In a battle of top-five defenses, No. 5 Notre Dame rallied late to defeat No. 4 Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal at Hard Rock Stadium. The Fighting Irish overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit thanks to quarterback Riley Leonard’s impressive second half.
Penn State opened the scoring on a 20-yard Ryan Barker field goal, then extended its lead to 10-0 on a Nicholas Singleton touchdown run. Leonard briefly exited after a hard tackle but returned, orchestrating a pair of touchdown drives. His three-yard draw tied the game early in the third quarter before Notre Dame grabbed its first lead in the fourth when Jeremiyah Love powered across the goal line.
Singleton, who finished with three rushing touchdowns, gave the Nittany Lions a 24-17 advantage midway through the final quarter. But the Irish responded again, tying it on a 54-yard bomb to Jaden Greathouse after Penn State’s secondary slipped. Following a costly Drew Allar interception, Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter drilled a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Notre Dame (14-1) advances to face the winner of the Ohio State-Texas matchup for the national championship, while Penn State finishes its season at 13-3 after falling just short of a title opportunity.