MIAMI — It’s the first game of the national college football final four with the Penn State Nittany Lions taking on the Fighting Irish from Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9 in Miami.
It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
The winner, of course, will go on to face either Ohio State or Texas in the national final on Monday, Jan. 20, but first the Lions and the Irish have to meet in what shapes up to be an epic showdown between two teams built on very similar foundations.
Both rely on taking control of the line of scrimmage, on their running games, on their athletic defenses and on their ability to take care of the football.
The Nittany Lions and Fighting Irish have balanced offenses with strong-armed, pro-style quarterbacks and outstanding running backs. Both defenses are exceptional against the run and pride themselves in their ability to take away the football from opponents.
Notre Dame is 13-1 overall coming into the game with its only blemish coming at home on Sept. 7, 2024, in a major 16-14 upset loss to Northern Illinois.
Since that game, it has been all wins including ones against top 20 opponents Louisville, 31-24, Navy, 51-14 and Army, 49-14. In the final game of the regular season, the Irish outlasted USC, 49-35, in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 2024.
Notre Dame then entered the new 12-team playoff ranked No. 7 and promptly dumped No. 10 Indiana in the first round, 27-17, in a game it controlled almost from start to finish.
Finally, on Thursday, Jan. 2, in the postponed Sugar Bowl, the Irish outlasted No. 2 Georgia, 23-10, and advanced to the semifinal against Penn State.
Against Georgia, Notre Dame took a 13-3 halftime lead, saw Georgia close to within 20-10 in the third quarter and then turned to its defense to close out the exciting victory.
The game was tied with under a minute to play in the first half when Irish kicker Mitch Jeter made it 6-3 with a 48-yard field goal.
Twelve seconds later, after a Georgia turnover inside its own 20-yard line, ND quarterback Riley Leonard completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Beaux Collins for a 13-3 Irish lead going into halftime.
Then, on the second-half kickoff, Notre Dame’s Jayden Harrison returned the kick 98 yards for his team’s second touchdown in 32 seconds and third score in 44 seconds. In that time, Notre Dame went from a tie score to a 17-point lead it would not lose.
The Notre Dame defense held Georgia to just 66 yards rushing and 300 yards overall, took away two fumbles, and stopped Georgia three times on fourth-down attempts.
Leonard led the offense for ND with 90 yards passing with a touchdown and 80 yards rushing. Time and again, Leonard scrambled for critical Notre Dame first downs that kept the ball out of the hands of the Bulldog offense.
“I think in a lot of ways they (Notre Dame) are built similar to us,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “You look at their turnover ratio numbers, their explosive play defense in terms of limiting explosive plays. They are built like we are in terms of emphasizing the statistics that matter. And they do a great job of not beating themselves, which is a really important thing in college football. You kinda start that and then go from there.
“Obviously, the quarterback’s production jumps out at you, total production as a runner and a big-bodied guy but he can also get it done in the passing game. Their running backs are legit, and they have a massive offensive line.
“Their defense is very sound, very aggressive, very disruptive and they do a good job on the back half as well. In terms of attacking the quarterback, they do a really good job. On offense, they play to their strengths, running the ball, the quarterback run game and then keeping you honest with the passing game.
“They’ve done it all year long on special teams and have one of the better special teams’ units in the country. So they are a well-rounded team. You don’t get to this point in the season without being good in all three phases. So far, we have a ton of respect for what we’ve seen on film and what we’ve studied. We have a lot of work to do.”
For Penn State, coming off a 31-14 victory over No. 3 Boise State, there are some injury concerns, especially about All-American Abdul Carter who left the game in the second quarter with an injury.
Against Boise, Penn State racked up 387 yards of offense that included 216 on the ground.
Kaytron Allen ran for a game-high 134 yards while teammate Nicholas Singleton added 87 with a clutch 58-yard touchdown run that essentially sealed the win for the Lions. Both Allen and Singleton are now over 1000 yards rushing for the season. Tight end Tyler Warren came in with six catches for 63 yards and two remarkable touchdowns. And quarterback Drew Allar, a steady influence throughout the game, was 13-for-25 for 171 yards and three touchdowns.
In all, the Lions were solid across the board as they played themselves into the semifinal.
Most of the talk about the semifinal is leaning toward a low-scoring, close-to-the vest, run-oriented affair that likely goes deep into the fourth quarter until it’s decided.
Of course, since both teams do have big-play capabilities, it is always possible that it could turn out to be a wide-open, 48-45 type of game.
But I wouldn’t count on that.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
