What They Said After Notre Dame's Win Over Penn State in the Orange Bowl

The Nittany Lions lamented several missed opportunities in a 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks on in the first half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

MIAMI GARDENS | Penn State lost its third one-possession game of the season, falling to Notre Dame 27-24 in the Orange Bowl, a game they had every chance of winning. Penn State took a 10-0 lead, gave it up, reclaimed the advantage and had a chance to put together a game-winning drive for the ages. Which ended in a Drew Allar interception.

While Notre Dame readies to watch the Cotton Bowl to scout their opponent, either Ohio State or Texas, in the Jan. 20 College Football Playoff title game, Penn State returns to State College to piece together how this one unfolded. There were many questions to answer, which Penn State coach James Franklin and his players attempted to do late Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium. Here's what they had to say.

Penn State coach James Franklin

On the game: I want to thank our fans for the support that we got all year long. It was phenomenal. Could not be more proud of these two young men that are sitting next to me and really all those guys in that locker room. We played our tails off tonight and really played our tails off all season. Obviously we need to give Notre Dame and Marcus a ton of credit. They did a great job. We knew it was going to be a fourth quarter game, come down to a possession, and that's exactly what happened. Give Notre Dame a ton of credit. I wish them the best of luck moving on to the National Championship. But I love every guy in that locker room. I love every person in that locker room. Proud of them. Played our tails off tonight. Obviously we made too many mistakes that were costly. Give Notre Dame credit. We'll learn from this, and we'll be better.

On Penn State's third-down issues and struggling in the "middle eight" minutes: We weren't effective enough on 3rd down. And then the middle eight. That field goal right before the half was big. We almost had a chance to hit a fumble recovery right there off a strip sack, and then to open the second half with them going down and scoring a touchdown and us going three-and-out, those things, that was significant in the game. You looked at Notre Dame when we study them, they're one of the better middle eight teams in the country. So were we. But that was a major factor in the game. Then on top of that, I would say big plays. Just we'd make them earn it, we'd make them earn it, we'd make them earn it, and then they'd capitalize with a big play, which is again, something that we've done really well all year long is making people earn it.They had a good plan. Give their coaches a ton of credit. Their players made plays at specific times. But that was probably the two biggest points in the game from my perspective.

On Penn State's receiver making no catches: Yeah, we tried a couple early on in the game and weren't able to convert them, tightly contested coverage. They're a man coverage team. But yeah, that's a storyline of the game. That's one of the storylines, I don't think there's any doubt about it. Early on we had some throws, tightly contested balls that we didn't come down with. So again, give them some credit.

On defensive ends Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter, who combined for three sacks: Those two guys are warriors and have been warriors all year long. Abdul, I'm really proud of him. He gutted it out today, showed tremendous mental and physical toughness and was disruptive in the game, and Dani is a guy that's really done everything right since he stepped on campus, and to see him be able to make some big plays tonight at critical moments was huge. Really gave us a chance to go win that game. Proud of our offense, proud of our defense, proud of our special teams, but the two guys that you singled out, they deserve a ton of credit, and really not just tonight, all year long.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar

On the late interception: I was going through my progression, got to the backside, and honestly I was just trying to throw it at his feet but I should have just thrown it away. I felt the first two progressions not open just because of the situation we were in, but I was just trying to throw it at Amari's feet, but just didn't execute what I was trying to do.

On his performance: We didn't win the game so it wasn't good enough. It's plain and simple. I'll learn from it. I'll do everything in my power to get better from it and just grow from it.

On what the season meant to him: I learned a lot about myself, and I think it's a credit to the coaching staff for just allowing me to be me. I think I grew a lot, on the field, off the field. Just looking forward to continuing to grow, learn more about myself, get better in any way I can, on the field, off the field. Just looking forward to the opportunity. Definitely going to learn from this and move on and take it on the chin right now.

Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman

On the game: What a gritty performance, and they found a way when it matters the most to get their job done. Penn State was a heck of a football team. I had a lot of respect for them coming into the game but have more after the game. It's a really good team, well-coached, and it was a tough match-up. But these guys are resilient, and they found a way to make a play when it mattered the most. That's what, again, to me is what great teams, great organizations are able to at that moment that they need to do their job or make a play, they do it. The last play doesn't matter. There's unpredictable things that happen all the time, and they find a way to make it work.

On scoring 24 second-half points: We had to make some adjustments, which we did. We had to try to calm some things down. The running attack truly helped us open some things in the passing game in that second half. You know what? Riley [Leonard] just executed, the wide-outs executed, the O-line did their job, tight ends played well, and you find a way to win it in a game-winning field goal. It was going to be a battle. We didn't have great production in the first half and it was a seven-point game. I told them, we get the ball the first series of the second half, and we've just to go out and execute on this play. But I want them to understand, we did not play to our standard in the first half. And credit to Penn State for what they did on both sides of the ball. It was a seven point game. It did not feel like that going into the locker room, but it was a seven point game, and our guys went out there and performed in the second half.

On holding Penn State's wide receivers without a catch: When you have a lot of confidence in your corners to be able to play man-to-man coverage, it allows you to do a lot of different things with those nine other people. But we can't always just play man, too, because that's how some of those big plays happen. You can scheme us up. One of my favorite plays Christian [Gray] made today wasn't a play on the pass, it was when his guy cracked blocking the field and made a huge tackle. I think that was on third down. He put all 175 pounds into that tackle, man. But you know what? That hurts. That hurts. He's made to play man coverage, but I don't know how much he signed up to throw his body in there against a 200-pound running back that runs physical.But that's the way we choose to play this game. That's what I told them in the locker room. That's what I told them before this game. We choose to play this game in a physical, very physical manner. You know what? You're going to have to play through some pain, but that moment in that locker room when we're singing that fight song and we're celebrating together, it numbs the pain.

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