The Sugar Bowl has been around since 1935, but this year’s battle between Notre Dame and Georgia is the only fifth visit to the Big Easy for the Irish. Part of that limited history stems from Notre Dame’s policy before 1970 to not play in bowl games.
This quarterfinal playoff matchup will be the third time a Notre Dame Sugar Bowl clash has had national title implications. Below are the four previous matchups:
1973: Notre Dame 24, Alabama 23
On New Year’s Eve 1973, the top-ranked Crimson Tide were six-point favorites over the third-ranked Irish. Notre Dame took the early lead on Wayne Bullock’s one-yard plunge but a bad snap kept the score at 6-0. Midway through the second quarter, Alabama took the lead by converting its extra point off a touchdown,
The Irish quickly took the lead back on Al Hunter’s 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion. Alabama then sliced four points off its deficit with under a minute remaining in the first half.
The Tide marched down the field to start the second half to take a 17-14 lead, but a deadly miscue by them then gave the Irish the lead back. Linebacker Drew Mahalic ran an Alabama fumble back to the Tide 12. From there, Eric Penick scored on the next play.
Alabama took its final lead on a trick play with 9:33 left. Backup quarterback Richard Todd pitched to running back Mike Stock, who then threw to a streaking Todd down the sidelines for a 25-yard touchdown. Tide kicker Bill Davis then crucially missed the extra point, making it a 23-21 game.
Game MVP Tom Clements connected with tight end Dave Casper on third down to set up the go-ahead score. After stopping Alabama, the ensuing punt pinned the Irish back at the Notre Dame one. On third-and-six at the Irish five, Clements found tight end Robin Weber for a 33-yard grab that clinched the national title.
1981: Georgia 17, Notre Dame 10
Dan Devine’s final game as Notre Dame head coach didn’t end in storybook fashion as the seventh-ranked Irish dropped a 17-10 to top-ranked and eventual national champion Georgia. Self-inflicted wounds help explain why the Irish suffered the loss.
Notre Dame did take an early 3-0 lead on a 50-yard field goal by Harry Oliver. Unfortunately, Oliver’s next try was blocked and soon led to the Bulldogs tying the game. More disaster came on the ensuing kickoff when Jim Stone and Ty Barber let Georgia recover the ball at the Irish two, where game MVP Hershel Walker gave the Bulldogs the lead for good.
Walker scored again before halftime, thanks to a Notre Dame fumble that gave the Bulldogs possession at the Irish 22. After the break, a Phil Carter score for the Irish got them back in the game but subsequent interceptions ultimately proved fatal to Notre Dame’s comeback.
1992: Notre Dame 39, Florida 28
The idea that the 9-3 Irish deserved a Sugar Bowl berth against the 10-1 Florida Gators was dismissed by critics who pointed to the team’s late-season slide. That led to a pointed attack which joked that the difference between Notre Dame and Cheerios was that the cereal belonged in a bowl.
The underdog Irish appeared ready to prove the detractors correct by falling behind 13-0 but Irish quarterback Rick Mirer connected with Lake Dawson for a 40-yard score to reduce the deficit to six. Florida later got its third field goal of the half to take a 16-7 lead at the break.
Notre Dame scored 10 points during the third quarter to take its first lead but two more field goals early in the fourth gave the Gators a 22-17 lead. From that point, Irish running back Jerome Bettis took over and captured game MVP honors by scoring three touchdowns. The latter one was a 39-yard romp that came in the closing minutes to clinch the victory.
2007: LSU 41, Notre Dame 14
It’s been 18 years since the Irish competed in the Sugar Bowl, and that last trip was one to forget. It came in the second year of the Charlie Weis era, with Weis’ failed trick play getting the Irish off on the wrong note.
Weis called for a failed short snap on a punt, giving LSU first down at the Irish 34. That miscue was quickly converted into seven points, with the Tigers adding another score before Notre Dame finally got on the scoreboard to make it 14-7 after one quarter. Each team then scored a second-quarter touchdown to give LSU a 21-14 halftime lead.
The second half was dominated by the Tigers, with two field goals and the game MVP Jamarcus Russell’s second of two touchdown passes making it a 34-14 game. Russell was able to take advantage of weaknesses in the Irish secondary to finish with 21 completions for 332 yards.
The loss marked Notre Dame’s ninth consecutive bowl game defeat, a dubious streak that ended in a 49-21 win over Hawaii in the 2008 Hawaii Bowl.
