MIAMI GARDENS — Prior to Thursday, the last time Notre Dame played a postseason game in South Florida, things ended badly.
Very badly.
Alabama embarrassed the Fighting Irish in the national championship game, starting a trend under coach Brian Kelly that led the New Englander to channel his inner fake Cajun accent and bolt to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Enter a green (pun intended) coach by the name of Marcus Freeman, whose experience included 11 years as an assistant at various Midwest schools, including one at Notre Dame.
As it turned out, Freeman — the man who has led Notre Dame (14-1) to the most wins in its 138-year history — was the perfect fit to coach under the watchful eye of Touchdown Jesus.
Notre Dame, the global university with 266 alumni clubs around the world, returns to the biggest and brightest stage in college football. The Fighting Irish will play for the national championship, thanks to a 27-24 victory over Penn State at Hard Rock Stadium that was decided by a Mitch Jeter 41-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining …
And the most untimely interception in Penn State quarterback Drew Allar’s career with 33 seconds remaining.
The pick, by defensive back Christian Gray, and Jeter’s field goal continued Notre Dame’s improbable climb to the title game, which will be Jan. 20 in Atlanta against the winner of Friday’s Ohio State-Texas game.
Notre Dame has won 13 consecutive games
Notre Dame now has played in a de facto playoff game every week since losing to Northern Illinois Sept. 7.
That’s 13 consecutive games, 10 regular season — any one of which could have knocked the Fighting Irish out of the playoff — and postseason wins against Indiana, No. 2 seed Georgia and now No. 6 Penn State.
“I often tell them in your lowest moments you find out the most about yoruself,” Freeman said. “We’ve had some low moments but we had a really low moment in Week 2 … We had players who chose to put this university and football program over themselves. That’s probably the single thing that I’m most proud of.”
Although Freeman continues to deflect all the praise, it comes back to the Ohio-born, and Ohio State-product, who was a surprise pick to run one of college football’s most historic programs.
Notre Dame is in position to win its 12th consensus national title because Freeman masterfully guided his team following that stunning 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois, a team that finished .500 in the Mid-American Conference.
“The message he relayed to us throughout the week (after the loss to Northern Illinois) was our season wasn’t over, we had so many more games left,” safety Xavier Watts said. “Only the second game of the season. So we could have gone downhill or continued to improve. Relaying the message that the season isn’t over, and we have so much to get better with, that’s what we did.”
The win over Penn State was just its second one-score game since the loss to NIU. The team developed a defensive disposition that perfectly complemented quarterback Riley Leonard, the transfer from Duke, and running back Jeremiyah Love.
The word Freeman and his players are using to describe this team is “savages.” That came out when it mattered most Thursday, after Penn State jumped to a 10-0 lead — the Irish scored the next 17 points — and then again after the Nittany Lions took a one touchdown lead with less than eight minutes to play.
First, it was Leonard and Jaden Greathouse hooking up for the most explosive play of the game, a 54-yard touchdown with 4:38 to play in which Greathouse so badly outfaked two Penn State defenders they went sprawling on the Hard Rock Stadium turf, to tie the score at 24.
Then it was Gray cradling the Allar pass, leading to the game-winning field goal.
And harkening back to the days when coaches like Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz had Notre Dame atop the college football food chain.
Wake up the echoes.
“I think any competitor wants to be part of a place where the expectations are to win national championships,” said Freeman, who becomes the first Black coach to lead his team to the Division I college football national title game. “We all had a decision to make as to the place we want to coach or play.
“But there’s more to this place than that. There’s more to this university and what it provides for young people. It’s a special place where young people get to grow in their faith, in their community and make connections that will be special for the rest of their lives.”
And, once again, play for a national championship.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman edges Penn State, advance to CFP playoff game
