Pity it wasn't in the Aviva, looked silly looking down on an empty hill all day, mind you, the ESPN crew did a great job of avoiding that. Jesse James is a legend, plus that WR, thing he was number 7 for Penn. Great day out. Penn State fans were a credit. Really, really great day."

As the most-popular European sports feature a running clock, the frequent timeouts were something to get used to.

shotgunmcos: "Apart from the empty stand and rip off programme, great day. Sat with some Penn State fans amongst the UCF hoarde in a great spot. Wife very pregnant and we had planned to ship a few mins before the end. Glad I didn't, what a finish! Super atmosphere, some slick game play from QB#14 and WR#7 for Penn. The Wife got right into it too but was puzzled why the game, apart from stoppages, just seem to pause quite often? When I told her it was for commercial breaks she cracked up ?? The noise was cool, the F16s very cool, mexican wave fun and I cannot wait for the NFL reg season to K.O!!!"

That Guy adopted UCF as his team.

"Really enjoyed that yesterday. Penn State fans were great even if I was cheering for UCF. Great second half of football. Not sure what it looked like on TV but looking around, it felt quite cavernous. My mate was more interested in the gargle but I really got into it. Thought the F-16's were a really nice touch after the anthem."

Beefy78 was also a first-timer to attending an American football game.

"Really enjoyed that and you can't ask more for your first football game than it being decided on the final play. At first I found it slightly more confusing to watch live than on TV with the benefit of commentators to explain calls, etc, but that subsided as the game went on. Very strange atmosphere - fun but so massively different to what I'm used to being a soccer fan. Of course Croke Park probably played a part there. I thought the Hurling demonstration at half time was a great idea and everyone I sat with was really impressed with it as a sport."

RayCon also enjoyed himself.

"Great day out - great game. First time to go to a game "in the flesh" - absolutely loved it. First two qrts I thought Penn State were gonna walk away it (despite only leading by a single score). UCF's rushing game was poor and the passing game was non-existant - only for their defence , they would have been buried. 3rd & 4th Qrt's - UCF's Qrtback remembered he could throw and the drama went up a notch. To have the game decided on the final play with 3 secs left on the clock - just brilliant (even if I was a tiny bit gutted for UCF). Will definitely go to the next one (if/when it happens). Also enjoyed the Hurling 11's exhibition at half time ....."

From Heroditas: "Thoroughly enjoyed the game. Penn State qb had an armchair ride for much of the afternoon but was still excellent. Bizarre that UCF were still in it when you looked at the stats. Holman was fantastic and really made a difference for the Knights. I was hosting a group yesterday and only a couple would regularly follow the sport. One of the group said "ah that's game over" when UCF scored the late touchdown but was intrigued and astonished when I said there was plenty of time to work upfield for a field goal if they kept running out of play and used whatever timeouts they had left. Sure enough...

"Much different watching it in the flesh to the TV and the PA was shocking where we were - we couldn't make out what the ref was saying. Thankfully the main match commentator was a bit clearer.

"There's so much happening between plays what with the cheerleaders and also dragging fans out of the crowd to take part in little competitions. It's a very enjoyable afternoon.

"Also, it's a great social sport - with all the breaks you can chat to people and mingle instead of having your eyes glued to the pitch, screaming your head off for nearly two hours."

Paully D agreed with the previous poster.

"Really enjoyed it myself and had a great day. Like Heroditas has mentioned above, it was strange UCF were even in the game when you looked at the statistics. I remember glancing over and seeing UCF had about 10 yards on the ground and 20 odd through the air, compared to about 250 through the air for Penn State, yet they were only a TD behind.

"Holman must have been shocking in practice to not to be able to win that starting job. That catch by Reese on 4th down near the end of the game was amazing.

"Fantastic drama at the end and if anyone was skeptical about American football before going to that game the finish will surely have turned them. We also got to see a record broken, as Hackenberg became the first QB in PSU history to throw for over 400 yards in a game!

The tickets in the Upper Hogan were immense and anyone who got moved there from the Hill landed a nice touch considering the tickets were only €20. I'd aim for that section again the next time I go to a game in Croke Park. Overall, a great day."

In a later post, Paully D disagreed with a fan who didn't like "stop-start" nature of American football and its timeouts.

"I found the stop-start nature to be beneficial to be honest, though I was drinking so found it helpful in terms of being able to pop to the bar and toilet without missing any action. I thought it made a nice change from being in need of the toilet after about 5 minutes of a Premier League and being afraid to pop out without missing something. It must be difficult for the players mind. Pumped up ready to get on the field and they have to stand around for a couple of minutes."

Blut2 thinks it would have been a sellout (Croke Park holds more than 80,000) had the ticket prices been less expensive.

"Great game, and a great day out. A couple of my friends had never watched an American Football game before, what an introduction for them! It would have been nice if it had been fully sold out, hopefully the next time it happens its priced slightly cheaper so that can happen. The only minor negative I can think of was the PA for the ref was awfully hard to hear at times. Also, everyone I know absolutely loved the F16 flyover. What a spectacular touch."

Bateman left also quite pleased with his experience.

"Great day out, was sitting in with the UCF fans, when they got the "game-winning" TD but left 1:13 left on the clock it was obvious what was going to happen, very exciting finish all the same."