Irish, Nittany Lions clash in Orange Bowl

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — It’s been a long time since either Notre Dame or Penn State reached college football’s mountaintop as national champions. It was 1988 for the Fighting Irish, 1986 for the Nittany Lions. There’s been good seasons and bad seasons in the three-plus decades that have followed, coaching changes and a complete overhaul of what the sport looks like.

Yet here they are — back again, on the doorstep of a title shot.

The loss to Northern Illinois is no longer relevant to Notre Dame. The losses to Ohio State and Oregon don’t matter to Penn State right now. The Irish (13-1) and Nittany Lions (13-2) face off in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, the first of two College Football Playoff semifinal games; the other is Friday when Texas takes on Ohio State.

“Obviously, you don’t get to this point in the season without being good in all three phases,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “So far, got a ton of respect for what we’ve seen on film and what we’ve studied, and we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Notre Dame has won 12 straight games, its longest streak since a 16-game run spanning the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Its lone loss was a Week 2 defeat at home, 16-14 to Northern Illinois. In the old days of college football — maybe as recently as last year, even — such a loss could have doomed playoff chances. Not anymore.

Notre Dame got here by topping Georgia in the CFP quarterfinals at the Sugar Bowl, a game that was delayed one day because of the truck attack in New Orleans. Penn State got its semifinal slot by topping Boise State at the Fiesta Bowl two days earlier.

“The mental preparation time has been the same,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. “For us, it was just a normal week. It was a Saturday to a Saturday, as we look at it in terms of game week. I think the coaches, we probably were a little bit behind to start just because of the travel and in that aspect, but physically our guys were good. Our guys were good, and we’re going to be ready to roll.”

A historic matchup for Black coaches

It has been a storyline since the matchup was set: The winning coach in this game will go to the CFP title game on Jan. 20 with a chance of becoming the first Black coach to win a major college football national championship.

“I don’t take it lightly,” Franklin said.

Freeman made sure to give credit to the two people who hired him at Notre Dame: then-athletic director Jack Swarbrick and then-university president the Rev. John Jenkins.

“I want to make sure I recognize them,” Freeman said. “And again, this isn’t about me. This isn’t about one person. It takes a team. It takes a program. It takes a lot of people committing to something bigger than themselves to put your team in a position to be here, and I understand it, and I’m very grateful for it. If this creates more opportunities for other coaches, other minority coaches, great. It’s great. It is great for the future generations of coaches, of college football coaches, of leaders. I am all for it, and I’m grateful to be a part of that.”

The series

It’s the 20th meeting between the programs. They split the first 19, going 9-9-1, and haven’t met since Sept. 8, 2007.

The schools met annually from 1981 through 1992 when both were independents; Penn State joined the Big Ten starting with the 1993 season. Thursday’s game will be just the third meeting since.

Defense reigns

All four of the CFP semifinalists have stout defenses.

Ohio State ranks No. 1 nationally in yards allowed per game this season, Texas is No. 3, Penn State is No. 6 and Notre Dame is No. 8.

Notre Dame in NFL stadiums

Here’s good news for Notre Dame: It has won its last six games played in NFL stadiums. Hard Rock Stadium, the site of the Orange Bowl, is home to the Miami Dolphins.

Here’s bad news for Notre Dame: Hard Rock has not been fun for the Irish. They’re 0-2 in that stadium, losing 42-14 to Alabama in the BCS championship game that capped the 2012 season and losing 41-8 to the Miami Hurricanes in 2017.

An intimate gathering

Attendance will be about 65,000 on Thursday night. For Penn State, that’s a small crowd.

Bolstered by having a home stadium that routinely draws crowds exceeding 100,000, the Nittany Lions will see their total attendance for the season approach the 1.4 million mark at the Orange Bowl.

It will extend Penn State’s single-season program record. The Nittany Lions drew 1,247,707 in 2002.