Orange Bowl 2024: Top Stars, Picks for Notre Dame vs. Penn State CFP Semis Bracket

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn State Nittany Lions took similar paths to reach the Orange Bowl.

Both teams thrive in the rushing game and produced a litany of dominant defensive performances to be two of the four teams remaining in the College Football Playoff.

Penn State could claim to have the slightest edge across the board in the positional battle because tight end Tyler Warren is expected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

However, most of the future NFL stars on both rosters play on the defensive side of the ball.

The talent across all levels of both defenses could make the Orange Bowl the lower-scoring semifinal of the two being played this week.

S Xavier Watts

Notre Dame's best overall defensive player, cornerback Benjamin Morrison, was ruled out for the season with an injury in October.

The Irish's other secondary star, Xavier Watts, will be one of the players tasked with slowing down Tyler Warren in the middle of the field on Thursday.

Watts has 42 solo tackles, eight passes defended and six interceptions this season. He has 13 total interceptions in the last two seasons.

He is the big playmaker inside the Irish defense, and if they force a turnover or two, expect Watts to be at the center of those plays.

QB Riley Leonard

Riley Leonard came over from Duke in the offseason to enhance the quarterback play at Notre Dame.

The veteran signal-caller has done just that with his arm and legs. He ran for 80 yards and threw for just 90 yards in the quarterfinal win over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Leonard ran for 831 yards and 15 touchdowns so far this season. His success on the ground with Jeremiyah Love is vital to Notre Dame's success.

Leonard may be asked to throw more depending on how the rushing attack works. He's only thrown for over 200 yards in three of the last six games, but he's completed over 70 percent of his passes in three of the last four.

RB Jeremiyah Love

Love captured national attention for his 98-yard touchdown run in the first-round win over the Indiana Hoosiers.

The 1,000-yard rusher had 99 or more rushing yards in four straight games going into the Sugar Bowl. He was then held to 19 yards by Georgia.

Love needs to have a bigger impact on the Orange Bowl in order for the Irish's ground game to reach its peak effectiveness with him and Leonard.

TE Tyler Warren

Tyler Warren will make an NFL fan base happy in the near future.

Warren is the latest star tight end to come out of Penn State, and he has the potential to be a lot better than Pat Freiermuth and Mike Gesicki.

Warren, who is widely regarded as a first-round pick, has 98 receptions for 1,158 yards. He is the focal point of the Penn State passing attack.

Penn State does not have a dominant set of wide receivers, so Warren is the go-to target for quarterback Drew Allar.

EDGE Abdul Carter

Abdul Carter is arguably the best prospect on either roster.

The edge-rusher owns 11 sacks and two forced fumbles this season. The sack total doubled the sack total from his previous two seasons.

Carter suffered an injury in the Fiesta Bowl, but is expected to play in the Orange Bowl.

His presence on the edge could help Penn State slow down Leonard's effectiveness in both facets of the Notre Dame offense.

QB Drew Allar

You could argue that Drew Allar would be the best quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL draft class if he decided to leave school this year.

Allar already announced that is coming back for the 2025 campaign, and he will have plenty of NFL eyes on him on Thursday and for all of next season.

The junior put together his first 3,000-yard passing season in 2024 and he is one passing touchdown away from tying his 25 scoring throws from a year ago.

Allar is the better passer than Leonard, and if the game turns into a shootout, he gives Penn State the edge in the pocket.

Penn State 24, Notre Dame 17

Plenty of defensive stops are expected given how tough both teams are to play against.

The usually effective rushing attacks of both programs could be slowed, which would lead to more passing than each program would like.

If that is the case, Allar has the edge at quarterback and PSU has the best pass-game weapon in Warren.

The Allar-Warren connection could turn out to be the ultimate difference-maker to get the Nittany Lions into the CFB Playoff National Championship.