The Notre Dame Irish took on the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Nittany Lions in the college football playoff semifinals Thursday, Jan. 9 7:30 p.m. in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. 

Fans from both teams traveled from across the country to watch the game, showing up in their team’s colors and merch. (Photo/Jaiden Bomar)

Before the game, new Orange Bowl Hall of Fame inductees were announced, with a mixture of boo-ing and cheering from the crowd, including University of Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart, University of Florida and Ohio State University head coach Urban Meyer and University of Miami defensive tackle Vince Wilfork. 

The national anthem was sung by Ellie Rose, followed by the coin toss.

_{Before the start of the game, both team’s marching bands took the field to perform and cheer their team on. (Photo/Jaiden Bomar)}

To start the game, the Irish kicked off to the Lions.

After four combined drives from both teams, the score remained 0-0 going into the second quarter. However, in the fifth drive of the game, PSU freshman kicker Ryan Barker kicked a field goal to take the lead for the Lions. PSU followed this with a touchdown during their next drive, going up 10-3.

The Irish tied the game 10-10 to start the third quarter, with a touchdown by senior quarterback Riley Leonard.

The rest of the game continued with the two teams scoring one-after-the-other, bringing the game to 24-24 in the last quarter of the game.

In a nail biting ending, Notre Dame sophomore Christian Grey intercepted a PSU pass, leading to an Irish field goal with seven seconds remaining, bringing the final score to 27-24, a victory for the Irish.