There were just under 12 minutes to play in Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal between Notre Dame and Penn State, with a trip to the national title game on the line, when the Nittany Lions were driving in the red zone, trailing, 17-10. 

On a run from the ND, Kaytron Allen turned a corner and reeled off a 10-yard gain. That was part of an impressive performance from the PSU ground game, which racked up 200-plus yards and around 5.0 yards per carry on the night. 

It was also, though, part of a consistent wave of bad calls that went against Notre Dame. That’s because, on the play, replays showed that Penn State clearly got away with a holding penalty. 

The reason Allen was able to turn the corner with such ease, it seems, was that receiver Julian Fleming very clearly held Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray. That play helped set up the Nittany Lions for a game-tying score. 

But it was one of a handful of high-impact calls that went against Notre Dame on Thursday — most notably, a blown call on a pass interference that took away a Fighting Irish interception. 

During the game, broadcaster Pat MacAfee of ESPN said from the sideline as ND coach marcus Freeman angrily addressed the officials, “Marcus Freeman is asking a lot of questions to the back judge about, ‘How the hell was that pass interference called, taking away a takeaway?’

“Then there was a hold at the point of attack that wasn’t called. That could have helped Notre Dame. Then there was a false start in the first half that created a third-and-12 … Marcus Freeman has some thoughts about the officiating this evening and he’s been letting them know about it.”