MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. —
The University of Notre Dame football program is headed back to the national title game.
On Thursday night in the College Football Playoff Semifinal hosted by the Orange Bowl, the Irish defeated Penn State in a 27-24 thriller that came down to the final possession. With 12 seconds left in a 24-24 game with a trip to the national championship game on the line, Mitch Jeter drilled a 41-yard field goal to send Notre Dame to Atlanta, giving the Irish the 27-24 victory over Penn State.
Just 21 seconds earlier, Christian Gray came up with the biggest play in his young career, intercepting a Drew Allar pass with 33 seconds left at the Penn State 42-yard line to set up the game-winning score.
“That’s what to me is what great teams, great organizations are able to at that moment that they need to do their job or make a play, they do it,” said Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman after the game. “The last play doesn’t matter. There’s unpredictable things that happen all the time, and they find a way to make it work.”
The Irish offense racked up 267 yards passing on the evening, its highest output in a game this season. Jaden Greathouse was a big reason, posting a career-high 105 yards on seven catches, with 98 yards coming in the second half to help lead Notre Dame to the victory.
A crucial stat of the game was third down efficiency, as Notre Dame converted 11-of-17 attempts while the Irish defense held the Nittany Lions to just 3-of-11.
Notre Dame will play Ohio State in the title game at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game will air on ESPN.
HOW IT HAPPENED
On its first drive of the game, Penn State earned one first down, catching the Irish in a blitz and finding the running back for 23 yards across midfield. The Irish defense stepped up there, however. Leonard Moore made a stop on a run for one yard, then performed solid pass defense on the next play to bring up third and nine. The Lions committed a false start to push them back five more yards and the Irish forced a punt after a short six-yard gain.
The Irish were able to flip the field on their first drive. Facing a third and seven, Leonard found Mitchell Evans down the right sideline. The Irish tight end made a contested catch and kept his feet to gain 32 yards into Penn State territory. The drive would stall there, however, and James Rendell came on to punt. He forced a fair catch from the Nittany Lion returner at the two-yard line and Penn State was buried in their own end to start their second possession.
Penn State rushed three times to earn a first down but were forced to punt when Jordan Clark deftly broke up a pass on third and five at the 20. Notre Dame took over at their own 35-yard line after the punt.
Leonard stepped up in the pocket and third and 12 looking deep for Jayden Harrison and the pass was picked off at the Penn State 42-yard line. The Nittany Lions then drove deep into Notre Dame territory and faced a third down at the nine-yard line. Christian Gray looked to have tap danced for an interception in the back of the end zone, but he was whistled for holding the receiver at the line of scrimmage. Penn State was given a first down inside the 10-yard line.
Kyngstonn Vilamu-Asa made a big stop inside the five by standing up the Penn State running back, then Josuha Burnham posted a tackle behind the line of scrimmage to bring up a third and goal at the three-yard line. The teams switched ends to start the second quarter and an inaccurate dropped pass on third down forced a short Penn State field goal attempt which was converted to give the Nittany Lions a 3-0.
The Irish earned a couple first downs on their next drive but would end up losing one of their starting offensive lineman on the drive. Left tackle Anthonie Knapp left the game after having his ankle rolled in a pile and limped to the sidelines. He was replaced by fifth-year senior Tosh Baker. The drive ended just short of midfield and Notre Dame punted again, this time placing Penn State at their own 10-yard line.
Penn State answered the call by putting together their most potent drive of the game. The Nittany Lions drove 90 yards to take a 10-0 lead, running the ball 14 times on a 15-play drive and taking advantage of Notre Dame’s undermanned defensive line. The lone pass of the drive was a quick pass to super star tight end Tyler Warren on fourth and short in the red zone.
Notre Dame responded with its most challenging and unpredictable field goal drive of the season. Aneyas Williams started the drive with a nine-yard catch, then Leonard found Evans across the 40 for a first down. On the next play, Leonard was pressured and threw short of his receiver before taking a big hit and falling hard to the turf. Both Leonard and left guard Rocco Spindler were injured on the play. The Irish were now in the middle of a two-minute drive with their back up quarterback, right guard and left tackle. Charles Jagusah, who was penciled in as the starting left tackle in the preseason before tearing his pectoral muscle, stepped in for Spindler while Steve Angeli, whose last significant playing time came in the 2024 Sun Bowl victory, stepped under center.
