No. 6 seed Penn State football (13-3) lost a 27-24 heartbreaker against No. 7 seed Notre Dame (14-1) Thursday evening in the College Football Playoff semifinal in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The first half consisted of a defensive battle and several run plays. The first three drives resulted in punts, and the fourth was a Penn State interception. The Nittany Lions ran the ball repeatedly, and the first half ended with them up 10-3.

Both teams exchanged leads multiple times in the second half. Notre Dame took a 17-10 lead with two rushing touchdowns, but Singleton scored two more to take a 24-17 lead. The Fighting Irish tied it with a wide-open touchdown, but the Nittany Lions looked primed for a game-winner with under two minutes left. Then, Drew Allar’s interception in Penn State territory set Notre Dame up with a game-winning field goal, and the Irish kicked it with less than 10 seconds left to win the game.

How It Happened

Nick Singleton ripped a 6-yard gain to begin the game. He caught Drew Allar’s pass and sprinted to Notre Dame’s 46-yard line. But two plays later on 3rd-and-14, Kaytron Allen was stuffed to force a punt.

From his 11-yard line, Riley Leonard fired a 6-yard pass to Mitchell Evans. Jeremiyah Love rushed for five yards. Two short runs brought up 3rd-and-7, but Leonard connected with Evans to reach Penn State’s 43-yard line. The Fighting Irish’s drive stalled, as a short run and two incompletions forced a punt.

From the 2-yard line, Allen combined for 8 rushing yards. He picked up a first down, then gained 5 yards to bring up 3rd-and-5. Allar threw another incompletion to force the game’s third consecutive punt.

Riley Thompson’s punt landed at the 35-yard line. Leonard threw an incompletion and ran three yards to bring up third down. Then, Zakee Wheatley intercepted his pass at Penn State’s 42-yard line.

Allar completed a pass to Tyler Warren, who bulldozed his way to Notre Dame’s 45-yard line. On 3rd-and-6, Singleton gained four yards. The Nittany Lions remained on the field for fourth down, and Singleton ripped an 8-yard run. Allen ran 7 yards, and Allar fired a 7-yard pass to Luke Reynolds. Penn State continued to run the ball and reached the 3-yard line. The Nittany Lions didn’t score a touchdown against Notre Dame’s staunch rushing defense, and Ryan Barker kicked a field goal to give Penn State a 3-0 lead with 14:52 left in the second quarter.

Smith Vilbert handed Jadarian Price a 4-yard loss. But then, he ripped an 11-yard run. Leonard gained a first down, then fired a 7-yard pass to Kris Mitchell. He scrambled 3 more yards, then Love picked up 4. Wheatley sacked Leonard for a 4-yard loss, and a 3-yard pass forced another punt.

Allen exploded for a 20-yard gain. Warren took the snap and ran 12 yards. He ran again and stiff-armed his way to Notre Dame’s 47-yard line. Singleton reached the 37, and two runs from Allar and Allen reached the 24-yard line. Penn State faced 3rd-and-5 three plays later, and Singleton gained 3 yards. Warren caught a 4-yard pass on fourth down, and Singleton ripped a 5-yard run to reach the 7-yard line. On 3rd-and-3, Singleton ran into the end zone to give the Nittany Lions a 10-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first half.

Run the damn ball. pic.twitter.com/W8dzJZvTDE

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 10, 2025

Leonard completed a 9-yard pass to Williams, then found Evans for 6 yards. On 3rd-and-5, backup Steve Angeli connected with Jordan Faison on a 14-yard pass. Angeli bounced back from a fumble with completions for 12 and 5 yards to reach Penn State’s 28-yard line. On 3rd-and-1 four plays later, Williams caught a 4-yard pass. Angeli was sacked for an 8-yard loss, and Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal made it 10-3 Penn State to end the first half.

