In the first semifinal of this year’s College Football Playoff, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl. Both of these teams have gone 2-0 in the new-look 12-team playoff this year, winning a home game in the first round before achieving victory in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame enters this matchup as a one-point favorite, though that line could move substantially in the week leading up to the game.
Continue reading to get our preview of Notre Dame vs Penn State in what could be an Orange Bowl for the ages. I will go over the most important key to this game for both teams, along with my best bet for this playoff semifinal. After turning a profit to this point in the college football season, you will not want to miss my selection for this matchup from Miami Gardens.
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Notre Dame Looks to Return to Championship Game
Notre Dame made a statement that they are legitimate national championship contenders with their performance in the Sugar Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Fighting Irish walked right into SEC country and won over Georgia in New Orleans to secure their berth in the semifinals of this tournament. Now it is up to Marcus Freeman’s team to continue to prove that they are a truly great team, as a win over Penn State would put them into their first national championship game since 2012, when they lost 42-14 to Alabama.
For Notre Dame, the key to this game will be on the defensive side of the ball. The Fighting Irish performed well enough to win on defense against a Georgia team that was missing its starting quarterback in Carson Beck. But doing so against Penn State, who has a legitimately great weapon in tight end Tyler Warren, is a much more difficult task and that could stop the Irish from getting back to the title game.
Can Penn State Win Third Straight Playoff Matchup?
The Penn State Nittany Lions got a win in their College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup against the Boise State Broncos to advance to the semifinal round. They took a 14-0 first quarter lead in that game and never looked back, holding Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty to just 104 yards and no touchdowns. Now, online sportsbooks have the Nittany Lions in nearly a pick ’em game as they look to get to their first national championship game of the College Football Playoff era.
Going into their win over Boise State, it was clear that the number-one key to victory for Penn State was to stop the run. In this game, it will be a lot different, as Notre Dame is more multi-faceted on offense than Boise State was. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard can hurt teams both through the air and with his legs, something the Nittany Lions will have to be vigilant and keep the Notre Dame quarterback contained if they want to win this contest and advance to the national title game.
Notre Dame vs Penn State Prediction
In the Notre Dame vs Penn State matchup from the Orange Bowl, we will take Penn State to pick up the win and advance to the national title game to face the winner of Ohio State vs Texas. Penn State might be playing the best football of any team outside of Ohio State in this year’s playoff. Expect that to continue and for the Nittany Lions to play for their first national championship since their 12-0 season and Fiesta Bowl victory over Miami in 1987.
