Leonard Overcomes Injury Scare to Propel Notre Dame Past Penn State

MIAMI GARDENS, Florida – Riley Leonard took a hard blow and suffered a scary moment, but he led Notre Dame to the biggest win of his college career and a spot in the national championship game. Leonard, along with his Fighting Irish teammates, have reached the College Football Playoff final, throwing for 223 yards and running for 33 as Notre Dame defeated Penn State 27-24 on Thursday in the Orange Bowl. Leonard scored a rushing touchdown and ran for another while briefly leaving the field in the first half for a concussion evaluation. After being cleared, he returned to lead his team to the national title game on Jan. 20, where they will face either Ohio State or Texas. “He’s a warrior,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said in a postgame celebration on ESPN. “Warriors always find a way to win, and that’s exactly what Riley does. That’s what the whole team does—they’re all fighters, and they always find a way.”

Freeman reported that Leonard missed the final two minutes of the first half as he had to go through concussion protocol. Leonard was later cleared after reporting no symptoms and returned to the field for the second half.

He quickly orchestrated an eight-play, 75-yard drive, and tied the game at 10–10 with a 3-yard touchdown run. Later in the game, Freeman hooked up with Jaden Greathouse for a 54-yard pass that tied the score again at 24–24, and with 8 seconds left, Mitch Jeter kicked a 41-yard field goal to give the Irish the win.

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Leonard credited Freeman's halftime speech for inspiring the comeback.

"He told us, 'History is made by those who win, and we're holding the pen,'" Leonard said. "We believed in ourselves, and we went out and got the job done." The hit that forced Leonard to leave the field was first scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The biggest hit came at the end of the half when Penn State's Zane Durant and Dwaun Jae-Thomas hit him. Leonard's helmet appeared to hit the turf on the play.

Steve Angeli replaced Leonard and led Notre Dame to a 41-yard field goal before halftime, cutting Penn State's lead to 10–3.

"I knew I'd be back on the field again," Freeman said. "Player safety is the top priority, but I just had to prove to everyone that I was OK. I was a little wobbly getting up, but I was good."

Early in the second half, Leonard completed a 36-yard pass to Aeneas Williams on the first play of the drive. The rest of the drive was all running plays, with Leonard scoring his second touchdown of the game to finish the series.

In the first half, Leonard completed 6 of 11 passes for 63 yards and an interception, while Angeli completed 6 of 7 passes for 44 yards during the final drive before halftime.