Notre Dame place kicker Mitch Jeter (98) celebrates after kicking the game winning field goal during … [+] the second half of the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game against Penn State, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
AP
Marcus Freeman turns 39 on Friday, but he’s not going to be the center of attention in his household. His daughter, Siena, was born on the same day, so Notre Dame’s football coach will gladly celebrate her 13th birthday much more than his own, just like he does every year. Still, Freeman, his wife and their six children have an extra reason to be joyful this year.
On Thursday night, the Irish defeated Penn State, 27-24, in a College Football Playoff semifinal at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., thanks to a 41-yard field goal from Mitch Jeter with seven seconds remaining. Notre Dame won its 13th consecutive game, overcoming a 10-0 deficit late in the first half, a seven-point hole midway through the fourth quarter and the loss of two starting offensive linemen to injuries during the game.
The No. 7 seed Irish (14-1) advanced to the CFP championship on Jan. 20 in Atlanta, where they will face the winner of Friday’s other semifinal between No. 5 seed Texas (13-2) and No. 8 seed Ohio State (12-2).
Notre Dame is looking to win its first national title since 1988, while Freeman is aiming to become the youngest college football coach to win a championship since Clemson’s Danny Ford won it in 1981 when he was 33. Freeman will be the first Black head coach in a Football Bowl Subdivision national title game.
“I’ve said this before — I don’t ever want to take attention away from the team,” Freeman told ESPN’s Molly McGrath in a postgame interview. “It is an honor, and I hope all coaches, minorities, Black, Asian, White, it doesn’t matter, great people, continue to get opportunities to lead young men like this. But this ain’t about me. This is about us, and we’re going to celebrate what we’ve done because it’s something special.”
Indeed, it is, as there were plenty of moments when it looked the Irish season could end. But with the game tied 24-24, Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Christian Gray picked off Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s errant pass, giving the Irish the ball at the Nittany Lions’ 42-yard line. Allar previously had thrown two interceptions in the end zone, but both were overturned due to Irish penalties.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, a senior transfer from Duke, gained seven yards on the Irish’s first two plays following Gray’s interception. Leonard then completed a 10-yard pass to sophomore Jaden Greathouse for a first down. Four plays later, all eyes turned to Jeter, who had battled injuries for most of the season and missed half of his 12 field goal attempts during the regular season.
This time, a healthy Jeter came through in the clutch, connecting on one of the biggest kicks in Notre Dame history. Jeter, a transfer from South Carolina, also made a 41-yard field goal at the end of the first half to cut the Irish’s deficit to 10-3. He’s had other impressive games, too, including making all three of his field goals in the Irish’s season-opening 23-13 victory at Texas A&M and going 3 for 3 again in last week’s 23-10 victory over No. 2 seed Georgia in the CFP quarterfinals.
“He’s been clutch all year,” Freeman said. “Man, that dude is special.”
The last two times the Irish played at Hard Rock Stadium, they were embarrassed, losing, 42-14, to Alabama in January 2013 in the national title game and 41-8 to Miami in November 2017. On Thursday, they got off to another slow start, falling behind 10-0 and gaining just 15 rushing yards in the first half.
Notre Dame starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp sustained an ankle sprain early in the second quarter and didn’t return, while starting right guard Rocco Spindler left late in the second quarter with an injury and didn’t return, either. And Leonard departed with 1:38 remaining in the first half and went into the concussion protocol. Steve Angeli, Leonard’s backup who had attempted only 28 passes this season entering Thursday, came in and went 6 of 7 for 44 yards on the drive to put the Irish in position for Jeter’s first field goal.
At halftime, Freeman delivered a speech to his team.
“He said, ‘History is written by conquerors. We’re holding the pen. We decide how we want to write our history,’” Leonard told ESPN’s Katie George in a postgame interview. “I’m a firm believer in whether you think you can or you can’t do something, you’re right. We believe that we can do it, and we went out there and did it.”
When the second half began, Leonard was back in the game, as he was cleared to play. On the first drive, he ran for a 3-yard touchdown, his 16th rushing score of the season to tie it at 10-10.
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who wore a brace on his injured right knee, scored on a 2-yard touchdown to put the Irish up 17-10 early in the fourth quarter. Love extended his arms and the ball over the goal line as multiple Penn State defenders had seemingly stopped him.
After Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton ran for an 8-yard touchdown to tie it again, Leonard threw his second interception of the game. Singleton added another touchdown, his third of the night, before Leonard found Greathouse for a 54-yard touchdown to make it 24-24. It was Notre Dame’s longest pass play of the season. Greathouse finished with a career-high 7 catches and 105 yards.
On the next two possessions, the teams each punted, giving Penn State the ball at the Notre Dame 15-yard line with 47 seconds remaining. Instead of playing it conservatively, Allar decided to throw the ball in tight coverage on second down. Gray stepped in front of the pass.
“Just catch the ball – that was going through my mind,” Gray told McGrath. “I knew I was going to make the play.”
Gray’s interception gave Notre Dame one last chance, and the Irish delivered when Jeter made the field goal. It was another disappointing performance for No. 6 seed Penn State in a major game. Since James Franklin arrived as coach in 2014, Penn State has gone 1-15 against teams ranked in the top 5 of the Associated Press poll. Notre Dame is No. 3 in the AP poll. The Nittany Lions (13-3) ran for 204 yards (4.9 yards per carry), but Allar went just 12 of 23 for 135 yards and the late interception.
For Notre Dame, the victory was another major accomplishment in a season that once seemed lost when the Irish lost to lowly Northern Illinois, 16-14, in early September. That day, Jeter missed both of his field goals while Leonard threw two interceptions. Four months later, those players and many others came through like they had so many times, keeping alive Notre Dame’s hopes for a 12th national title.
“You find out a lot about your team at its lowest moments,” Freeman said. “This is a group that continued to stay together. They trusted each other, they leaned on each other, and they got better. And that’s the reality of this team. In those toughest times, that’s when you make the major gains. I’m proud of this group, proud of this place, proud of this University. Let’s go celebrate a little bit.”
