Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2025 45 down the field on the ensuing kick- off and flail their arms excitedly in the direction of their fans sitting on the south side of the stadium. The play- ers were met with more excited flailing, of course, but none as demonstrative as when the game, one in which Notre Dame trailed by two scores for the first time all season, went final. Notre Dame 27, Penn State 24. The Irish are playing in the national championship game for the first time since the 2012 season and can win it all for the first time since 1988. Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray intercepted Allar in Penn State territory with 33 sec- onds left. The Irish went from the 42- yard line to the 23-yard line, and then kicker Mitch Jeter trotted out for a 41- yard game winner with seven seconds left, and he drilled it. "What a gritty performance, and they found a way when it matters the most to get their job done," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. The South Carolina transfer, who hadn't made a field goal since early November until the College Football Playoff because of a groin injury, nailed it. He sent Notre Dame to the national championship game in Atlanta Jan. 20. "That's why I came here," Jeter said. "I'm so grateful for that opportunity, for the chance to compete and win a national championship." The Orange Bowl was following the Sugar Bowl script for quite a while. The first quarter went by just a field goal being scored. Penn State got the scoring started early in the second quarter with a field goal, just like Georgia. That's when things took a turn for the worse for Notre Dame. Starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp went out with an ankle injury. Gradu- ate student Tosh Baker, whom Knapp beat out for the starting job in fall camp, replaced him. Knapp never returned. On the other side of the line, graduate student right guard Rocco Spindler also injured his ankle and didn't come back into the game. Sophomore Charles Ja- gusah slid into his spot, seeing his first action on offense this season after tear- ing his pectoral muscle in fall camp. On the same play Spindler was hurt, Leonard banged his head on the ground after taking a huge hit. He was looked at for a concussion, but he came back into the game to begin the second half, Notre Dame trailing 10-3 after Jeter made a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. And that's when things began look- ing up for the Irish, seemingly out of nowhere. Leonard completed a 36-yard over- the-shoulder dime to freshman running back Aneyas Williams, the best throw of the night made by either QB. Four plays later, he did what he does best and plowed into the end zone from 3 yards out for Notre Dame's first touchdown of the game and his 16th rushing score of the season, extending his own single- season program record. Leonard was tied with sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love for the team lead in rushing touchdowns … briefly. In the first minute of the fourth quarter, Love scored his 17th. It was an- other of the astonishing highlight-reel variety. He fought through multiple tackles, working his way toward the py- lon, and still somehow managed to free himself up enough to dive and stretch the ball over the goal line. "He's just that guy," Gray said. "He's just that guy, ever since freshman year. He's been scoring touchdowns like crazy." It took 45 minutes and 53 seconds of game time, but Notre Dame had its first lead. That also didn't last long. Penn State matched Notre Dame's 71-yard drive with a 75-yard march that ended in running back Nicholas Singleton's second score of the Orange Bowl. He muscled his way past multiple would-be tacklers just like Love, but the game had yet more twists and turns to unfold. Notre Dame had just a little more to keep its season alive and end Penn State's. It took everybody. "You have to be selfless to achieve anything great," Freeman said. "We've got a locker room full of selfless players and selfless coaches." FIRST QUARTER PENN STATE 3, NOTRE DAME 0 Top moment: Sophomore cor- nerback Christian Gray was called for defensive holding, negating an inter- ception in his own end zone. It was his first opportunity to pick off Penn State junior quarterback Drew Allar, but it would not be his last. NOTRE DAME 27, PENN STATE 24 Jan. 9, 2025 ✦ Attendance: 66,881 Hard Rock Stadium ✦ Miami Gardens, Fla. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Notre Dame 0 3 7 17 27 Penn State 3 7 0 14 24 ND PSU FIRST QUARTER PSU Barker 20-yard field goal 14:56 0 3 Drive: 14 plays, 55 yards, 4:11 SECOND QUARTER PSU Singleton 5-yard run (Barker kick) 2:18 0 10 Drive: 15 plays, 90 yards, 7:17 ND Jeter 41-yard field goal 0:00 3 10 Drive: 13 plays, 52 yards, 2:18 THIRD QUARTER ND Leonard 3-yard run (Jeter kick) 10:46 10 10 Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:14 FOURTH QUARTER ND Love 2-yard run (Jeter kick) 14:07 17 10 Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards, 5:19 PSU Singleton 7-yard run (Barker kick) 10:20 17 17 Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:47 PSU Singleton 7-yard run (Barker kick) 7:55 17 24 Drive: 5 plays, 39 yards, 2:20 ND Greathouse 54-yard pass from Leonard (Jeter kick) 4:38 24 24 Drive: 7 plays, 81 yards, 3:11 ND Jeter 41-yard field goal 0:07 27 24 Drive: 7 plays, 19 yards, 0:26 ND PSU Total First Downs 23 20 Rushing 10 11 Passing 11 7 Penalty 2 2 Rushing Attempts 42 42 Yards Gained Rushing 148 214 Yards Lost Rushing 32 10 Net Yards Rushing 116 204 Net Yards Passing 267 135 Passes Attempted 31 23 Passes Completed 21 12 Had Intercepted 2 1 Percent Completion 67.7% 52.2% Yards Per Attempt 8.6 5.9 Yards Per Completion 12.7 11.2 Total Offensive Plays, 73 65 Total Net Yards 383 339 Average Gain Per Play 5.2 5.2 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-0 1-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 4-30 5-44 Punts: No.-Yards 4-157 5-210 Average Per Punt 39.2 42.0 Average Net Punt 39.2 40.4 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 2-8 1-0 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 1-19 1-21 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 1-0 2-0 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 24:39 14:28 Third-Down Conversions 11-17 3-11 Percentage 64.7% 27.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 2-2 Percentage 0.0% 100.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 1-8 5-27