Notre Dame fought back from a sleepy first half and overcame a 10–0 deficit to get past Penn State in the Orange Bowl and will now play for the national championship. It was a much-needed thrilling game in a College Football Playoff that hasn't featured many compelling contests.
Who could have seen that coming? Well, it wan't a total shot in the dark to suggest that a pick 'em game would be a 60-minute affair decided late. But ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit's gets high marks for his level of specificity.
"The difference in this game will be a critical turnover late," he predicted pregame. "Notre Dame will get it ... they'll turn it into points. That'll be the difference."
Shoutout to @KirkHerbstreit - dude called it
— Matt Gorman (@mattsgorman) January 10, 2025
“The difference in this game will be a critical turnover late. Notre Dame will get it … they’ll turn it into points. That’ll be the difference.” pic.twitter.com/xj3kG0CHyb
Before anyone goes to wild slapping him on the back, he was slightly off with his final score crystal ball, saying it'd be a 24–20 type of game when it was a 27–24 margin that manifested.
Still, pretty good.
When you make as many predictions as Herbstreit, you're going to get a lot of them way wrong. So it's important to remember the times you look like a genius.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kirk Herbstreit’s Orange Bowl Prediction Proved Eerily Accurate.
