Notre Dame football: The Irish's group of unsung heroes come through yet again, this time at the Orange Bowl
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 09: Cornerback Christian Gray #29 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish reacts after intercepting a pass during the Penn State Nittany Lions versus the Notre Dame Fighting Irish College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Orange
Riley Leonard stood in the spotlight.
The starting quarterback for Notre Dame, who shook off a hard hit and small absence, picked the Irish off the canvas and delivered Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff National Championship game with a 27-24 win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
Head coach Marcus Freeman was there, too. He led Notre Dame to a win in the same stadium where Alabama decimated the Irish in the 2012 BCS Championship Game.
Those two in the spotlight gave credit where it was due: Notre Dame does not win the Orange Bowl without its litany of unsung heroes. Christian Gray, Mitch Jeter, Steve Angeli, Charles Jagusah and Tosh Baker, to name a few, lifted the Irish to their biggest game in the last three decades.
"There’s unpredictable things that happen all the time," Freeman said. "They find a way to make it work."
Notre Dame needed to make it work if they were going to win the Orange Bowl.
The Irish were in the danger zone late in the first half. Down 10-0, Leonard left the game after hitting his head on the turf on a quarterback hit.
Leonard came back into the game, but only after the second half started. That meant the final drive of the first half was in backup quarterback Angeli's hands. Angeli shredded Oregon State in last year's Sun Bowl, but the Sun Bowl is a far cry from the Orange Bowl with a national title game berth on the line.
Angeli delivered, shaking off a fumble earlier on the drive. He got Notre Dame into field position, where the Irish got on the board with a field goal in a first half where offense was hard to come by for Notre Dame. Holding the fort proved crucial as Notre Dame fans prayed the castle didn't cave in.
"Steve Angeli, I mean, this is a guy who just kind of waited his turn all year and has prepared like he’s a starting quarterback every single week," Leonard said. "He's shown a lot of maturity and he helps me out a lot. I mean, he’s the guy on the sideline who knows exactly what the defense is doing. He's a good friend of mine and I appreciate him a lot. So, for him to go in and drive them down the field for three points before the half, that was big."
When Leonard came back into the game, he did so behind a make-shift offensive line.
Starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp left the game with an ankle injury; in came Baker, who has over 30 college games under his belt. Right guard Rocco Spindler left the game in the first half, too; in came Jagusah, who missed the entire regular season after having surgery on his right pectoral muscle.
Not only were Baker and Jagusah tasked with blocking Penn State All-American Abdul Carter, but they needed to win up front. Without an active running game, Notre Dame wasn't going to win the Orange Bowl.
"As I told the offensive staff and the team in the locker room, we have to be able to run the ball, and we’ve got to stop the run," Freeman said. "That’s not changing. We said that going into the game, and we were saying that at halftime."
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Quick takes from Notre Dame vs. Penn State in the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinals
Here are our quick takes from the Orange Bowl, where Penn State and Notre Dame were locked in one of the tightest games of the season when it mattered most.
Baker and Jagusah delivered. The Irish scored 24 second-half points and kept pace with Penn State's run game. But, with 53 seconds left, Penn State had the ball with a chance to win.
That's when Gray stepped into the picture.
Gray had an interception called back earlier in the game on a penalty. Nittany Lions' quarterback Drew Allar tried to throw a ball in the dirt, but Gray dove to the ground for an interception.
"Just catch the ball. Just catch the ball. That was going through my mind," Grey said. "I knew I was going to make the play."
The cornerback teams consistently pick on made the play of the season.
"He won’t take credit for it, but in the biggest moments, both of these two and many guys in that locker room find ways to make plays when it matters the most," Freeman said. "Christian had to make a play, and he did, and was a huge reason why we won that game."
That set up Jeter's game-winning 41-yard field goal. The South Carolina transfer is 7 of 8 on field goals in the College Football Playoff, with the one miss being a block.
After an injury-plagued season, which was the cause of some inaccurate kicks, Jeter came through with one of the biggest kicks in Irish history.
The Irish don't win Thursday without their backup players.
Those players – from Angeli to Jeter – lifted Notre Dame out of a 10-0 rut and delivered them within a game of college football immortality.
"I often tell them, ‘In your lowest moments you find out the most about yourself.’" Freeman said. "That to me is a reflection of what you saw today, guys that did whatever it took to make sure we achieved the outcome we want."