Notre Dame Edges Penn State In 2025 Orange Bowl

     The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish came back on the Penn State University Nittany Lions 27-24 in the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night. It was a CFP National Semifinal between both schools. 

     The Fighting Irish advanced to the CFP National Championship. They will play for the national title in Atlanta on January 20. 

     It was the latest time ever that the Orange Bowl was played during the bowl season. The Orange Bowl usually had been played in its history either on January 1 or January 2 from 1935 to 1996. It has occurred between December 29 and January 5 from 1997 until 2024. It was the second time that the Orange Bowl happened in January since late 2014. 

     After a scoreless opening quarter, Penn State(13-3) got on the scoreboard first to make it 3-0 at the 14:52 mark of the second quarter. Ryan Barker ended up kicking a 20-yard field goal. 

     It became 10-0 for the Nittany Lions with 2:18 left in the second. Quarterback Drew Allar handed the ball off to running back Nicholas Singleton and he went around the right end from five yards away. 

     Notre Dame(14-1) broke the shutout with no time remaining in the first half to make it 10-3. Mitch Jeter booted a 41-yard field goal 

     In the third quarter, the Fighting Irish evened it up 10-10 at 10:46. Quarterback Ryan Leonard raced in on a three-yard touchdown run. 

     Notre Dame took their first lead of the game 17-10 at the 14:07 mark of the fourth quarter. Running back Jeremiyah Love blasted through the left side of the line and scored from two yards out. 

     Penn State answered back on their next possession and tied it up 17-17 at 10:20. Singleton was able o sprint into the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown run.  

     They regained the lead on their next drive for a 24-17 lead with 7:55 left in the fourth. Singleton collected his third touchdown of the contest on a seven-yard run as he dashed through the left side of the line. 

     The Fighting Irish responded with a touchdown to tie it 24-24 with 4:38 to go in the quarter. Leonard fired a 54-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse on the right sideline. 

     Allar then threw an interception with 33 seconds left that was caught by defensive back Christian Gray at the Nittany Lions 42-yard line. Notre Dame got a game-winning, 41-yard field goal from Jeter with seven seconds remaining in the final quarter and they led 27-24.