Love ripped a 6-yard run, then picked up the first down. He ran 9 yards, and Price gained a first down. Leonard fired a 36-yard pass to Williams to reach Penn State’s 19-yard line. Williams’ run reached the 4-yard line, and Leonard reached the 3. Then, Leonard scored a rushing touchdown to tie it 10-10 with 10:46 left in the third quarter.

Penn State went three-and-out, and the Irish regained possession at the 30-yard line. Faison caught an 11-yard pass, and Price gained 2 yards. He lost 2 yards to bring up 3rd-and-8, and Leonard threw an incompletion to force a punt.

From the 15-yard line, Warren caught a 22-yard pass. Singleton and Allar combined for three rushing yards, and Allar was sacked to force another punt.

Leonard completed a 9-yard pass to Evans. He was stuffed but picked up the first down on 3rd-and-1. Dani Dennis-Sutton sacked Leonard for a 2-yard loss, and Love picked up 3 yards. Jaden Greathouse hauled in a 17-yard catch to convert. Jayden Thomas rushed to the 16-yard line, and a pass interference call put the Irish at the 2-yard line. Price rushed 4 yards to give Notre Dame a 17-10 lead with 14:07 left in the fourth quarter.

Allar completed a 27-yard pass to Warren. Allar rushed for a first down, then fired a 20-yard pass to Khalil Dinkins. Allen picked up another first down, then Singleton scored a seven-yard rushing touchdown to tie it 17-17 with 10:20 remaining in the quarter.

On the first play of Notre Dame’s drive, Leonard was picked off by Dennis-Sutton. From Notre Dame’s 39-yard line, Allen gained 4 yards. Allar rushed for a first down to the 24-yard line, and an interception was called back via pass interference against Adon Schuler. From the 9-yard line, Allen picked up two yards. Then, Singleton scored his third touchdown of the night to give the Nittany Lions a 24-17 lead with 7:55 left in the quarter.

SINGLETON. END ZONE. pic.twitter.com/E8E5SEigAW

— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 10, 2025

From the 19-yard line, Price was dropped for a 4-yard loss. Greathouse caught an 11-yard pass, then another for a 6-yard gain. Leonard connected with Love for a 6-yard pass, and the former picked up another 6. Two plays later, Greathouse caught a 54-yard touchdown pass to tie it 24-24 with 4:38 left in regulation.

Singleton caught a 10-yard pass, then gained 2 yards. On 3rd-and-3, Allar’s run was short and Penn State punted.

Price ripped an 8-yard gain. Love was stuffed to bring up 3rd-and-2, but Leonard rushed 3 yards to extend the drive. A personal foul put Notre Dame at Penn State’s 49-yard line. Leonard rushed 5 yards, then threw an incompletion to bring up 3rd-and-5. Then, Coziah Izzard sacked Leonard for a 4-yard loss, and Notre Dame punted.

From the 15-yard line with 47 seconds left, Singleton reached the 28-yard line. Then, disaster struck as Allar’s pass was intercepted by Christian Gray at the 42-yard line with 33 seconds left. Leonard gained five yards, then two. Notre Dame reached the 23-yard line before Mitch Jeter kicked a 41-yard field goal to give Notre Dame a 27-24 lead with seven seconds left.

Takeaways

• Penn State once again came up agonizingly short in a massive game. The Nittany Lions made a few mistakes that stood out the most as reasons for the loss, including a false start to open the three-and-out with under five minutes left, and a short pass to Singleton which would’ve been a touchdown in the first half. 
• Allar, of course, was far from his best tonight. He had 139 passing yards for a 52% completion rate, which is among his worst of the season. That’s not to mention the game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter. He needed to be much better for Penn State to have won. 
• Not a single Penn State wide receiver caught a pass. The group was an Achilles’ heel all season, and that was evident against the Irish. 
• Although the ending was heartbreaking, Penn State’s run game had 204 yards. Fortunately for Penn State, there’s a decent chance at least one of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen will return.

What’s Next

Penn State’s season is over.