Notre Dame has a postseason win over Georgia. And it can thank a one-minute stretch over the second and third quarters for the victory.
The No. 7 Fighting Irish scored 17 points in 54 seconds sandwiching halftime on the way to a 23-10 win over the No. 2 Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday. Notre Dame will play Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 for a spot in the College Football Playoff national title game after the Sugar Bowl was delayed a day by the horrific terror attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.
The Irish took a 6-3 lead with 39 seconds to go in the second quarter on a field goal by Mitch Jeter. Eleven seconds later, that lead was 10 points after RJ Owen sacked Georgia QB Gunner Stockton and Junior Tuihalamaka recovered.
A play after the strip sack, Riley Leonard found Beaux Collins for a 13-yard TD.
Notre Dame got the ball to start the second half and the offense never took the field to open the third quarter. Jayden Harrison returned Peyton Woodring’s kick 98 yards for a 20-3 lead.
You’ve probably heard coaches across both the NFL and college football talk about winning the “middle eight” — the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four minutes of the third quarter. Notre Dame took that to the extreme on Thursday, but the barrage was more than enough against the Bulldogs.
Georgia had the chance to get the ball back with less than eight minutes to go and trailing by two touchdowns, but a nifty bit of gamesmanship helped Notre Dame keep the ball. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman sent the punt team onto the field on a 4th and 1 deep in his own territory before rushing them off the field in favor of the offense.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart then had the chance to sub his defense back onto the field, and the Bulldogs’ defenders ran back out for what certainly felt like a headfake by Notre Dame. But as Leonard attempted a hard count, Georgia had two defenders jump into the neutral zone and center Pat Coogan smartly snapped the ball to Leonard to draw the offsides penalty and a free first down.
The victory is the first for Notre Dame in four attempts against the Bulldogs. The teams had previously met twice in the regular season and on Jan. 1, 1981, when a Georgia team powered by Herschel Walker beat the Fighting Irish 17-10.
It’s also the biggest bowl win for Notre Dame in years since its first-round win over Indiana at home wasn’t officially considered a bowl game. With all due respect to the likes of the Gator Bowl, Camping World Bowl, Sun Bowl and Music City Bowl, Thursday’s win is the most significant bowl victory for the Fighting Irish since a Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M on Jan. 1, 1994.
Notre Dame’s victory also means that the semifinals of the College Football Playoff will be contested among teams who played in the first round. All four of the CFP’s top seeds lost in the second round, though it’s imperative to note the top four seeds were the top four conference champions and not the top four teams in the CFP rankings. All four of those teams were underdogs too as favorites are 8-0 through the first two rounds of the playoff and 7-1 against the spread. Only Texas, which beat Arizona State 39-31 in the Peach Bowl, has failed to cover the spread so far.
Gunner Stockton’s first start
Georgia QB Gunner Stockton made the first start of his career on Thursday after Carson Beck’s elbow injury in the SEC title game. Stockton was not overwhelmed by the moment. And didn’t get much help from his teammates.
Stockton finished the game 18-of-29 for 225 yards and a TD. But the left side of the offensive line gave up consistent pressure all day — including on the strip sack — and Georgia’s receivers were plagued by drops again like they have all season. Stockton hit a wide-open Dillon Bell in the hands on a downfield throw in the third quarter but Bell couldn’t catch the pass.
The Bulldogs also turned the ball over twice. Trevor Etienne fumbled in the first half as Georgia was driving toward the end zone. The Bulldogs rushed 28 times for just 69 yards as Stockton’s sack yardage is counted in that total.
Notre Dame relies on Riley Leonard’s legs
Leonard was just 14-of-23 passing for 88 yards and a score. But he rushed 11 times for 65 yards and was Notre Dame’s most impactful runner. Whenever Notre Dame needed yards on the ground, Leonard got the call and he helped drain the clock in the fourth quarter. Leonard accounted for over half of Notre Dame’s rushing total as running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for 13 carries for 51 yards.
Notre Dame’s 12 wins in a row mean the Irish carry the longest winning streak in the country into the semifinals. Notre Dame hasn’t lost since its baffling Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois and will face a Penn State team that beat Boise State on New Year’s Eve and has a two-day rest advantage.
