Jan. 3 (UPI) — Notre Dame scored just once on offense, leaning on angry defenders, scintillating special teams play and timely strategy to beat Georgia in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl, advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Quarterback Riley Leonard ran for 80 yards, while throwing for 90 and a score in the 23-10 triumph at the Caesars Superdome.
“This is why I came to Notre Dame,” Leonard said on the ESPN broadcast. “We have a lot of work left to do. It was an ugly one, but we got it done. Shout-out to the defense. That was a really good team we played.”
The Irish ran for 154 yards, while holding the Bulldogs to 62 in the last College Football Playoff quarterfinal, which was planned for Wednesday, but postponed to Thursday after a pickup truck drove into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street on New Year’s Day, resulting in 14 deaths and injuring dozens. The truck’s driver also was killed.
The seventh-seeded Irish (13-1) will now meet No. 6 Penn State (13-2) on Jan. 9 in the Orange Bowl. They will carry a national-best 12-game winning streak into that meeting.
Defense dominated in the first half of the Sugar Bowl, with the Irish and Bulldogs swarming and hitting hard to keep the score low. The Irish then took advantage of several Bulldogs errors to break the game open.
“The defense is a reflection of the entire team,” Freeman said. “Just keep battling. I knew this was going to be a 60 plus minute game because that team never stops. we had to be aggressive.”
Bulldogs kicker Peyton Woodring drew first blood with a 41-yard field goal about three minutes into the game. Irish kicker Mitch Jeter split the uprights with a 44-yard kick on the next drive, tying the score. Jeter hit another kick from 48 yards with just 39 seconds remaining in the first half.
The low score appeared that it would hold through halftime, but the Irish defense quickly changed that narrative. Defensive lineman R.J. Oben knocked the ball out of the throwing hand of Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton on the first play of the next drive, forcing a fumble. The Irish recovered the ball and scored five seconds later, with Leonard throwing a 13-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Beaux Collins.
But the Irish weren’t finished harnessing momentum, as wide receiver Jayden Harrison took the opening kickoff of the second half into the end zone on a 98-yard touchdown return. That electric score capped a run of 17 Irish points in 54 seconds of game time.
The Bulldogs finally found the end zone when Stockton threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Cash Jones with 9:36 remaining in the third quarter. Jeter made a 47-yard field goal 1:13 into the fourth to give the Irish some insurance. Those proved to be the final points of the night.
Irish coach Marcus Freeman deployed expert football strategy at one of the game’s key moments, substituting off his entire punting unit for his offense on a fourth down, triggering a chaotic Bulldogs sideline. The decision resulted in an offsides call on the Bulldogs, giving the Irish a first down. The Irish took more than seven minutes off the game clock on that drive, which resulted in a punt.
Defensive lineman Donovan Hinish went on to sack Stockton on fourth down on the next drive, sealing the win for the Irish.
Stockton, who made his first start, completed 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a score in the loss. The Bulldogs out-gained the Irish 296 to 244 in total yards, including a 234 to 90 advantage through the air.
The Irish will meet the Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 at Hard Rock Stadium. The winner will face No. 8 Ohio State (12-2) or No. 5 Texas (13-2) in the national title game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
