Late pick, field goal secure win for Irish

ORANGE BOWL: NOTRE DAME 27, PENN STATE 24

Notre Dame place kicker Mitch Jeter kicks the game-winning field goal in the final minute of the Orange Bowl against Penn State on Thursday in Miami Gardens, Fla. REBECCA BLACKWELL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Eddie Pells

The Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. >> A diving interception off an ill-advised pass set up Notre Dame’s trip to play for the program’s 12th national title after a thrill-a-minute 27-24 victory over Penn State on Thursday night in the Orange Bowl.

Defensive back Christian Gray snared Drew Allar’s pass across the middle at the Nittany Lions 42 with 33 seconds left, then the Irish moved 19 yards to set up Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard winner with 7 seconds left.

The game featured three ties, three lead changes and 31 points in the fourth quarter alone.

Notre Dame (14-1), seeded seventh in this, the first 12-team college playoff, will have a chance to bring its first title since 1988 back under the Golden Dome with a game Jan. 20 in Atlanta against the winner of Friday night’s Texas-Ohio State semifinal in the Cotton Bowl.

In the final, Irish coach Marcus Freeman will try to become the first Black coach to win the title at college football’s highest level.

“We’ve been right here in this position before, and they believed and got the job done, and I’m proud of them,” Freeman said.

No. 6 seed Penn State (13-3) fell agonizingly short in a game it controlled while taking a 10-0 lead over the first 28 minutes. Coach James Franklin fell to 4-20 with the Nittany Lions against teams ranked in the AP Top 10.

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard shook off a hit late in the second quarter that sent him to the medical tent to be checked for a concussion.

He came back and led the Irish on four scoring drives in the second half, including the last one.

“He’s a competitor and competitors find a way to win, and that’s what Riley does,” Freeman said. “That’s what this team does.”

Leonard finished with 223 yards passing, including a key 10-yard dart to Jaden Greathouse to convert third-and-3 on the last drive. Leonard also had 35 yards rushing, and passed and ran for a score each. With 4:38 left in the game, Leonard hit Greathouse for a 54-yard score to tie the game at 24 after a Penn State defender slipped.

The game started slow (and boring), but Riley’s injury injected life into things. He led Notre Dame on TD drives of 75 and 72 yards in the third quarter to take a 17-10 lead.

At that point, the game was just getting started.

Penn State had its chances, and Allar, along with all those Nittany Lions fans, will spend the offseason reliving that last throw — or trying to forget it.