MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No. 6 seed Penn State dropped a crushing 27-24 decision to No. 7 seed Notre Dame in College Football Playoff Orange Bowl semifinal action at Hard Rock Stadium here Thursday night. As emotionally devastating as the season-ending defeat seemed to be, the Nittany Lions had nobody but themselves to blame.

Leading 24-17 with 7:55 remaining, everything that could go wrong for James Franklin‘s program did. The Fighting Irish, meanwhile, never lost their poise, even in the face of several seemingly catastrophic mistakes.

Ten of PSU’s 24 points came off of turnovers, a strong number against a team that usually excels at doing that very thing to opponents. ND got three points off turnovers — they just so happened to come on the game-winning field goal.

It is fair to say this sort of thing — not this exact situation, but PSU making critical errors against top opponents at the worst times — has become a pattern under Franklin. But we’ll have a chance to rehash that after the season. For now, let’s look at Thursday’s tough loss.

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