The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and Penn State Nittany Lions square off Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, which plays host to the Orange Bowl, the National Semifinal for the College Football Playoff.
Seventy-two thousand people will pack into Hard Rock Stadium which has increased security measures to avoid problems that plagued this summer’s Copa America Final, and to prevent tragedies like the New Year's Eve attack in New Orleans that postponed this year's Sugar Bowl.
It's been a long time since either Notre Dame or Penn State reached college football's mountaintop as national champions. It was 1988 for the Fighting Irish, 1986 for the Nittany Lions.
There's another storyline for the game: The winning coach in this game will go to the CFP title game on Jan. 20 with a chance of becoming the first Black coach to win a major college football national championship.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly noted the competing universities playing in the Orange Bowl game.
