Watch: Notre Dame advances to title game with stunning sequence

Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrate after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Watch: Notre Dame advances to CFP championship with stunning sequence

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 8:08 AM ET

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are on their way to the College Football Playoff national championship game after a thrilling 27-24 Orange Bowl win over Penn State on Thursday night.

It was a back-and-forth game with lead changes and gigantic momentum swings, with the biggest coming in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

After Penn State had forced a Notre Dame punt with under a minute to play in a 24-24 tie game, the Nittany Lions were in a prime position to put together a potential game-winning drive if it could just get into field goal range.

But on the second play of that series, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar threw a dreadful interception at the worst possible time.

Notre Dame picks off Drew Allar late in the fourth pic.twitter.com/F0SZvM5fFa
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025

Notre Dame would end up advancing the ball down inside the Penn State 25-yard line, setting the stage for kicker Mitch Jeter to make the biggest field goal of his career with under 10 seconds to play.

Notre Dame takes the lead with less than 10 seconds to go‼️ pic.twitter.com/0uIC19YAEZ
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025

This game was everything you hope for a national semifinal game to be. It was close, there was drama, and even though the quarterback play on both sides left a lot to be desired both teams played extraordinarily physical football.

Notre Dame will now await the winner of Friday's Cotton Bowl game between Ohio State and Texas.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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