To his teammates, Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter has a new nickname this postseason.
Backup quarterback Steve Angeli said after Jeter’s latest heroics, a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left to knock off Penn State 27-24 in one of the College Football Playoff semifinals on Thursday, that Jeter is “Mr. January.” Jeter is 7-for-8 on field-goal attempts in three games this postseason.
The victory in the Orange Bowl sends the Fighting Irish to the title game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Their opponent will be the winner of the Friday night Cotton Bowl matchup between fifth-seeded Texas and eighth-seeded Ohio State.
Seventh-seeded Notre Dame (14-1) won its 13th game in a row and will be playing for a national title for the first time since the 2013 BCS championship game, when it lost to Alabama in a contest played in Miami Gardens.
Christian Gray’s diving interception of a pass from Penn State quarterback Drew Allar with 33 seconds left set up the Fighting Irish’s winning score.
“Just catch the ball, that’s all that was going through my mind, and I just made the play,” said Gray, who also had two tackles and earned Defensive MVP honors.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard completed 15 of 23 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and converted a key first down on the Fighting Irish’s final drive to set up Jeter’s game-winner.
On third-and-3, Leonard, who earned Offensive MVP honors, found Jaden Greathouse for 10 yards to the Penn State 25, and Leonard subsequently ran for 2 yards to make the field goal attempt closer. Jeter snuck the ball just inside the right upright.
“He’s a confident guy,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said of Jeter. “There is no moment too big for Mitch.”
Freeman, who made history by becoming the first Black coach to earn the chance to win a national championship, said of his players, “These guys are a bunch of savages. They’re built different. I’m so proud of them and what they’ve accomplished. They’ve stayed together and found ways to improve and get better. This is a special group.”
Gray’s interception was the only turnover forced by Notre Dame, which entered the game leading the nation in that category, but the Irish had two other interceptions nullified by penalties.
“I should have just thrown it away,” said Allar, who completed 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards and no touchdowns. “… We didn’t win the game, so it wasn’t good enough. I’ll learn from it and just grow from it.”
The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (13-3) were looking for a shot at their first national title since 1986. They fell despite a stellar game from Nicholas Singleton, who tied an Orange Bowl record with three rushing touchdowns.
Singleton ran for 84 yards on 15 carries, and Kaytron Allen ran for 82 yards on 19 carries to pace a potent Penn State rushing attack, which amassed 204 yards on the ground overall.
The Nittany Lions lost for the first time in 22 games when leading at halftime.
“Obviously, we need to give Notre Dame and Marcus (Freeman) a ton of credit, and we figured it would be a game that would come down to the final possession,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I’m proud of everyone in that locker room. We played our tails off tonight, but we made too many mistakes that were costly.”
Singleton tied an Orange Bowl mark set five previous times, most recently by a pair of Georgia Tech players, Synjyn Days and Justin Thomas, in 2014 against Mississippi State.
Singleton’s second and third touchdown runs — each of which were 7-yard scores in the fourth quarter — gave Penn State a 24-17 edge with 7:55 left.
Notre Dame erased that deficit, and an earlier 10-0 hole, in a game that featured three ties and three lead changes.
Greathouse, who finished with a career-high 105 receiving yards, made his biggest catch when he hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to level the score at 24 with 4:38 to go.
Leonard didn’t have the best performance statistically, but he delivered a gutsy effort after briefly exiting the game late in the first half with 1:30 left after taking a hard hit from Penn State’s Dvon J-Thomas.
Angeli entered and completed 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards to lead the Irish to their first score – Jeter’s 41-yard field.
Leonard returned to start the second half and capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to help Notre Dame tie the game at 10.
“Any one of us will do anything for each other,” Leonard said. “Culture wins at the end of the day. This proves it right there.”
–Field Level Media
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