By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
The No. 7 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the first team to advance to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff National Championship game. The Fighting Irish defeated the No. 6 seed Penn State Nittany Lions 27-24 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
With the win, the Fighting Irish are playing in their first National Championship since the 2013 season. They will face the winner of the No. 8 seed Ohio State Buckeyes or the No. 5 seed Texas Longhorns on Monday, January 20th in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Buckeyes and the Longhorns will compete in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night.
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Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman is 7-0 against ranked opponents this season. Notre Dame will face another ranked opponent in the championship game.
“A special group,” Freeman said of his team. “You know, you find out a lot about your team at its lowest moments. And this is a group that continues to stay together. They trust each other. They lean on each other. And they got better,
“And that’s the reality of this thing. In those toughest times, that’s when you make the major gains. And I’m proud of this group, proud of this place, proud of this university.”
The Nittany Lions fell to 1-15 vs. Associated Press Top 5 teams under head coach James Franklin. Overall, Franklin is 1-18 in his coaching career vs. AP Top 5 teams, including his stop as the Vanderbilt Commodores head coach.
The game changed with a terrible late play. With 38 seconds left, Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar threw an interception. Quarterbacks are thought not to make this play and it cost Penn State.
After review, Christian Gray’s interception was held up. And this gave the Fighting Irish the ball with 33 seconds.
“You know, you’ve got to be in the moment,” Freeman said in a post-game interview. “My focus is to go to offense, but it’s just an example. You’ve just got to win this play. We knew this was going to be a heavyweight fight. And that’s a really good team we just faced that wasn’t going to quit.
“But I told our guys, we’ve been right here in this position before. And they believed that they got the job done. And I’m really proud of them.”
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard rushed the ball twice. Then, he threw a pass to Jaden Greathouse for a 10-yard game and a first down.
Leonard ran for two more plays. With 12 seconds left, transfer Mitch Jeter made the game-winning 41-yard field goal.
“It doesn’t even feel real,” Leonard said. “Once again, I shouldn’t be the one on the microphone right now. I didn’t do my part (Thursday night), but these guys did, and they carried me throughout the entire game.
“Whenever there was a second of doubt in my mind, I had somebody come up and telling me that they believed in me. So to be here on this stage, we’re going to enjoy it. We got one more left.”
Leonard went 15 of 23 for 223 yards. He had one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
At the end of the second quarter, Leonard was evaluated for a concussion. But was able to return to the lineup.
“I knew I was going to get back out there,” he said. “Obviously, safety first on the football field, but I just kind of had to prove to everybody that I was fine. I got a little wobbly, but it’s all good.”
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Jeremiyah Love had 11 carries for 45 yards and one touchdown. Jaden Greathouse had seven receptions for 105 yards and one touchdown.
Allar went 12 of 23 for 140 yards. He also had one interception.
Nicholas Singleton had 15 carries for 84 yards and three touchdowns. Tyler Warren had six receptions for 73 yards.
The Penn State wide receivers combined for zero receptions, zero yards, and zero touchdowns.
This was a game of runs. Penn State led 10-0 before Notre Dame responded with 17 straight points.
Then, Penn State scored two straight touchdowns. Finally, Notre Dame scored the final 10 points.
Notre Dame outscored Penn State 24-14. Jeter made the aforementioned game-winning field goal. Leonard hit Greathouse for a 54-yard touchdown reception.
Love scored on a two-yard rushing touchdown. Leonard also scored on a three-yard rushing touchdown.
“I just started trusting the Lord,” Leonard said about the Fighting Irish’s second-half success. “I looked up and said, ‘Jesus, whatever your will is for my life, I trust it 100%. And I know this offense and this team trust in Jesus and his plan for this season.”
Penn State’s Singleton scored on a seven-yard rushing touchdown. He also scored on a second seven-yard rushing touchdown.
Penn State led 10-3 at halftime. Singleton scored on a five-yard rushing touchdown. Ryan Barker made a 20-yard field goal.
Jeter also made a 41-yard field goal.
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