Notre Dame used a swarming defense and 54-second scoring surge to top second-seeded Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl and advance to today’s College Football Playoff semifinal. Playing a day later than scheduled after a terrorist attack in New Orleans forced the game to be postponed, the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish won a school-record 13th game — and their first major bowl since the 1994 Cotton Bowl.
Notre Dame’s defense dominated, as it has all season. The Irish held Georgia to 10 rushing yards in the first half and 2-of-15 on third and fourth down. They recorded nine tackles for loss and never relented.
The defining stretch came over 54 seconds of game action straddling halftime. Notre Dame made a 48-yard field goal, forced and recovered a fumble on Georgia’s next offensive snap, scored on a 13-yard pass from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins a play later and added another touchdown when Jayden Harrison returned the opening kickoff of the second half 98 yards into the end zone. A 3-3 tie turned into a 20-3 Irish lead.
The Bulldogs tried to rally. Gunner Stockton — starting in place of the injured Carson Beck — threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Cash Jones six minutes into the third quarter to trim the deficit to 10. Georgia advanced into Notre Dame territory on its next two drives but failed on a pair of fourth-down attempts.
