Miami Gardens, Fla. — Penn State owned most of the game’s first 30 minutes Wednesday night at the 92nd annual Orange Bowl—and to be blunt—part of the final 30 minutes as well, but it was Marcus Freeman’s resilient Fighting Irish that sleighed their fourth Big 10 foe in as many chances, winning a classic over the Nittany Lions, 27-24 to advance to College Football’s National Championship.

The game saw scoring runs of 10 (Penn State), 17 (Notre Dame) and 14 (Penn State) before Freeman’s Irish scored the final 10 on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Riley Leonard to Jaden Greathouse and a 41-yard game-winning field goal by Mitch Jeter. 

“It starts with giving Notre Dame credit. That’s a good football team. We lost to a good football team that’s led by a good man,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin post game.