Notre Dame has a playoff victory over Georgia. And they can thank a one-minute stretch in the second and third quarters for the victory.
The No. 7 Fighting Irish scored 17 points in 54 seconds at halftime en route to a 23-10 victory 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 Horrible terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans early Wednesday morning.
The Irish took a 6-3 lead with 39 seconds left in the second quarter on a Mitch Jeter field goal. Eleven seconds later, that lead was 10 points after RJ Owen forced a fumble by Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton and Junior Tuihalamaka recovered.
One play after the sack, Riley Leonard found Beaux Collins for a 13-yard touchdown.
Notre Dame got the ball early in 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 in 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 and the blitz was more than enough against the Bulldogs.
Georgia had a chance to get the ball back with less than eight minutes left and trailing by two touchdowns, but a little smarts helped Notre Dame keep the ball. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman sent the punt team down the field on fourth-and-1 deep in their own territory before running them off the field in favor of the offense.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart then had a chance to put his defense back on the field, and the Bulldogs’ defenders came running back for what certainly felt like a Notre Dame fake. But when Leonard attempted a tough count, Georgia had two defenders jump into the neutral zone and center Pat Coogan smartly threw the ball to Leonard to draw the offside penalty and a free first down.
The victory is Notre Dame’s first in four tries against the Bulldogs. The teams had previously met twice in the regular season and on January 1, 1981, when a Herschel Walker-powered Georgia team defeated the Fighting Irish, 17-10.
It’s also Notre Dame’s biggest win in years since its first-round win over Indiana at home was not officially considered a bowl game. With all due respect to teams like the Gator Bowl, Camping World Bowl, Sun Bowl and Music City Bowl, Thursday’s win is the most significant bowl win for the Fighting Irish since the Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M on Jan. 1 of 1994.
Notre Dame’s victory also means that the College Football Playoff semifinals will be contested between the teams that played in the first round. The CFP’s top four finishers all lost in the second round, though it’s imperative to note that the top four finishers were the top four conference champions and not the top four teams in the CFP standings. Those four teams were underdogs, as the favorites are 8-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs and 7-1 against the spread. Only Texas, which beat Arizona State 39-31 in the Peach Bowl, has failed to cover the gap so far.
Gunner Stockton’s first start
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton made his first career start Thursday following Carson Beck’s elbow injury in the SEC title game. Stockton wasn’t overwhelmed at the moment, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates.
Stockton finished the game 20 of 32 for 234 yards and a touchdown. But the left side of the offensive line gave up constant pressure all day, including on the sack, and Georgia’s receivers were once again plagued by drops as they have been all season. Stockton hit Dillon Bell wide open 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 drove toward the end zone. The Bulldogs rushed 28 times for just 69 yards and Stockton’s catch yards are counted in that total.
Notre Dame depends on Riley Leonard’s legs
Leonard completed just 15 of 24 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. But he ran 14 times for 80 yards and was Notre Dame’s most impactful running back. Every time Notre Dame needed rushing yards, Leonard got the call and helped run out the clock in the fourth quarter. Leonard accounted for more than half of Notre Dame’s rushing total, as running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price combined for 16 carries for 56 yards.
Notre Dame’s 12 consecutive victories mean the Irish carry the longest winning streak in the country to 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 lead.