Angeli’s first play was a short pass to Williams for a third down and he followed by hitting Faison across the middle for 14 yards. Penn State continued to pressure the quarterback and Angeli was hit in the backfield and fumbled, but Aamil Wagner was able to fight for the ball to keep Notre Dame in possession at midfield.
“I think playing quarterback here and with the culture of our room, my coach prepared me well to step in there,” Angeli said after the game.
“It’s really just about my teammates, trying to be the best I can for those guys and putting them in the best position.”
Angeli found Williams again for 12 yards then Evans at the first-down marker to move the chains. The Irish were faced with a third and six, but a Penn State offsides call provided a third and one. It was Williams again out of the backfield to give the Irish a first down at the 15 with 16 seconds remaining. The next snap to Angeli was a bit high, however, and after juggling the catch he was sacked to bring out Mitch Jeter for a 41-yard field goal attempt. The kick was true and Notre Dame entered the locker room down seven points and facing the possibility of playing the next 30 minutes without their starting left tackle, right guard and quarterback.
Leonard was cleared to return to the lineup to start the third quarter and led the Irish on their first touchdown drive of the game.
“We went through all the tests and they decided I was good to go back, but we definitely took our time and evaluated my numbers from this summer when I took a brain test to when I performed in the tent,” Leonard said after the game.
“(I) passed that, and Steve Angeli, this is a guy who has kind of waited his turn and all year has prepared like he’s a starting quarterback every single week; showed a lot of maturity; and he helps me out a lot. He is a guy in the sideline that knows exactly what the defense is doing. He’s a good friend of mine and I appreciate him a lot, so for him to go in and drive them down the field, three points before half, that was big.”
Jeremiyah Love got the drive going with runs of six, nine and nine more yards as the stalled Irish run game started to find its legs. Leonard then dropped in a perfect pass to Williams down the right sideline on a wheel route out of the backfield 36 yards.
The rookie running back was handed the ball on the next play and broke through a huge hole on the left side for first down to the four-yard line. Leonard kept the ball twice, the second time behind a block from Love, for a three-yard touchdown run to tie the game. The touchdown was the 43rd rushing score of the season for Notre Dame, surpassing the school-record of 42 in 1989.
“As I told the offensive staff and the team in the locker room, we have to be able to run the ball and we’ve got to stop the run,” Freeman said to the media after the game. “That’s not changing. We said that going into the game and we were saying that at halftime. We had to make some adjustments, which we did. We had to try to calm some things down. The running attack — the rushing attack truly helped us open some things in the passing game in that second half.”
The defense stepped up to earn a quick three-and-out, highlighted by Gray stoning the Penn State ball carrier in the hole on third down, to give the Irish back the ball at their own 30-yard line.
Notre Dame would earn one first down but after two short runs and a dropped pass on third down had to punt. Rendell uncorked another solid effort to pin Penn State at their own 15-yard line.
Penn State picked up one first down before the Irish defense put the clamps on. A short run followed by another short scramble brought up third and seven at the PSU 40. Viliamu-Asa performed a great pass rush on the left tackle and made the initial hit on the Nittany Lion quarterback Drew Allar, who wriggled away but was eventually brought down by Rod Heard II. Notre Dame took over possession at their own 28 after the punt.
Ten plays and 72 yards later the Irish would take a 17-10 lead. Evans started the drive with a nine-yard catch and on a big third and long, Jaden Greathouse made a leaping back-shoulder grab to give the Irish a first down at the Penn State 43.
Leonard earned a first down on a short run and Jayden Thomas followed up with an end-around run for 18 yards down to the 16. The Irish then looked for Eli Raridon in the end zone and Penn State was called for pass interference and the ball was placed at the two-yard line. Love took the ball on the next play, broke five tackles and lunged into the end zone for one of the most spectacular two-yard touchdown runs of the college football season.
“It speaks volumes to the heart (Love) has,” Freeman said.
“He gave everything he had to this place. He did not have to play today. Nobody would have batted an eye. But he put team in front of himself and how he felt, and we’ve got a whole bunch of guys like that in that locker room, and that’s why we’re in this position.”
Notre Dame’s 17-10 lead would not last long, however. Penn State quickly answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive highlighted by a 27-yard pass to Tyler Warren. A missed holding call on Gray at the perimeter on a key run into the red zone was not called not called and PSU scored two plays later on a cut back run by Nick Singleton with 10:20 remaining.
The first play of Notre Dame’s next drive, Leonard was intercepted for the second time, this time looking for Evans down the left sideline. Penn State took possession of the ball at the Irish 39.
Notre Dame forced a third and five but Allar kept up the middle for a first down at the Notre Dame 24-yard line. The Irish followed with an interception in the end zone by Jack Kiser, but the official from across the field called pass interference on Adon Shuler and Penn State was given a first down at the nine-yard line. Singleton scored one play later and Penn State took a 24-17 lead with 7:55 left.
The Irish answered in just over three minutes. Greathouse kickstarted the start of the drive with a catch, then pulled off the biggest play of his career. Shaking loose of a defender at the line of scrimmage, Greathouse found himself wide open, was hit in stride by Leonard and then cut back to leave the last Penn State defender on the ground for a 54-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 24-24 with 4:38 left.
TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE
5️⃣4️⃣ YARDS #GoIrish☘️ | @jadengreat1
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 10, 2025
It was time for the Irish defense to step up yet again and they did not let the team down. On third and three, Jack Kiser, Bryce Young and Drayk Bowen all chased down Allar – who had left the pocket – for a big stop short of the chains at the PSU 24-yard line.
Notre Dame received the ball with 2:30 left hoping to drive for the game-winning score and were bolstered by a 15-yard personal foul by the Nittany Lions, but PSU pulled off a clutch sack of Leonard to push the Irish out of field goal range and Rendell punted again with 47 seconds remaining.
Penn State burst for 13 yards off the left side on its first play, which might have prompted the next play call. Allar dropped back, was pressured by Jaylen Sneed and threw late across the middle of the field where Gray made a diving interception at the Penn State 42-yard line.
“That’s what Christian Gray does,” Freeman said. “He makes plays when it matters the most.”
When asked about the play after the game, Gray could only recall the celebration after the catch.
“To be honest with you I really didn’t think about anything after I caught the ball,” Gray said. “I just knew I was just blessed and I just felt God over me after I caught the ball.”
On the first play, Leonard was just tripped up at the line of scrimmage on a quarterback draw but was able to fall forward for five yards. Greathouse continued to make big plays with a leaping catch to get the Irish down to the 25-yard line. After a couple plays to center the ball and a Penn State timeout with 12 seconds left, Jeter was called on to win the game from 41 yards away.
“I think it’s kind of funny to me, because I kind of knew the kick was going to go in,” Leonard said after the game. “We all knew the kick was going to go in. The kid has got ice in his veins. Any time his number is called and he’s got to make it, it’s a lock.”
The kick was true with 10 seconds left. Penn State ran two plays after the kickoff which included a desperation lateral play with the final effort thrown out of bounds and the Irish sideline erupted in celebration.
“Throughout this whole off-season everybody would ask me why I came to Notre Dame and I would give a lot of different answers, but the truth is I came here to win a National Championship and to go to the best team that would give me the best chance to do that,” Leonard said in the post game press conference.
“Obviously this is the right place and I made the right decision.”
Senior captain Jack Kiser, who piled up a team-high 10 tackles in the game, was in a similar mind during the post game media gatherings.
“It’s funny, when a lot of people ask why you come back (it was because) I want to play for a national championship,” Kiser said.
“I want to do something special here at Notre Dame. I want to do my part for this team to reach this ultimate goal. A lot of people brush that off or assume that (is just talk). But it wasn’t like that. It was truly the biggest reason I came back here was because I knew that this locker room was special. I knew this coaching staff was special. Now we get a chance to go do it and get it done.
“I think any competitor wants to be a part of a place that the expectations are to win championships,” Freeman said when asked about his thoughts on the victory.
“We all had a decision to make when we chose Notre Dame as the place we want to either coach or play at. But there’s more to this place than that, too. We know every year we compete. The expectation is to win championships. But there’s more to this university and what it provides for young people. It’s a special place that young people get to grow in their faith, they get to grow in community, they get to make connections that are going to help them for the rest of their lives.”
