Notre Dame reaches CFP title game with late field goal win 27-24 against Penn State in Orange Bowl.

— Notre Dame took advantage of a crucial Penn State turnover with under a minute left and made the game-winning field goal with seven seconds remaining to pull out a 27-24 win in the Orange Bowl and earn a spot in the College Football Playoff championship game.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar was intercepted in Penn State territory with 33 seconds to play, leading to a 41-yard field goal by Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter. The Fighting Irish will meet the Cotton Bowl winner between Texas and Ohio State on Monday, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Down 10-0 with two minutes left in the second quarter and 24-17 with just under eight minutes to play, Notre Dame answered with a surprisingly explosive passing game, including a game-changing touchdown pass of 54 yards to wide receiver Jaden Greathouse to even the game at 24-24 with 4:38 remaining.

A game of runs — Penn State scored the first 10 points and Notre Dame the next 17 points — came down to which quarterback made the critical mistake. That was Allar, who had turned his game around in the fourth quarter but made a costly decision on a rollout on the Nittany Lions' penultimate possession.

The Nittany Lions were held to 63 rushing yards in the second half after going for 141 yards in the first half, which more than the Irish had allowed combined in playoff wins against Indiana and Georgia.

All-America tight end Ty Warren had 75 receiving yards and 21 yards on the ground for the Nittany Lions. Allar started slowly and finished with 135 passing yards and the one costly turnover.

After the first scoreless first quarter in the Orange Bowl since Louisville and Wake Forest in 2007, the Nittany Lions got on the board with a short field goal to open the second quarter. Later, Penn State went 90 yards in 15 plays across more than seven minutes, capped by a Singleton touchdown run, to take a 10-0 lead with 2:18 remaining in the quarter.

The Nittany Lions regained possession at the 15-yard line with 47 seconds to play. But Allar made the game’s biggest mistake: On second down on the 28-yard line, Allar rolled to his left, threw across his body and was intercepted by Christian Gray at the 42-yard line with 33 seconds left.

Leonard found Greathouse again to convert on third down and push the Irish down to the 25-yard line. Leonard then kneeled twice to get the Irish into the middle of the field and set up Jeter’s game-winning field goal.

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