Notre Dame defeats Penn State in Orange Bowl thriller to advance to title game

On By Littum

In a battle for the top-five defense, the No. 5 Notre Dame late to defeat no. 4 Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal at Hard Rock Stadium. The Fighting Irish overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit thanks to quarterback Riley Leonard’s impressive second half.

Penn State opened the scoring on a 20-yard Ryan Barker field goal, then extended its lead to 10-0 on a Nicholas Singleton touchdown run. Leonard left briefly after a hard tackle, but returned and orchestrated a pair of touchdown drives. His game-tying three-yarder tied the game early in the third quarter before Notre Dame took its first lead in the fourth when Jeremiah Love drove across the goal line.

Singleton, who finished with three rushing touchdowns, gave the Nittany Lions a 24-17 advantage midway through the final quarter. But the Irish answered again, tying it on a 54-yard bomb to Jaden Greathouse after Penn State’s secondary fumbled. After a costly Drew Allar interception, Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter made a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left to seal the win.

Notre Dame (14-1) advances to face the winner of the Ohio State-Texas game for the national championship, while Penn State ends its season at 13-3 after falling just short of a title shot.