Indiana was no match for Notre Dame.
The No. 7 Fighting Irish cruised to a 27-17 victory over the No. 10 Hoosiers in the opening game of the 12-team College Football Playoff on Friday night. The game effectively ended when Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love tied a school record and set a College Football Playoff record when he ran 98 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Of course, no one watching knew at the time that Love had finished the game. But as it went on, it became clearer that Love’s run was the shining example of what Indiana’s night was going to look like.
Love’s TD gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead and the Fighting Irish led 17-3 at halftime. Indiana’s three points came when the Hoosiers decided to kick a field goal with less than five minutes left in the second quarter after taking a timeout to make the decision. You could understand why Indiana would have decided to do so; the difference between 11 and 14 points is still a two-possession game. If Indiana had somehow cut the lead to seven, there might have been a plausible path to victory.
Instead, Indiana kicked the field goal. Notre Dame responded with a field goal before halftime.
Any chance of an upset for Indiana disappeared in the third quarter. Notre Dame received the ball first and returned the kickoff beyond midfield. The Hoosiers were able to quickly force a punt, but went within three once they got the ball back.
Indiana appeared to have stopped Notre Dame on the Irish’s next drive, but James Carpenter was penalized for hitting Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard as Leonard stepped out of bounds. The third down penalty gave Notre Dame a free first down and the Irish extended their lead to 17 points and three possessions.
It was definitely over from there. And if that weren’t enough of a clue, Indiana’s decision to punt the ball while trailing by 17 with less than 11 minutes left should have given many neutral observers enough incentive to change the channel before Indiana scored two touchdowns. late to score. The final score is respectable.
Notre Dame gets Georgia
The win gives the Fighting Irish a matchup against No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. It will be Notre Dame’s fifth Sugar Bowl appearance and the school’s first since 2007, when Notre Dame lost 41-14 to an LSU team led by JaMarcus Russell. In 1981, Georgia beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to (unofficially) claim a national title.
This Notre Dame team is capable of beating Georgia on the first day of 2025, especially with the questions surrounding the Bulldogs at quarterback. Gunner Stockton appears ready to start for the Bulldogs after Carson Beck’s elbow injury in the SEC title game. Beck could miss the entire College Football Playoff.
However, Notre Dame will have to be better on offense than they were Saturday night. Riley Leonard threw an interception on the Irish’s first drive and the running game didn’t do much good outside of Love’s 98-yard run. Notre Dame was clearly the better team on Friday night, but it would have been a much closer game if not for Love’s big play.
The Irish could also have injury issues on the defensive line. Rylie Moss limped off the field following a sack by Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke when his right leg collided with a teammate in the second half.
Don’t call Indiana a fraud
Explosions happen. Especially in the college football playoffs. Indiana is far from the first team to have no chance in the postseason. And all previous blowouts came in a four-team playoff.
But it’s fair to look at Indiana’s season and consider it fortunate. In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable and quite accurate.
After years of being in the same Big Ten division as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the Hoosiers did not include the Nittany Lions on their schedule in 2024. In exchange, they got Washington, the team that lost to Michigan in the championship national. title game almost a year ago.
Yes, both Michigan and Washington were much worse than in 2023 thanks to player departures and coaching changes. But that’s not Indiana’s fault. The Hoosiers beat them both and everyone else in their regular season schedule outside of Ohio State. That game didn’t go well. The Buckeyes won, 38-15.
Ohio State overwhelmed Indiana’s offensive line in that game and the mismatch was clear again on Friday when Notre Dame was by far the better team against Indiana’s offensive line. The Hoosiers were one of the highest scoring teams in the country, but it was clear from their games against Ohio State and Notre Dame that they occupied a space in college football above most teams but below the best.
Alright. Not every team that makes the 12-team playoffs will be great, and there are countless teams throughout college football history that posted double-digit winning seasons thanks to fortunate schedules. And at 11-1 in the Big Ten, Indiana deserved more than a chance to play for the national title. Unlike a certain SEC team, it didn’t have two regular-season losses to .500 teams.