With seven seconds left to play, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman despatched Mitch Jeter onto the sphere to do what no kicker has ever performed: make a go-ahead area purpose within the fourth quarter of a School Soccer Playoff recreation.
Meaning the percentages of Jeter making the kick had been slim, as kickers had been 0-4 in CFP historical past in that scenario. That implies that everybody could be watching Jeter. That implies that the senior place kicker would both be heralded as a hero or blamed for his shortcomings.
Chances are high Freeman knew precisely how Jeter felt.
Freeman, who turns 39 on Friday, is certainly one of simply 16 coaches within the sport who’s Black. He’s simply the second Black head coach within the historical past of Notre Dame soccer, and, whereas Jeter tried to be the primary kicker to perform his personal feat, Freeman was making an attempt to turn out to be the primary Black head coach to achieve main his crew to the nationwide title recreation.
Jeter stared down the purpose posts at Arduous Rock Stadium, stepped up and nailed his 41-yard try to ship the Combating Irish to the nationwide title recreation with a 27-24 win over Penn State on Thursday evening within the Orange Bowl. And with it, historical past was made.
Freeman will now look to turn out to be the primary Black head coach to win a nationwide championship, and he’ll get that likelihood in simply 11 days. However getting so far required fairly a battle from Freeman and the Combating Irish in opposition to James Franklin’s Penn State crew.
Penn State’s protection made its presence recognized from the opening kickoff. With an injured Abdul Carter on the sphere — lining up in opposition to proper sort out Aamil Wagner — the Nittany Lion protection punished a Notre Dame offense that had but to display it may win a CFP recreation on quarterback Riley Leonard’s arm.
After Leonard threw for simply 90 yards in a win over SEC champion Georgia within the Sugar Bowl, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen put a unit on the sphere decided to make the Notre Dame QB full passes downfield.
With every passing down, Penn State’s protection dictated the tempo Leonard performed at. His footwork was a large number. His launch was late. His ft did not have an opportunity to set earlier than his arm started its wind-up, and his hips lagged behind, which led to largely errant passes. He threw two interceptions, certainly one of which was as a result of aforementioned errors in mechanics.
Dropping beginning left sort out Anthonie Knapp within the first half as a consequence of an ankle sprain did not assist issues. Knapp made 15 begins for the Irish this season and was answerable for defending Leonard’s blindside.
With just below two minutes left to play within the opening half, a tough hit left Leonard noticeably unbalanced as an official compelled him to depart the sphere for a concussion analysis. He accomplished simply 6 of 11 passes for 63 yards and rushed for 7 yards on 5 carries when backup QB Steve Angeli entered the sport.
The backup signal-caller fumbled and took two sacks, however he additionally accomplished 6 of seven passes for 44 yards and led the one scoring drive of the primary half for the Combating Irish, who had rushed for simply 15 yards on 13 carries as a crew in opposition to a menacing Nittany Lions defensive position.
Throughout the sideline, the Penn State dashing assault matched its protection’s dashing depth. Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen couldn’t be slowed down by Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden’s usually aggressive and marauding protection. With exterior zone and stretch performs off sort out, Andy Kotelnicki’s offense rushed for 141 yards within the opening half, together with a 5-yard landing run from Singleton with simply over two minutes remaining earlier than halftime. That proved to be the one landing within the opening half of play.
Singleton and Allen mixed for 115 dashing yards within the first half, 100 greater than the whole Notre Dame offense. The tandem persistently bought to the second stage of the Notre Dame protection and made a couple of particular person hit them earlier than being tackled, combining to common 5 yards per carry.
“They’re dashing higher than we’re tackling,” Freeman mentioned at halftime of the printed.
Nonetheless, Franklin knew the rating was simply 10-3 at halftime and that the Combating Irish would get the ball to start out the second half.
“We’re gonna have to complete,” Franklin mentioned. “It should be a four-quarter recreation.”
And he was proper.
With Leonard pronounced “asymptomatic” for a concussion, he returned within the second half and promptly led Notre Dame down the sphere for a rating. A 36-yard cross to freshman tailback Aneyas Williams, adopted by a 15-yard rush from him, arrange a 3-yard TD run from Leonard to make it 10-10. It was at that time {that a} true battle had damaged out with males daring to be courageous and make an extended, lasting title for themselves.
Notre Dame continued to reply, holding the Nittany Lions to simply 25 yards of whole offense within the third quarter. The Combating Irish offense mounted a 10-play, 71-yard drive, which culminated with a 2-yard landing run from working again Jeremiyah Love, who has rushed for a rating in 14 of Notre Dame’s 15 video games this season.
Love’s landing run gave Notre Dame its first lead of the sport. It marked 17 unanswered factors for a Combating Irish crew that seemed like they weren’t up for the problem laid down by the Nittany Lions early on.
However Penn State wasn’t going to go away. As an alternative, they roared.
With simply 10:20 remaining within the recreation, Singleton rushed into the tip zone for a 7-yard rating. The landing was arrange by a 27-yard strike from QB Drew Allar to Mackey Award winner Tyler Warren, who was working free within the secondary on a crossing route. Allar accomplished all three of his passes for 48 yards, whereas additionally including 9 yards dashing on the TD drive.
Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton picked off Leonard on the following drive, giving the ball again to a Penn State offense that after once more dedicated itself to working the rock. The Nittany Lions put collectively a fast five-play, 39-yard drive that ended with one other 7-yard landing run from Singleton, giving Penn State a 27-17 lead with beneath eight minutes remaining within the recreation.
Leonard and the Irish bought the ball again and instantly went to work. The senior QB accomplished all 4 of his passes on the drive, none larger than his 54-yard TD strike to extensive receiver Jaden Greathouse, who cruised into the tip zone after a Penn State defender slipped, tying the sport at 24-24. Greathouse put collectively the most effective efficiency of his profession on the most important stage, hauling in a career-high seven catches for 105 yards and that rating.
After the groups traded back-to-back punts, Allar and the Nittany Lions bought the ball again with an opportunity to win the sport. However Christian Grey picked off Allar with 33 seconds left to play and handed the ball to an offense that did what it had performed because the second half kicked off: discover a method.
“We discovered a solution to make a play when it mattered essentially the most,” Freeman mentioned. “For my part, nice groups, nice packages, discover a method to try this.”
RJ Younger is a nationwide school soccer author and analyst for FOX Sports activities and the host of the podcast “The Quantity One School Soccer Present.” Comply with him at @RJ_Young.
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