Notre Dame advances to national title game on last-second field goal vs. Penn State: Highlights

The Fighting Irish capitalize on the Drew Allar interception, hitting a go-ahead field goal with nine seconds remaining to take a 27-24 lead.

The winding kick by Mitch Jeter just snuck in the right upright from 41 yards out.

Oh no!

Drew Allar just made his worst play of the night, throwing the ball back over the middle on a 1st-and-10 and right into the hands of Notre Dame defensive back Christian Gray.

Very poor decision by Allar, who was scrambling left as he threw back to his right.

The Fighting Irish will have the ball on the Nittany Lions 42 with all three of their timeouts and 33 seconds to go.

The Nittany Lions will have another chance to win this game in regulation after Riley Leonard was sacked on 3rd-and-5 from the Penn State 44.

Notre Dame picked up 28 yards in six plays on the drive, but couldn’t get into field goal range.

The Nittany Lions will take over on their own 15 with two timeouts and 47 seconds remaining.

Great stop by the Notre Dame defense, which stuffed Penn State on 3rd-and-3 to force a punt after three plays. The Fighting Irish will take over from their own 24 with 2:34 to go and the game tied at 24.

This game is turning into a certified classic as a wild fourth quarter continues.

Notre Dame has tied the game after a 54-yard pass from Riley Leonard to Jaden Greathouse, who left multiple defensive backs on the ground en route to the end zone. Penn State safety Jaylen Reed is especially going to have a hard time watching the replay as he got completely crossed over by Greathouse after the catch.

It’s now a 24-24 game with 4:38 to go.

Two plays after the interception that wasn’t, Penn State has taken the lead.

Nick Singleton had another bruising touchdown run, this one from seven yards, for his third score of the night.

After 17 straight Notre Dame points, the Nittany Lions have scored 14 straight to take a 24-17 lead with 7:55 left in the fourth.

Drew Allar threw deep to Tyler Warren and was picked off…but the play was nullified due to a pass interference penalty. ESPN Rules Analyst Matt Austin agreed with the call, which seemed pretty obvious.

That’s the second Notre Dame interception taken away by penalty.

What a play!

Dani Dennis-Sutton dropped into coverage from the defensive line and picked off Riley Leonard, the Notre Dame quarterback’s second interception of the night.

The Nittany Lions now have the ball inside Notre Dame territory in a 17-17 game.

We are seeing some TOUGH runs tonight.

This time it’s Nicholas Singleton bullying his way into the end zone from seven yards out for the game-tying touchdown. Penn State went 75 yards in seven plays to knot things back up in Miami.

It’s 17-17 with 10:20 to go.

What an individual effort from Jerimiyah Love.

On 1st-and-goal from the two, Love powered his way into the end zone, fighting through multiple tacklers before eventually stretching the ball over the goal line for a score. Several Penn State defenders tried to bring down Love before the end zone but he could not be stopped.

Notre Dame has scored 17 unanswered points to take a 17-10 lead early in the fourth.

We have a tight one headed into the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame has the lone touchdown of the second half so far, and is driving inside Penn State territory as we head to the final 15 minutes.

Can the Fighting Irish hold off the Nittany Lions’ pass rush? And can Penn State revive the run game that dominated in the first half?

We’ll find out as we head toward a conclusion.

Four plays after Notre Dame punted after a four-play drive, it was Penn State’s turn to punt. Drew Allar was sacked on 3rd-and-7 to end the possession.

The Fighting Irish will now have the ball on their own 28 with the game tied at 10.

The Fighting Irish picked up one first down, but couldn’t take advantage of a three-and-out and punted after only four plays. Nice stop for the Penn State defense after giving up a long drive to start the half.

The Nittany Lions now have the ball back on their own 15.

Momentum is turning in Miami.

After the offense scored a touchdown, the Fighting Irish defense responded by forcing a three-and-out, including a nice run stuff on 3rd-and-2.

Notre Dame will now take possession on its own 30 with the game tied at 10.

We have a tie game!

Notre Dame marched down the field in its first drive of the third quarter, going 75 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. Riley Leonard punched it in from three yards out to get the Fighting Irish in the end zone.

It’s now 10-10.

The second half is underway and Notre Dame has the ball first. A good sign for the Fighting Irish — quarterback Riley Leonard is back in the game after being removed for a possible concussion.

Penn State 10, Notre Dame 3 after one half.

The big story, though, is Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard is in the concussion protocol as we go to halftime. Backup Steve Angelli came in and led a field-goal drive to end the half and get Notre Dame on the board. But Leonard’s loss would be tough for the Irish.

Penn State is playing well, particularly when it comes to rushing the passer, with three sacks in the opening 30 minutes. The Nittany Lions also ran for 141 yards on offense.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was taken off the field to be tested for a concussion after taking a hard hit and slamming his head into the ground.

The Fighting Irish are driving and trying to cut into a 10-0 deficit late in the second quarter.

Leonard looked a bit wobbly after taking a hit while throwing an incomplete pass. The back of his head hit the grass with a good amount of force.

What a drive from the Nittany Lions.

15 plays, 90 yards, 7:17 off the clock and a touchdown.

Nicholas Singleton capped off the possession with a five-yard run for a score. Penn State was aggressive, picking up a 4th-and-2 from the Notre Dame 16, and it paid off.

The Nittany Lions now lead 10-0.

The Fighting Irish went 24 yards in eight plays, but punted after failing to pick a first down on 3rd-and-10 near midfield.

Penn State’s pass rush is becoming an issue. Riley Leonard doesn’t have a lot of time to throw, hence plays like a bubble screen on the most recent third down. Notre Dame is going to have to come up with some answers in the passing game.

