{"id":71373,"date":"2025-01-02T21:30:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T02:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=71373"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:33:07","slug":"notre-dame-handles-georgia-advances-to-the-orange-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/01\/02\/notre-dame-handles-georgia-advances-to-the-orange-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre Dame Handles Georgia, Advances to the Orange Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

No. 7 seed Notre Dame (13-1) took care of business against No. 2 seed Georgia (11-3) in the Sugar Bowl<\/a> on Thursday night, defeating the SEC Champion Bulldogs 23-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans. The hard-fought victory was the first for Notre Dame over Georgia in four attempts. The Fighting Irish will face No. 6 seed Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 at 7:30 ET in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

Postponed one day in the wake of a deadly terror attack in New Orleans, the Sugar Bowl took a back seat on Wednesday to the tragic event that claimed the lives of 15 people in the French Quarter in the early hours of New Year\u2019s Day. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman addressed his team following the attack and shared his thoughts on ESPN on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first part of that team meeting was to mourn and to pray for our country and those that were affected,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cBut as we ended that meeting, we had to redirect our focus toward preparing for this game. I told the team in the toughest moments, the culture of any program, of a nation is revealed. I have a lot of faith that this country will rally around New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notre Dame Advances to the Orange Bowl<\/h2>\n

Notre Dame Defense Rises to the Occasion\u2026Again<\/h3>\n

Despite a somber lead-up to this year\u2019s Sugar Bowl, it was all business for Notre Dame on the field Thursday night. The Irish\u2019s elite defense shut down Georgia\u2019s run game and applied pressure on quarterback Gunner Stockton<\/a> all game.<\/p>\n

Stockton, making the first start of his career in place of injured starter Carson Beck<\/a>, was not overwhelmed by the moment. He had a solid game, finishing 20-of-32 for 234 yards and a touchdown. The Bulldogs, however, were plagued by numerous drops. Not helping their cause, Georgia also turned the ball over twice. Trevor Etienne<\/a> fumbled in the first half as Georgia was driving and Stockton fumbled on a strip sack just before halftime. All told, the Irish defense held Georgia to just 69 yards rushing on 28 carries. Georgia threatened in the second half by closing the gap to 20-10 when Stockton found Cash Jones<\/a> for a 32-yard touchdown. It wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense was a reflection of the entire team,\u201d Freeman said on ESPN. \u201cJust keep battling. I knew this was a 60-plus minute game because that team (Georgia) never stops. That\u2019s why they are the Georgia Bulldogs. We had to be aggressive. The defense did a heck of a job. All three phases did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transfers Play a Key Role in Sugar Bowl Outcome<\/h3>\n

The transfer portal provided dividends for the Irish in the Sugar Bowl. Duke transfers Riley Leonard<\/a> and R.J. Oben<\/a> showed up big for the Irish on Thursday. Leonard carried the offense with his legs and his arm.<\/p>\n

Oben forced a Georgia fumble on a blind-side strip-sack of Stockton that was recovered by the Irish\u2019s Junior Tuihalamaka<\/a> on Georgia’s 13-yard line. The Irish capitalized on the timely momentum-changing turnover. On the very next play, Leonard threw a dart to Beaux Collins<\/a> for a touchdown strike that put the Irish up by 13 at halftime. Leonard finished with 90 yards passing and a team-high 80 yards rushing.<\/p>\n

Kicker Mitch Jeter<\/a>, a transfer from South Carolina, was on point in the Sugar Bowl. Despite a nagging groin injury that derailed much of his season, Jeter nailed three field goals against Georgia.<\/p>\n

Putting an exclamation point on the Irish’s performance, Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison<\/a> took the opening kick of the second half to the house. Harrison\u2019s 98-yard touchdown return put Notre Dame ahead 20-3. It was the third Irish score in less than a minute thanks to the two late scores in the waning moments of the first half. The game was tied at 3 before Notre Dame ran off 17 points in a span of 54 seconds.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiley has a will to win,\u201d Freeman said of his quarterback. \u201cCompetitors find a way. Those runs sometimes aren\u2019t how you draw them up, but Riley will find a way because he is a competitor. That\u2019s why that trait is so important. And a lot of guys on this team have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notre Dame Special Teams an X-Factor in Sugar Bowl Statement Win<\/h3>\n

Late in the game on a key fourth-and-short deep in their own territory, the Irish sent the punt team out on the field. Before snapping the ball, all 11 players ran off the field, simulating a fire drill and the offense ran back out. Kirby Smart\u2019s Bulldogs then raced to replace their defensive lineup and wound up jumping offside. The infraction gave the Irish a fresh possession with 7:17 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs didn\u2019t touch the ball again until the game was put away and just 1:49 remained on the clock.<\/p>\n

“It’s a group effort,” Freeman said. “We put the time and effort into finding a way to get another possession and really utilize that third phase. I’m proud of this coaching staff, proud of this team.”<\/p>\n

Notre Dame has waited a long time for a statement victory like this one, beating the SEC Champion Bulldogs. The win in the Sugar Bowl is the most significant bowl victory for the Irish since a Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M in 1994.<\/p>\n

Injuries have slowed the Irish this season, especially in recent weeks. As a result, Notre Dame is not the same complete team that started the season. On Thursday night, though, the Fighting Irish showed plenty of grit and fight. Despite not having the most complete roster remaining in the playoffs, Notre Dame is a viable championship contender. Their defense is formidable, the special team units are sneaky good, and their offense possesses explosive playmakers. With two playoff wins in the books, the Fighting Irish are two victories away from achieving the ultimate prize: a national championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get back to work pretty soon,\u201d Freeman said on ESPN following the emotional win. \u201cWe just won the Sugar Bowl. I want to celebrate this. I\u2019m proud of these guys. I\u2019m proud of this program. Let\u2019s celebrate this. We got to get on that plane and turn our focus to Penn State.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No. 7 seed Notre Dame (13-1) took care of business against No. 2 seed Georgia (11-3) in the Sugar Bowl on Thursday night, defeating the SEC Champion Bulldogs 23-10 at the Superdome in New Orleans. The hard-fought victory was the first for Notre Dame over Georgia in four attempts. The Fighting Irish will face No. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":71379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7361,10906,8,11,35578,35676,35610],"tags":[65,106,6850,259,1275,309],"class_list":["post-71373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bowl-games","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-independents","category-georgia-bulldogs","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","category-penn-state-nittany-lions","tag-georgia-bulldogs","tag-kirby-smart","tag-marcus-freeman","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-orange-bowl","tag-penn-state-nittany-lions"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71373"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71381,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71373\/revisions\/71381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}