Beyond the Boxscore: Jeter’s FG Kicks Notre Dame Into CFP Title Game

Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left gave the Notre Dame Fighting Irish a 27-24 Orange Bowl victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday night. The dramatic victory now propels the Irish to the CFP national championship game on Jan. 20, where they’ll face the winner of Friday night’s matchup between Ohio State and Texas.

Jeter’s kick came after Penn State quarterback Drew Aller committed a huge error by throwing an interception to Christian Gray with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. The Lions had taken possession after forcing a Notre Dame punt and chose that risky strategy rather than take the game to overtime.

Below are key aspects of the win:

Fourth Quarter Explosion

During the first 45 minutes of action, Notre Dame and Penn State only managed to put 10 points each on the board. The defensive struggle didn’t come as a surprise, given the comparative strengths of each program’s defensive units. However, what followed during those final 15 minutes was a complete reversal of form.

The Irish struck first on a two-yard scoring run by Jeremiyah Love that saw him break four tackles to reach the end zone and give the Irish their first lead at 17-10. Love’s score had been set up by a pass interference call on Penn State, with key plays before that coming on a clutch third-down grab by Jaden Greathouse and an 18-yard run by wideout Jayden Thomas.

Quickly answering that tally, the Lions needed just seven plays to knot the score again. Then, they took back the lead after Riley Leonard’s second interception of the night gave them the ball at the Notre Dame 39. Five plays later, Nicholas Singleton scored his third touchdown of the night for Penn State to make it 24-17 with just under eight minutes to go.

Despite the setback, Leonard didn’t panic and found Greathouse for a pair of catches, including another third-down grab. However, Greathouse then delivered the most dramatic catch of his career with the Irish on a 54-yard touchdown catch in which he was wide open before cutting inside to reach the end zone. That helped set the stage for the late heroics.

Penn State Rushing Contrasts

The Notre Dame defense had its problems trying to clamp down on the one-two running punch of Penn State’s Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton, giving up 141 yards to the Lions’ ground game in the first half for an average of 5.4 yards per carry. That helped move the chains and resulted in Penn State’s two scores coming on consecutive 14-play drives that ate up more than 12 minutes.

After the break, Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden found a way to tamp down the running success a bit, limiting that unit to just 63 yards over the final two periods. Part of that success could be seen from the continued efforts on third down, where the Nittany Lions converted on just three of 11 opportunities.

Deja Vu Nightmare

Penn State picked up 10 points off of the two Leonard interceptions, with the subsequent Nittany Lion drives similar in how they put points on the board. The first score of the game came after Notre Dame appeared to catch a huge break when Gray picked off a pass in the end zone. However, he was flagged for defensive holding and the Lions ended up kicking a field goal.

Before Singleton’s third touchdown, another Irish interception in the end zone was negated. In this instance, Jack Kiser caught the errant pass but a pass inference call was assessed on safety Adon Shuler. The 15-yard penalty put the ball at the Irish nine-yard-line, with Singleton scoring two plays later.

Worst of Both Worlds

Injuries were a problem for the Notre Dame defense entering this contest but it was the Irish offense that sustained the worst damage during the first half. First, left tackle Anthonie Knapp went down with an injury and was unable to return. Then, guard Rocco Spindler also was forced from the contest.

Notre Dame fans then got even more nervous when Leonard took a major hit on the final drive of the half. That resulted in Steve Angeli taking over before Leonard returned to start the third quarter. Angeli led the Irish to their first points on a 41-yard field goal by Mitch Jeter.

Next Up

Notre Dame’s net opponent won’t be decided until Friday night but the Irish have had more success with Texas. The two schools have met 12 previous times, with Notre Dame holding a 9-3 advantage. They last met in 2016, when Texas won a wild 50-47 overtime shootout but the Irish jolted Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl to win the national title.

Against Ohio State, Notre Dame has only won twice in eight matchups, dropping the last six meetings, most recently the 17-14 heartbreaker in 2023. The only two wins for the Irish date back to 1935 and 1936, when Frank Leahy was the.