Drew Allar, Riley Leonard and both defenses will play a key role when Penn State and Notre Dame meet in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl.

Penn State will take on Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, with the game airing on ESPN.

The Athletic beat writers Pete Sampson (Notre Dame) and Audrey Snyder (Penn State) share their thoughts on the CFP semifinal.

Penn State and Notre Dame are teams that are built similarly, at least according to PSU coach James Franklin on Saturday. They’re both big and physical up front, led by confident quarterbacks, tough defense and want to run it down your throat.

The Penn State Nittany Lions look for Abdul Carter to get healthy, while the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been dealing with injuries all season.

While Notre Dame’s win against Georgia was the first win in a big bowl game in more than 30 years, Penn State is still searching for that level of win under James Franklin. The Nittany Lions had the so-called easy path to the semifinals and took advantage with a dominant win against SMU and a comfortable win against Boise State.

The Goodyear Cotton Bowl will feature the Ohio State Buckeyes against the Texas Longhorns. Here’s what to know before the game.

Josh Pate's College Football Show Ep 598 features Josh Pate looking ahead to the College Football Playoff semifinal round with predictions on Notre Dame vs Penn State in the Orange Bowl as well as Ohio State vs Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Instead, Ohio State has rushed for 337 yards and six touchdowns in two CFP games. Putting up points against Oregon wasn’t surprising because the Ducks’ defense had poor performances in past matchups with CFP teams.

Penn State and Notre Dame play in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The teams have played 19 times, including 12 consecutive years from 1981 to 1992.