Three takeaways from Penn State football’s 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in CFP semifinal
Penn State lost 27-24 in an instant classic against Notre Dame on Thursday night in a College Football Playoff semifinal at Hard Rock Stadium.
With the Orange Bowl loss, the Nittany Lions’ memorable season comes to an end with a 13-3 record. The Fighting Irish will advance to the national title game on Jan. 20.
Here are three takeaways from the Penn State loss.
QB Drew Allar struggles with consistency
Penn State has leaned on its running game all postseason and did against the Irish, too, but it was more of a necessity than it had been in the team’s first two CFP games. That’s because Drew Allar struggled to hit open receivers and was unable to capitalize on some well-timed play-calling by offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
Allar has always been at his best when his confidence is high, but he failed to get into a rhythm against an elite Notre Dame defense. There were misses high and low, and his game-sealing interception with 33 seconds left in regulation was one of his worst decisions of the season. Allar still made some big-time throws in this game, but he wasn’t steering the bus Thursday night. He crashed the bus.
Offseason will be full of ‘what ifs’
This College Football Playoff semifinal will go down as a classic, one that will still be looked at a decade from now. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, that’s hardly a consolation since they were on the wrong side of it.
What if James Franklin went for it on fourth-and-goal in the first quarter instead of settling for a field goal? What if DB Cam Miller wasn’t juked on Notre Dame’s long play in the final quarter? What if QB Drew Allar didn’t throw that interception on the final drive? Maybe the ending would be different; maybe not. But those questions will haunt fans and players alike this offseason.
The 2024/25 season will forever be remembered not for what it was, but for what it could have been.
Penn State dominated in the first half before faltering
In the first half, the Nittany Lions clearly looked like the better team. They outrushed, outplayed and out-toughed the Fighting Irish. Look no further than their 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive in the first half that took 7:17 off the clock.
But the Nittany Lions couldn’t capitalize more off their play, settling for a 10-3 halftime lead. (Blame an early field goal that was attempted at the 3-yard line.) And PSU couldn’t maintain that same level of dominance in the second half. They racked up 141 rushing yards in the first half and then just 63 yards in the second.
The Nittany Lions had the edge in the trenches early on, but Notre Dame adjusted. And Penn State couldn’t overcome its own mistakes.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 11:30 PM.