The Nittany Lions now take over from their own 10 with a 3-0 lead.

After a dropped pass on 3rd-and-goal, the Nittany Lions kicked a very short field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Penn State is on the board first, but not going for it on 4th-and-goal from the 3-yard line is a decision that will loom over this game for at least a little while.

We’re tied at zero after 15 minutes, though Penn State is driving deep into Notre Dame territory.

The Nittany Lions are on the 1-yard line after 12 plays, which included a 4th-and-2 conversion from the 37. Penn State nearly turned the ball over via interception, but Drew Allar’s bad pass was bailed out by a holding penalty.

It will be 3rd-and-goal when the second quarter begins.

Riley Leonard tried to throw deep over the middle on 3rd-and-12, but he overthrew his intended target and was picked off Zakee Wheatley.

That’s our first turnover of the night. Penn State will take over on its own 42, its best field position of the night.

The Nittany Lions did good to get out of the shadow of their own end zone, but Drew Allar threw incomplete on 3rd-and-5 from the Penn State 20, and the Nittany Lions punted after only six plays.

Notre Dame now takes over on its own 35 in a scoreless game.

Notre Dame punted after picking up 48 yards in eight plays, including a nice 32-yard pass to Mitch Evans on a 3rd-and-7 from the 25. But the Fighting Irish stalled out after getting into Penn State territory.

The Nittany Lions will take over on their own 2-yard line after an ill-advised fair catch.

Penn State picked up 31 yards on its opening drive, but a procedural penalty on 3rd-and-9 from the Notre Dame 45 created a 3rd-and-14 the offense couldn’t pick up.

The Fighting Irish will take over for their first drive from their own 10.

The first College Football Playoff semifinal is underway! Penn State has the ball first, and their first play from scrimmage was a toss for six yards.

The national anthem is being sung and the Orange Bowl is moments away between Notre Dame and Penn State.

Notre Dame has built the nation’s second-ranked defense — allowing just 13.6 points per game — behind an ability to force turnovers. They have 18 more turnovers forced than given up, a margin that ranks third in the country.

Penn State ranks 21st nationally in turnover margin. It has forced seven takeaways in its two College Football Playoff victories so far — three interceptions against SMU, followed by a fumble and three more interceptions against Boise State.

This is the 20th meeting between these teams, who are 9-9-1 all-time against one another, but the first since 2007.

Yet this is only the second time they’ve met in a bowl game, with the last instance coming in 1976, when Notre Dame defeated Penn State 20-9.

This game could be won by which team is able to score once it drives inside the 20-yard line. That area, known as the “red zone,” is where both teams’ defenses have excelled at limited opponents’ scoring.

Penn State’s defense has limited how often opponents score inside the red zone at the fourth-best rate in the nation. Meanwhile, Notre Dame’s defense ranks first. For Penn State and Notre Dame’s offenses, a victory will mean either producing big plays earlier in drives, or finding a way to puncture two of the stingiest defenses in the country.

Penn State (13-2) had never won 13 games in a season until now, a milestone that owes partly to the lengthening of college football’s season thanks to the advent of the Big Ten championship game (in 2011) and expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams, this season.

Still, the victories represent more of a trend than a blip. Since 2016, Penn State has the eighth-best winning percentage among Power Four conferences.

Penn State coach James Franklin on Wednesday questioned the wisdom of extending the season longer than ever.

“I think it’s something that we’re going to have to look at in terms of what’s best for college football, what’s best for the student-athlete experience, what’s best in a university setting, because I don’t know if this is really what it was designed to be,” Franklin told reporters on the eve of the Orange Bowl.

After suffering an arm injury in Penn State’s Fiesta Bowl victory last week against Boise State, All-American defensive end Abdul Carter is “anticipated” to play against Notre Dame, Penn State coach James Franklin said Wednesday.

“He wants to play,” he said. “He’s put a ton of, like, cryptic messages out on social media, which you guys have probably seen those. I learn as much from those as I do from our trainers. But we are hopeful and expecting Abdul to play, and we’ll see how that plays out.”

With Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Penn State’s James Franklin meeting tonight, a Black head coach will have the opportunity to win a national championship for the first time.

“It’s an honor,” Freeman said. “It’s a reminder that you are a representation of so many others who look like you. I don’t take that for granted.”

Among the 134 teams playing in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision only 11.9% — 16 programs overall — have Black head coaches. According to an analysis by the AP, that lags behind the NFL, where this season 18.8% of head coaches were Black.

The NFL’s “Rooney Rule” mandates that teams interview minority candidates for head-coaching openings, but the NCAA has no such broad rule covering all of its conferences, though there are a few exceptions modeled after the Rooney Rule. The West Coast Conference has the “Bill Russell Rule,” and in 2009, the Oregon legislature passed its own version of the “Rooney Rule.”

Franklin said he vividly recalled the effect of watching two Black coaches face off in the Super Bowl for the first time in 2007.

“I remember that year, the Super Bowl with, if I remember correctly, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, there was just a lot of talk within the profession, two African-American coaches coaching in the Super Bowl, and that was a big moment,” he said. “We felt like that was going to have an opportunity to maybe create some change or create some opportunities for guys that had earned the right to sit in those types of rooms.”

Multiple organizations hand out an award for coach of the year, and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman has won two of them after leading the Irish to a 12-game win streak and the semifinals. On Dec. 31, Freeman won the Dodd Trophy, which has named a coach of the year since 1976. On Wednesday, Freeman also earned the Munger Award for college coach of the year from the Maxwell Football Club. Freeman is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.