Penn State entered Thursday looking at an Orange Bowl matchup with Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Nittany Lions come out of that game with a disappointing 27-24 loss to end their season.

By most accounts, reaching the final four of the initial 12-team Playoff is a major success for the program. But the way Thursday’s game went down shows what could have been.

Penn State built a 10-0 lead at one point before getting outscored 27-14 the rest of the way. That’s the kind of swing that will have fans once again questioning the work of James Franklin in big games.

As the Nittany Lions head into their offseason, here are the key takeaways from the loss that included 31 total points scored in the 4th quarter:

Drew Allar’s costly mistake dooms Penn State

Drew Allar has been somewhat of an enigma for Penn State this season. While he did improve his accuracy during his 2nd season as a starter, his decision-making came off the rails during the Orange Bowl.

Twice, he threw interceptions that were overturned by penalties many deemed as questionable, and the play that finally stood up as a turnover is one Allar will want back all offseason.

Inside of a minute to play, Penn State delivered a resounding defensive stand to keep Notre Dame outside of field goal range. The Nittany Lions got the ball back deep in their own territory with just 38 seconds left, but James Franklin went for it.

After Nicholas Singleton picked up 13 yards on the ground, Penn State dropped Allar back to pass. It led to disaster with Allar throwing across the middle of the field under duress and Christian Gray picking off the pass for Notre Dame.

This time, there was no rescue from the defense. The Nittany Lions could not keep Riley Leonard and Notre Dame outside of field goal range with the Fighting Irish kicking the game-winning field goal with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Overall, Allar finished 12-for-23 with just 139 yards and 1 interception.

Andy Kotelnicki under fire for questionable decisions

Penn State’s offense improved in the first year of new OC Andy Kotelnicki, but the Orange Bowl is certainly a moment in time he would like to have back. Some of the blame undoubtedly rests on Allar’s shoulders for his decision-making and accuracy issues, but Kotelnicki’s calls deserve some questions.

With sack yards taken out, Penn State rushed for 212 yards against the Notre Dame defense and averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Yet somehow, Penn State could not stop itself from testing the passing game.

Tyler Warren had his traditional 6 catches for 75 yards, but Penn State did not have a single wide receiver record a catch in the game. And even with Warren in the mix, Kotelnicki did not target the big tight end during an early-game appearance at the goal line that resulted in a field goal.

The offensive players did not execute at key moments, but the OC is not above criticism after some weird sequences that ultimately came back to haunt the Nittany Lions.

Overturned interceptions keep Penn State afloat

Drew Allar struggled for really the first time in this Playoff. However, he avoided the costly interception early but not without some serious scares.

In the first quarter, Penn State took over via an interception off of Riley Leonard. The Nittany Lions would use that possession to run 14 plays and ultimately kick a field goal, but those points never came.

On a 3rd down and just inside the 10-yard line, Allar threw a lofty fade that was easily intercepted by Christian Gray. The Penn State receiver never located the ball in time, but a flag ultimately came out.

This time, the penalty was defensive holding on Gray early in the route, wiping away the turnover.

Again in the fourth quarter, Allar was saved by a defensive pass interference. On that play, Allar was targeting Tyler Warren — in triple coverage — near the goal line.

The pass was picked off by Jack Kiser before it got to Warren, but the flag came out once again. Adon Shuler was flagged for pass interference for contact with Warren and not looking back to play the ball.

Instead of a turnover, Nicholas Singleton scored a go-ahead touchdown to make it 24-17.

While that score would not hold up, the game could have ended much sooner with less drama if not for those 10 points Penn State was able to salvage after it looked like drives were over.