Riley Leonard Shares Marcus Freeman’s Simple Halftime Message That Sparked Comeback

Notre Dame punched its ticket to the national championship on Thursday night with a dramatic 27–24 win over Penn State.

The Fighting Irish stumbled a bit out of the gate in Miami, Fla., trailing the Nittany Lions 10–3 heading into halftime and looking largely overwhelmed on both sides of the ball.

But in the second half, Notre Dame looked like a brand new team, with quarterback Riley Leonard leading the team on a game-tying drive to open the half, and the team taking over on both sides of the ball to close out the game.

After the win, Leonard revealed the words that head coach Marcus Freeman shared at halftime that helped spark Notre Dame’s comeback effort.

“He said ‘History is written by conquerors, and we’re holding the pen,’” Leonard said while being interviewed after being named the game’s offensive MVP. “We decide how we want to write our history. I am a firm believer in whether you think you can, or you can’t do something, you’re right. We believed that we could do it, and we went out there and did it.”

Now, Leonard, Freeman and the whole Irish program are one win away from being named national champions. They’re still holding the pen.