MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.– The No. 6 seed Penn State Football team (13-3, 8-1) fell by a final score of 27-24 to No. 7 seed Notre Dame (14-1) on Thursday night in the CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl in Hard Rock Stadium.
Penn State answered a 17-0 Notre Dame run with 14 in a row to take a 24-17 lead with under eight minutes to play but a Fighting Irish field goal with seven seconds left was the difference-maker in the Nittany Lions’ 27-24 defeat.
Eight tackles for loss, including five sacks, by the Penn State defense held Notre Dame in check, while two interceptions led to 10 points by the Nittany Lion offense. Zakee Wheatley’s team-leading 16 total tackles tied the third-most ever recorded by a Nittany Lion in a Bowl/CFP game, and are the most in a Bowl/CFP game since Lance Mehl posted 17 in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. Wheatley also recorded a sack and an interception in a career outing. Kobe King also recorded nine stops of his own.
Dani Dennis-Sutton collected two sacks and an interception, the second of his career, in an outstanding defensive performance. The aforementioned Wheatley, along with Coziah Izzard and Abdul Carter recorded the other three Nittany Lion sacks.
Nicholas Singleton became the second player in Penn State history to record three rushing touchdowns in a Bowl/CFP game. He joined Ki-Jana Carter, who ran three in during the 1995 Rose Bowl, in the historic club. Singleton finished with 84 yards and three scores on 15 carries while fellow back Kaytron Allen rushed 19 times for 82 yards.
Tight end Tyler Warren wrapped up his record-setting campaign with 75 receiving yards on six catches, while also rushing twice for 21 yards. Warren was once again quarterback Drew Allar’s favorite target. Allar completed 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
An interception by Wheatley on Notre Dame’s second drive of the game gave Penn State’s offense possession at its own 42-yard line. The Nittany Lions converted a fourth down on their way to their first points of the ballgame. A 20-yard field goal by Ryan Barker put Penn State on the board as time expired in the first quarter.
Penn State converted another fourth down in the red zone as it recorded the first touchdown of the ballgame. A 15-play, 90-yard drive that chewed up 7:17 of clock was capped off by a five-yard rushing score by Singleton as the Nittany Lions went up 10-0 on the Fighting Irish with 2:18 remaining in the second quarter.
Notre Dame kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to make the score 10-3 in favor of Penn State at the halftime break. Yielding just 15 rushing yards and posting four tackles for loss, including three sacks, the Penn State defense kept Notre Dame in check in the first half.
Notre Dame evened the score with a touchdown drive to open the second half. Riley Leonard scored the first touchdown of the game for the opposition on a three-yard run at the end of an eight-play, 75-yard drive.
A two-yard touchdown run by the Irish put them up 17-10 with 14:07 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame took its first lead of the game on a 10-play, 72-yard scoring drive.
Penn State responded with a touchdown drive of its own, ending the 17-0 run by the Irish, tying the game at 17. Singleton scored his second rushing touchdown of the day, this time from seven yards out at the end of a seven-play, 75-yard drive. Allar completed two 20-plus yard pass plays on the drive to push Penn State down the field, going to tight ends Warren and Khalil Dinkins.
An interception by Dennis-Sutton on the first play of Notre Dame’s ensuing drive put the offense back on the field on the Irish 39-yard line. Singleton’s third rushing touchdown of the game, another seven-yard scamper, put the Nittany Lions back on top at 24-17 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter. Penn State traveled 39 yards on five plays for the go-ahead tally, capitalizing on another Notre Dame turnover.
Notre Dame knotted the score at 24 with a 54-yard touchdown on its next drive. The Fighting Irish took seven plays to go 81 yards for the game-tying score.
The Fighting Irish added a 41-yard field goal with seven seconds on the clock to take a 27-24 lead. A last-ditch effort by the Nittany Lions was not successful and Penn State fell 27-24.
The 2024 Penn State football season is presented by PSECU.
