In the first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish dispatched the Indiana Hoosiers with a 27-17 victory on Friday night. The win was the 11th in a row for the 12-1 Irish and sends them to the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff, while the Hoosiers’ season ends with a record of 11-2.
The final score was somewhat misleading since Indiana put forth a furious rally in the closing minutes to slice what had been a comfortable 24-point margin for the Irish. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard bounced back from a rough start to finish 23 of 32 for 201 yards and one touchdown pass. He also entered the school record books with his 15th rushing touchdown, a record he had shared with Brandon Wimbush.
Below are some of the key facets of the win:
Whiplash Start
Fans watching this game in the first four-plus minutes were treated to a wild back-and-forth series of plays that ended with Notre Dame putting the first points on the scoreboard. The stretch began with a quick three-and-out for Indiana’s potent offense, followed by the Irish taking over at their own 41.
Jeremiyah Love’s one-yard loss on the first play of the Notre Dame series was then followed by disaster. Leonard’s pass was tipped and intercepted by the Hoosiers, who took over at the Irish 40. After converting on a third-down play, Indiana signal-caller Kurtis Rourke tried to force a pass into coverage but the pass was picked off by Xavier Watts at the Notre Dame two-yard-line.
Despite being backed up near its goal line, Notre Dame then delivered the first punch of the contest. Love took advantage of a key block by left tackle Anthonie Knapp and cut down the left sidelines, outracing all of the Hoosier defenders for an electrifying 98-yard scoring run.
Defense on Point
The continuation of a season-long run of defensive success helped Notre Dame come away with the victory. Indiana’s two touchdowns came in the final 90 seconds, which offered a brief glimmer of hope before a failed two-point conversion ended that longshot goal.
Before that late surge, the Irish defense had delivered heat to Rourke throughout the game. Also, before the two late scoring drives, the Hoosiers had just 152 yards of total offense. The Watts interception was a clutch pick that helped Notre Dame avoid the prospect of having to come from behind right off the bat
Entering this game, Indiana had averaged 43.3 points per game. Friday night’s struggles may cause some to reinforce complaints about the Hoosiers’ strength of schedule, which included only one win against a team with a winning record.
Ball Control
In contrast to the lightning-quick scoring run by Love, Notre Dame took its time on its second drive, using up just over nine minutes of clock before scoring in the second quarter. The 16-play drive was split equally between the run and pass, with Leonard finishing off the scoring push by finding Jayden Thomas in the end zone for a five-yard touchdown pass. That connection was his seventh consecutive completion of the drive after his first pass attempt was dropped by Jordan Faison.
Along the way, the Irish managed to convert a trio of third-down attempts, the last by Leonard that was followed two plays later by the touchdown pass to Thomas. Notre Dame avoided another turnover along the way when tight end Mitchell Evans’ eight-yard reception was fumbled before Faison alertly recovered the ball at the Indiana 47.
Targeting Faison
Much like last season’s lone postseason game, wide receiver Jordan Faison played a key role for the Notre Dame offense. In last year’s Sun Bowl, Faison had five catches for 115 yards and one score. On Friday night, with the stakes infinitely higher, Faison finished with seven catches for 89 yards and narrowly missed scoring on a 44-yard fourth-quarter grab.
During the first half of the 2024 campaign, injuries had limited Faison to just four catches, blunting what the Notre Dame staff had hoped would be a big season. However, since returning in the rout of Navy on Oct. 26, Faison has had at least two catches in every game, with the hope being that the Indiana performance is the start of something big.
Next Up
After notching a victory in the first of a potential three-game playoff run, the Irish now head to the Big Easy in New Orleans. There, they’ll face the Georgia Bulldogs in a Sugar Bowl matchup on New Year’s Night. The two schools have only met three previous times, with the Bulldogs winning all three clashes. The last two came in a home-and-home series in 2017 and 2019, while the first came in the 1981 Sugar Bowl. Georgia is expected to start backup quarterback Gunner Stockton after Carson Beck suffered a potential season-ending UCL injury in the Bulldogs’ SEC Championship win over Texas.
