Christian Gray's fingers scraped the grass for an interception in the final seconds, which led to a go-ahead field goal and carried Notre Dame past Penn State on Friday in the first College Football Playoff semifinal.

Notre Dame awaits the winner of the Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff national championship game after the Irish beat Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night. Notre Dame trailed Penn State by seven at halftime and the two teams combined to score 31 points in the fourth quarter after scoring just 20 points in the first three quarters.

Notre Dame outlasted Penn State in a 27-24 thriller to reach the program's first national championship game since 2012 in the Orange Bowl. Thanks to the 12-team College Football Playoff format, the Fighting Irish officially became the first team to win multiple bowl games in the same season.