Orange Bowl Halftime Update: Penn State Leads Notre Dame; Riley Leonard Hurt

Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard left the game with an injury, while Penn State's run game is dominating.

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton (10) plays the ball in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

MIAMI GARDENS | Penn State took a 10-3 halftime lead over Notre Dame on Thursday night in the Orange Bowl, though the bigger story is an injury to Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard. The quarterback missed the back half of Notre Dame's late scoring drive, as backup Steve Angeli made some key throws to revive the Notre Dame offense. Leonard returned for the Fighting Irish to start the third quarter.

Here's the first-half look from Hard Rock Stadium.

Penn State knocks Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard from the game

Late in the secon half, Penn State edge rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton flattened Leonard on a sack, bouncing the quarterback's upper body off the turf. Leonard left the game and went straight to the injury tent. Steve Angeli replaced Leonard and stunned Penn State momentarily, completing 6 of 7 passes to get Notre Dame into field-goal range on its final possession. Mitch Jeter hit a 41-yarder as the half expired to cut Penn State's halftime lead to 10-3.

Notre Dame had several key injuries in the half. In addition to Leonard, the Fighting Irish lost starting left tackle Anthonie Knapp and starting right guard Rocco Spindler, whose injury occurred on the same play as Leonard's.

Riley Leonard went into the medical tent for a possible head injury after taking this hit late in the second quarter.

Leonard was replaced by backup QB Steve Angeli. pic.twitter.com/PAd4UtuNe3

— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2025

Penn State's run game is feeling it

On its 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive, Penn State ran the ball 13 times for 86 yards. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki pressed the wide-zone button often and successfully, with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen really grooving. Once again, Allen has entered postseason beast mode. He finished the first half with 63 yards on 13 carries, jumpstarting the scoring drive with a 20-yard burst.

Allen and Singleton combined for 115 first-half rushing yards, and Penn State had 141. That already was more than Notre Dame allowed to Georgia and Indiana combined (125) in its first two playoff games.

Abdul Carter makes early impact

The defensive end started for Penn State wearing eye black printed with the words "Darth Vader," a reference to his week-long campaign to narrate his recovery. Carter is playing with a heavily wrapped left shoulder but no less ferocity. He produced one of the game's key plays and nearly another. Carter sacked Angeli, fighting through a hold of his right arm, to force the field-goal attempt. He also nearly recovered a Leonard fumble that Dennis-Sutton forced. Notre Dame lineman Billy Schrauth corralled the ball from Carter.

Dennis-Sutton is leveraging his pass rush into plays. He has the sack and several moments of pressure. Further, safety Zakee Wheatley played an exceptional first half. He intercepted an overthrown Leonard pass for Penn State's seventh of the playoff. Wheatley also came from center field to stop Leonard for a huge second-down tackle for loss.

Drew Allar's struggles

The Penn State quarterback looks out of rhythm and threw only two passes on the touchdown drive. His first sailed over the head of an open Singleton. After that, Penn State went to the run, though Allar connected with tight end Tyler Warren for a first down on 4th-and-2. Allar is 5-for-13 for 43 yards and has not completed a pass to a wide receiver. Freshman tight end Luke Reynolds made a key grab in tight coverage on one of Allar's better-thrown passes.

Noteworthy

Penn State outgained Notre Dame 194-122 in the first half, and its defense has held the Fighting Irish run game to 15 yards. Back Jeremiyah Love, playing with a knee brace, had just three carries for 10 yards.

On his fourth-down catch, Warren became the first Penn State player to catch 100 passes in a season.

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