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Notre Dame defeated Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night in New Orleans.
The Fighting Irish were in control for most of the game and led for the entire 2nd half despite averaging just 4 yards per play offensively. All in all, it was a dominant performance for a Notre Dame team that will now advance to face Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Here are 3 takeaways from Notre Dame’s big win:
Notre Dame won the middle-8
Notre Dame put up 23 points in the win over Georgia on Thursday night, and the majority of that production came within about 1 minute of game time.
With 39 seconds left before the end of the first half, Mitch Jeter made a 48-yard field goal give the Fighting Irish a 6-3 lead over the Bulldogs. However, Notre Dame wasn’t done in the first half. The Irish recovered a fumble from Georgia’s Gunner Stockton on its ensuing possession and then cashed in for a touchdown to make it 13-3 a few seconds later.
Then, to open the 2nd half, Notre Dame got a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown to go up 20-3 just seconds into the third quarter. In total, the Irish scored 17 points in just 53 seconds of game time.
That flurry proved to be enough for Notre Dame to hold off Georgia and win the game.
Notre Dame’s defense was elite
While Notre Dame’s offense didn’t produce too much in this game, it didn’t matter because of how well the Fighting Irish played on defense.
Notre Dame’s defense particularly showed up in the running game. The Bulldogs averaged just 2.5 yards per carry on the day and lead running back Trevor Etienne only had 38 yards on 11 rushes. Etienne also had a crucial fumble in the first half that took away a potential scoring opportunity for Georgia.
Stockton did throw the ball well, completing 18-of-29 passes for 225 yards and 1 touchdown. But much of that production came on just a handful of plays, and Georgia’s offense wasn’t able to execute in the red zone or in short yardage situations.
Georgia went 0-for-2 in the red zone and 0-for-2 on 4th down in the loss.
Notre Dame’s final drive
Notre Dame’s final offensive drive to seal the win was a masterclass in coaching and execution.
The Fighting Irish took possession of the ball up by 13 points with 9:25 remaining on the clock. From there, the Irish meandered down the field, picking up 3rd down after 3rd down, churning clock all the way until it got beyond the 2-minute timeout. In the end, it was a 12-play, 41-yard drive that sapped 7:36 of time off the clock.
The drive also included one of the best bits of coaching that we’ve seen during the College Football Playoff so far. On 4th and short from its own half of the field, Notre Dame sent its punt unit out. Then the Irish quickly reversed course, substituting its offense back onto the field.
This move sent Georgia into a frenzy as the Bulldogs scrambled to get lined up. Georgia ultimately jumped offsides, extending Notre Dame’s drive.
Notre Dame went on to pick up a few more first downs before finally punting it away with 1:49 remaining. It was far too late, though, as Notre Dame forced another turnover on downs to finish off the win.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
