For years the SEC took ownership of any sense of pride Notre Dame carried. Regardless of a winning season, all the fun was shut down when it came to a legit Playoff game. Tonight, that standard died.
Marcus Freeman did what many thought he couldn’t do and handed Kirby Smart his final loss of the 2024-25 season. It was a 23-10 defensive victory for the Irish in New Orleans.
The Sugar Bowl defensive and offensive MVPs were awarded to Xavier Watts and Riley Leonard.
Dawgs’ Crucial Mistakes
Here’s a stat. 17 points scored in 54 seconds. That’ll just about tell you the story.
Now, you may be wondering, ‘How the heck is that even possible.’ Quite possibly, in a game like this, it was almost bound to happen. The way it took place was unprecedented. In short, the Irish struck gold.
Both teams made some very boneheaded errors. Out of the gate, Notre Dame picked up three penalties, two on a punt return. However, when it came down to the nitty-gritty, Marcus Freeman’s squad played a cleaner game.
For much of the first half, Georgia was in control. The Bulldogs hit the scoreboard first with a 41-yard field goal from Peyton Woodering. Notre Dame answered back with 44-yard and 48-yard field goals from Mitch Jeter which extended the lead to 3 just before the end of the half.
In Kirby Smart fashion, Georgia decided to be aggressive with just under a minute remaining in the first half. That aggression took a sharp turn for the worst and Georgia quickly fell behind. A forced fumble from RJ Oben out of the hands of Gunner Stockton, allowed the Irish to have an instant red-zone opportunity. The next play was a 13-yard pass from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins, and Notre Dame went up 13-3.
This momentum caused a wave of regret and forced Georgia into the locker room down two scores. The very first play out of the half was the dagger. Notre Dame’s Jayden Harrison broke off a 98-yard kick return to widely open up the scoring column. By this point, it was all Irish.
Georgia notably became much more urgent. Under center, the Dawgs probably couldn’t have asked for a better first half out of Gunner Stockton. Even in the second half, Stockton put forth his best effort in attempting to bring the Dawgs back. Georgia failed to capitalize on this, instead, giving away 14 valuable points in a flash.
Even in other aspects of the game, the Dawgs really disappointed. For whatever reason, Notre Dame was very antsy on the punt returns. In the early minutes of the third quarter, Notre Dame was turned away on a 4th and 2, around the 50-yard line. This gave Georgia a great opportunity to cash in some points and further establish momentum. Even with a gift from Jack Kiser and the Irish special teams, Georgia failed to convert on a 4th and 2 in Notre Dame territory.
You just have to wonder where the Dawgs would’ve been with more efficiency in general. Not to mention, Georgia has proven that it's hard to mount a comeback when you lose the turnover margin, tonight, the Dawgs lost that column 2-0. Uncharacteristic for a Kirby Smart-led team.
Irish Defensive Attack Prevalent
The tactical advantage to both teams is the defenses. If you haven’t heard the word “defense” enough, I’m not sure you and I were watching the same game.
The transparent difference between the two squads is the way in which they operate. Georgia is exactly what you would expect. Your prototypical SEC powerhouse. They are large. Very large. Coming into this one many would’ve agreed this would likely come down to winning in the trenches, but ultimately Notre Dame found ways around that.
At some point in the first half, ESPN displayed a graphic showcasing the size difference between Georgia’s offensive line and Notre Dame’s defensive line. As you would expect, those numbers were eye-popping. In fact, the average weight of Georgia’s offensive line was 50 pounds heavier than Notre Dame’s defensive front.
If one thing is for certain, this undermanned Notre Dame defense would fight to the death against a high-powered Georgia offense. Defensive coordinator Al Golden drew up schemes that really confused Mike Bobo’s offense. While Georgia had success in the passing game, the run game was slowed down and near nonexistent in the second half. That was largely imparted by the pressure being generated on the edges.
Adon Shuler, Junior Tuihalamaka, and RJ Oben paid dividends in that respect. The interior pressure was something that was going to be hard to come by tonight, especially in the absence of Rylie Mills. I had no expectations for how Notre Dame could possibly make up for that level of production, but it’s quite clear that it took an all-out effort.
Per usual, the Irish defense flew and let the rest take care of itself.
Irish continue to get beat-up
Throughout the season, resilience has been defined by many different meanings. Although for Marcus Freeman’s team, injuries have continued to further plague a very talented roster.
For starters, Notre Dame has been without defensive line Jordan Botelho, cornerback Benjamin Morrison, defensive lineman Boubacar Traore, and offensive linemen Charles Jagusah and Ashton Craig for quite some time now. All of these guys played a significant role in Notre Dame’s lineup.
In Notre Dame’s 27-17 victory over Indiana, the Irish paid a major price. The team lost defensive lineman Rylie Mills for the season following a knee injury. This left the Irish paper thin at that spot.
In wake of that, Notre Dame rotated many guys in and out of that position tonight. But the biggest blow came in the second half when defensive lineman Howard Cross III went down with an injury. In addition to this, star linebacker Xavier Watts went into the medical tent with an apparent shoulder injury. Watts did eventually come back to play.
The last blow was Jeremiyah Love. The star running back was helped off the field but walked away on his own power and remained on the sideline with his helmet on. Love didn’t play much of the second half. It was reported that Love was battling a “flu-like illness” during the Indiana game. He also has battled an ankle injury throughout the year.
Besides, Howard Cross’ injury, none of the other injuries looked too serious. Notre Dame cannot afford to lose much more star power, especially at the defensive line position. The Irish continue to stay undermanned and win.
Onwards to Penn State
#7 Notre Dame will face #6 Penn State in the Capital One Orange Bowl next Thursday (January 9) at 7:30 PM EST.
Strap up, it might look a lot like this.