Who will Notre Dame play in CFP Semifinal? Looking at Marcus Freeman's next opponent

Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish left college football fans in shock during their Sugar Bowl CFP quarterfinal showdown against the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday.

They put up an 11-1 campaign in the regular season, earning themselves a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. Notre Dame secured a 27-17 victory over Indiana in the first round, after which it faced the Georgia Bulldogs.

Despite being the underdogs, it successfully defeated the SEC champions 23-10 while taking a step closer to winning its first natty since 1988. So who will Marcus Freeman's team face next in the playoffs?

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Who will Notre Dame play in the CFP semifinal?

Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame are now scheduled to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the CFP semifinal game next week. The Nittany Lions defeated SMU 38-10 in the first round after which they faced the Boise State Broncos this week.

James Franklin and his team managed to emerge victorious with a 31-14 final score against the Mountain West Champions in the CFP quarterfinal game, earning themselves a spot in the Orange Bowl showdown against the Fighting Irish on Thursday.

For both Marcus Freeman and James Franklin, this is the opportunity to help their respective teams book a spot in the national championship game.

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Marcus Freeman had faith in his defense against the Georgia Bulldogs

In the post-game press conference, Freeman talked about how he was confident with his team's defense against the SEC champions.

"We had three keys to victory on defense," Freeman said. "And number one was to stop the run, and we didn't believe that we could lose this game by passing yards, but we could lose if we don't stop the run. And the defense did an amazing job in stopping the run. And that put them in a difficult third down situations."

Freeman also talked about how keeping pressure gave them an edge against Kirby Smart's team:

"That's got to be one of our edges, is that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes."

The last time Notre Dame played in a national championship was during the 2012 season when they lost 42-14 to the Alabama Crimson Tide. It will be interesting to see if Marcus Freeman can help the Fighting Irish achieve the ultimate glory by claiming the natty.