No. 6 Penn State has its national title dreams dashed by a late Notre Dame field goal in Orange Bowl
With under 20 seconds remaining, Mitch Jeter nailed a 41-yard field goal to send the Fighting Irish to the title game.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 7 Notre Dame walked out of Hard Rock Stadium with its sights set on the national title game, following a 27-24 defeat of No. 6 Penn State on Thursday.
With the game tied at 24 and 33 seconds remaining, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar forced a throw to junior receiver Omari Evans, which was intercepted by Notre Dame’s Jordan Clark at the Penn State 42-yard line.
Notre Dame took over, and quarterback Riley Leonard got them into field-goal territory with under 20 seconds remaining. Transfer kicker Mitch Jeter hit a 41-yard field goal that sent the Fighting Irish to the national championship game on Jan. 20 against the winner of Friday’s semifinal game between No. 8 Ohio State and No. 5 Texas (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
» READ MORE: Meet the former college football exec who worked with Penn State’s James Franklin and Miami’s Al Golden
Penn State pass defense struggles
Penn State’s man coverage was tested — and it struggled.
It started in the first quarter with a 32-yard back shoulder fade for Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans; Penn State sophomore corner A.J. Harris never saw it coming. That drive stalled out, but it was junior linebacker Kobe King who was subject to the struggles in man coverage, giving up two big plays.
But the biggest breakdown came after Penn State took a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter. Junior cornerback Cam Miller fell in coverage, and Notre Dame receiver Jaden Greathouse took a pass from Leonard 54 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 24 with 4:38 remaining.
The Nittany Lions’ defensive line was stout — but got little help from their secondary.
Leaning on run
It was a given Penn State would lean on its run game, but there had been times this season that offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki got away from it. That was not the case on Thursday.
The Nittany Lions rushed for 141 yards in the first half, and finished with 204 on the night. Nick Singleton rushed for all three of their touchdowns.
Defensive ends dominate
Junior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton dropped back from his edge spot, to pick off Leonard in the fourth quarter. He dominated the game, accounting for two sacks, two tackles for loss, and his clutch interception.
He was coming off 2½ tackles for loss and a sack against Boise State in the absence of junior defensive end Abdul Carter, who had a shoulder injury.
Carterdominated with one arm. Despite a heavily-wrapped right shoulder and part of his arm, the Glenside native finished with two tackles for loss and a sack exclusively lined up on the left edge. He reportedly entered the NFL Draft on Friday morning.
» READ MORE: Follow the Inquirer's full coverage of Penn State athletics right here!