The Orange Bowl saved the best for last.
A raucous fourth quarter in the College Football Playoff semifinal game at Hard Rock Stadium saw Penn State and Notre Dame trade body blows but the Fighting Irish ended with a thrilling 27-24 win
Penn State, with the ball with under a minute to go and a chance to move into field goal range, turned the ball over when Drew Allar threw an interception to Notre Dame’s Christian Gray.
during the third quarter of Notre Dame’s 27-24 College Football
Playoff semifinal win over Penn State. Getty Images
That set up Notre Dame in plus territory, and after six plays, kicker Mitch Jeter snuck a 41-yard field goal inside the left upright to put the team up for good with seven seconds left.
Notre Dame will take on the winner of Friday’s Texas-Ohio State semifinal in the national title game on Jan. 20.
Penn State rolled early in the first half, scoring the game’s first 10 points before Notre Dame notched a field goal in the final seconds in the second quarter.
That momentum carried in the second half with Notre Dame scoring the first 14 points off of impressive rushing touchdowns from quarterback Riley Leonard and running back Jeremiyah Love.
Nicholas Singleton for Penn State pushed back, though, scoring touchdowns on consecutive drives to give him three on the day and giving the Nittany Lions the lead with 7:55 left in the fourth
The latter came after a pass interference call wiped out a would-be Adon Shuler interception, which angered both Notre Dame and its fans.
Nonetheless, the Fighting Irish rallied on their next drive when Leonard connected on a 54-yard score with Jaden Greathouse.
Leonard threw for 223 yards with one touchdown and two picks while Allar was held to 139 yards through the air.
Singleton and fellow running back Kaytron Allen finished with 84 and 82 yards, respectively, in the loss.
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