Beyond the Boxscore: Notre Dame Defense Delivers, Ending SEC Champs’ Season

Aided by another outstanding performance from its defense, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 23-10 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday. The 10 points and 296 yards allowed by Irish defenders compare to the respective season averages for the Bulldogs of 33 points and 413 yards.

Notre Dame appeared ready to break the game open when Jayden Harrison returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards that gave the Irish a 20-3 lead. However, Georgia chopped the margin down to 10 on its next series and had other opportunities that came up short. For the game, Notre Dame’s stout unit allowed just two conversions combined on third and fourth down in 15 attempts.

On offense, the skills of Irish signal-caller Riley Leonard have been under scrutiny all season and he used those talents to capture the win. He threw for a mere 90 yards and one score while leading the Irish with 80 rushing yards, including a 32-yard scamper. However, it was a pair of third-down conversions on Notre Dame’s final drive that helped cement the victory.

Below are some of the key facets of the clutch victory:

Decisive Moments

Even before Leonard’s two runs, a gutsy call by Marcus Freeman on an apparent punt deep in Notre Dame territory proved huge. The Irish were lined up to punt midway through the fourth quarter before the entire Irish offensive unit suddenly came back on the field. That resulted in Georgia scrambling to get its defense back on the field, which ultimately resulted in an offside, which helped extend the Notre Dame drive.

That burst of creativity came after the Irish defense had stopped the Bulldogs’ last scoring threat with 9:09 left. Georgia’s drive had been extended after a pass interference call on fourth-and-13. However, after once again not settling for a field goal, a pass attempt into the end zone failed.

Fast Finish to the Half

Georgia struck field with a second-quarter field goal, but Mitch Jeter’s second field goal made it 6-3 in favor of Notre Dame in the final minute of the period. The three-pointer was the culmination of a 10-play drive that was briefly in danger of being snuffed out. The Irish had picked up a first down at the Georgia 29, which was immediately followed by Leonard being sacked for a 10-yard loss. The signal-caller got that yardage back on a run and a 48-yard three-pointer from Jeter soon followed with 39 seconds left.

Leonard then unexpectedly got a chance to immediately get back on the field when R.J. Oben’s managed to knock the ball from the hand of Bulldogs’ quarterback Gunner Stockton. The fumble was recovered at the Georgia 13 by Junior Tuihalamaka, which was followed on the next play by Leonard connecting with Beaux Collins for the game’s first touchdown.

Starting with a Mistake Fest

Early on, Notre Dame’s sloppy first quarter didn’t involve any turnovers but it did see the Irish flagged five times for 43 yards. A pass interference call on Christian Gray extended Georgia’s first drive and on consecutive punt attempts by the Bulldogs, Bryant Young was assessed a pair of running into the kicker penalties before later being flagged for offside in Notre Dame territory.

Leonard’s performance was in contrast to his dubious start that involved him catching a tipped pass on the Irish’s first play from scrimmage. Instead of running with the ball after grabbing it, Leonard tried again to throw the ball, a mental error that resulted in an illegal forward pass penalty.

Georgia wasn’t immune to costly errors either, though it managed to avoid one on its first drive. Stockton was sacked by Irish linebacker Jack Kiser but the ensuing fumble went out of bounds. They weren’t so lucky later in the period when a 13-play ended abruptly. Adon Shuler’s hard hit on Bulldogs back Trevor Etienne forced a fumble that was recovered in the Notre Dame red zone by Jaiden Ausberry.

Early in the second period, another needless Georgia mistake killed the momentum of a 67-yard pass play on the first play of the drive. Sideline interference pushed the ball back 15 yards to the Irish 26. After then gaining just three yards in as many plays, the miscue led to the Bulldogs settling for a field goal.

Next Up

An Orange Bowl date against the Penn State Nittany Lions next Thursday night is next on the Notre Dame agenda. The two schools will break the 9-9-1 logjam that currently exists in the series, with that lone tie coming in a scoreless duel a century ago. More recently, the two teams last matched up in a home-and-home series in 2006 and 2007 in which each team came away with a win before the home crowd. The only previous bowl game matchup between the Irish and Nittany Lions was in the 1976 Gator Bowl, when the Irish won 20-9.