FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Chris Hogan played only one year of college football. He was an all-ECAC lacrosse player at Penn State, where he was four-year starter at midfield for the Nittany Lions, before transferring to Monmouth for one year of football.

Four teams – San Francisco, the New York Giants, Miami and Buffalo – had him under contract and let him go. The New England Patriots are glad he’s with them now.

Signed as a free agent on March 11, Hogan had the game of his life Sunday night to help the Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 in the AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium, sending New England to the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons in Houston on Feb. 5.

Hogan, who led the NFL in the regular season by averaging 17.9 yards per catch, caught nine passes for a team postseason record 180 yards and two touchdowns – 16 and 34 yards. It was the first two-touchdown game of Hogan’s career.

“He’s made big plays for us all season,” said quarterback Tom Brady, who threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns. “And he made huge plays in the biggest game of the season for us.”

The Patriots will be playing in their NFL-record ninth Super Bowl, the seventh with Brady at quarterback and Bill Belichick as head coach.

On his first touchdown, Hogan was wide open, as the Steelers opted to cover Danny Amendola on the outside and Julian Edelman underneath, allowing Hogan to run unnoticed into the end zone. Brady, given plenty of time to throw, found him in the back of the end zone for the touchdown that made it 10-0.

Then, with the Patriots leading 10-6 in the second quarter, they pulled out a trick play. Dion Lewis took a handoff and quickly turned to lateral the ball back to Brady, a classic flea-flicker. Hogan, lined up on the left, coasted for 10 yards then accelerated across the field, where Brady hit him in stride for the touchdown.

“That was a great call,” said Brady. “They were a little winded, I thought. I got the pitch-back from (Lewis) and saw (Hogan) burning up the field and laid it out for him.”

STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI became the Patriots’ all-time leader in postseason field goals when he kicked a 31-yarder just 1:52 into the game to give New England a 3-0 lead.

It was his 27th career playoff field goal, breaking a tie with Adam Vinatieri. It also moved Gostkowski into fourth place among all NFL kickers.

Gostkowski added two more field goals.

TEDY BRUSCHI, the retired Patriots linebacker, served as New England’s honorary captain and walked out to the field to the chants of, “Tedy, Tedy, Tedy.”

The Patriots have won the previous eight games in which he has served in that role.

LE’VEON BELL, Pittsburgh’s outstanding running back who had 337 rushing yards in Pittsburgh’s two playoff victories, suffered a left groin injury in the second quarter. He tried coming back, ran one play and then returned to the sideline.

He finished with 20 yards rushing. Bell was replaced by DeAngelo Williams, who scored on a 5-yard run in the second.

ROB GRONKOWSKI, the New England tight end out for the season following back surgery, shared a luxury box with rock star Jon Bon Jovi, who is a close friend of Patriots Coach Bill Belichick.

ROOKIE WIDE receiver Malcolm Mitchell was back on the active roster after missing the last two games. That meant veteran wide receiver Michael Floyd, claimed off waivers on Dec. 15 after Arizona cut him, was out of the lineup.

Mitchell, who caught 32 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns in a solid rookie season, suffered a knee injury in the Christmas Eve home game against the New York Jets. He averaged 12.5 yards a catch and was one of Tom Brady’s top downfield talents.

Floyd, who has provided a lift in a few games, was brought in as insurance in case of injuries. With Mitchell and Amendola, who missed the last four games of the regular season because of an ankle injury, healthy again, Floyd was the odd man out.

Other inactive players for New England were quarterback Jacoby Brissett, running back D.J. Foster, defensive backs Justin Coleman, Cyrus Jones and Jordan Richards and offensive lineman LaAdrian Waddle. All were healthy scratches.

Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH