MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left lifted Notre Dame to a 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl — one of the College Football Playoff semifinals — on Thursday.
The seventh-ranked Fighting Irish (14-1) won their 13th straight game and advanced to the CFP national championship game, which will be played on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Their opponent will be the winner of Friday night’s Cotton Bowl game between fifth-seeded Texas and eighth-seeded Ohio State.
It will be the first time that Notre Dame has played for the national title since 2013 when they lost to Alabama in a game played at Miami Gardens.
Christian Gray’s diving catch over Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with 33 seconds left set up the winning score for the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard completed 15 of 23 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and converted a key first down on the Fighting Irish’s final drive to set up Jeter’s game-winner.
On third-and-3, Leonard found Jaden Greathouse 10 yards to the Penn State 25, and Leonard then ran 2 yards for a touchdown. Jeter, who is 7-8 in the playoffs, sneaked the ball into the deep right field.
Greathouse, who finished with a career-high 105 yards receiving, made his biggest catch when he hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to make it 24 points with 4:38 left.
The Fighting Irish recovered after forcing a Penn State punt. However, Notre Dame’s future was disrupted in the middle of the field when Leonard was sacked by Coziah Izzard, forcing him to punt with 47 seconds left.
The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (13-3) were looking for a shot at their first state title since 1986. They fell despite a stellar game from Nicholas Singleton, who tied the Orange Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns.
Singleton ran for 84 yards on 15 carries. Kaytron Allen added 82 yards on 19 carries to lead Penn State’s potent offense, which totaled 204 yards on the ground overall.
Singleton tied the Orange Bowl mark set five previous times, most recently by two Georgia Tech players, Synjyn Days and Justin Thomas, in 2014 against Mississippi State.
–Field Level Media