Notre Dame is playing for a national title for the first time in 12 seasons.

Mitch Jeter hit a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left to give the Fighting Irish a 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night. The Irish will play the winner of the Cotton Bowl between Ohio State and Texas on Friday.

The CFP national title game is Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

The winning kick came after Notre Dame’s Christian Gray intercepted Penn State’s Drew Allar in PSU territory with 33 seconds left. Notre Dame got the ball back with 2:27 left and had a chance to win the game on that drive, but a third-down sack by Riley Leonard forced the Irish to give the ball back to Penn State with under a minute left go to throw.

This gave the Nittany Lions a fantastic chance to win the game. And instead, Allar threw a pick on the second play of the drive after Nick Singleton scored a first down.

The Irish took over at the 42-yard line, had all three timeouts and got into field goal range for Jeter on a third-down pass from Leonard to Jaden Greathouse. Two plays later, Leonard brought the ball up the middle to set up Jeter’s shot.

Penn State had a chance for a touchdown after the last-minute field goal, but the drive began with an incomplete pass and ended with a lateral play that ended with Allar throwing the ball out of bounds.

Notre Dame last played for the national title at the end of the 2012 season, when the Irish appeared in the BCS title game against Alabama. This game went poorly for Notre Dame as the Irish were dominated by the Crimson Tide 42-14. A win on January 20 would be the team’s first national title since 1988.

Notre Dame’s big problems

Jeter came to South Bend from South Carolina after being a reliable kicker for the Gamecocks. However, he was limited by a groin injury for most of the season and endured the worst year of his career. Jeter came into the game shooting just 11 of 18 on field goals, and Notre Dame was the worst team in the country when it came to scoring three points. Before the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame’s kickers made 13 of 24 field goal attempts.

But Jeter got healthy at the end of the season and was very good again in the postseason. He was 2 of 3 against Indiana, 3 of 3 against Georgia and 2 of 2 against Penn State on Thursday night.

An explosive second half

The game picked up momentum in the second half. Especially in the fourth quarter.

After scoring just 13 points in the first half, the teams combined for 31 points in the fourth quarter and 38 in the final 30 minutes. Notre Dame tied the game at 24-24 with 4:38 left when Jaden Greathouse tripped two Penn State defenders on this 54-yard touchdown catch.

Greathouse’s TD came after Penn State scored 14 straight points to take the lead. Notre Dame took the lead for the first time all game when Jeremiyah Love scored a 2-yard TD early in the fourth quarter. But Singleton scored two straight seven-yard touchdowns as Penn State took a 24-17 lead.

Leonard returned for the second half after missing the end of the second quarter while being evaluated for a concussion. Leonard hit the back of the turf on a hit with 1:36 left in the second quarter and went straight to the team medical tent before being replaced by Steve Angeli. Angeli led Notre Dame down the field to a field goal in Leonard’s absence, and the senior QB returned in the third quarter after being cleared by doctors.

Notre Dame’s third-down dominance

The Irish were much better than Penn State on third downs on both sides of the ball.

Notre Dame converted eight of its last 11 third downs and finished the game 11 of 17. Penn State was just 3 of 11 on third down, although the Nittany Lions converted both chances on fourth down.

The running game that has powered Notre Dame for most of the season wasn’t as great as it usually is on Thursday nights. The Irish only managed 116 yards on 42 carries. That’s 2.8 yards per rush as the Irish were dominated on both offense and defense in the first half.

Leonard threw two interceptions but completed 15 of 23 passes for 223 yards and the TD to Greathouse. The second-year receiver had seven catches for 105 yards, leading all receivers in the game.

Notre Dame now enters the national title game with the longest winning streak in the country (13 games). The Irish haven’t lost since a Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois.

Penn State’s offensive struggles

Allar struggled on Thursday night as Penn State couldn’t do much in the passing game. The Nittany Lions rushed 42 times for 204 yards while Singleton scored three touchdowns. But Allar was 12 of 23 passes for 140 yards and that fateful interception. He also had two picks recalled due to Notre Dame penalties.

All 12 completions went to players who are not wide receivers. Star tight end Tyler Warren had six grabs for 68 yards and the other six completions were to tight ends and running back. Not a single receiver caught a pass for the Nittany Lions.

This has been a theme all season. Warren was the team’s leading receiver and had more than twice as many catches as Harrison Wallace III, the team’s leading wide receiver. Penn State struggled to get consistent production from its receivers, and that lack of perimeter coverage was evident against a Notre Dame team that likes to play man coverage.

Allar is expected to return to Penn State for another season and the Nittany Lions should be very good even if players like Warren, DE Abdul Carter and others leave for the NFL. But it’s clear that Penn State needs to step up at wide receiver and need better play from its quarterback in big games to be a serious national title contender in 2025.