NEW ORLEANS — Riley Leonard threw a touchdown pass and ran for 80 yards. While not flashy, his leadership propelled the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoff semifinals, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 23-10 at the Allstate Sugar Bowl inside the Caesars Superdome.
Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to open up the second half. That score proved to be too much for ‘the mean machine in the red and black.’
This game was played with the backdrop of a terrorist attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and injured 30 more individuals. It was the first time the Sugar Bowl was postponed in its 91-year history.
“We spent some time together, and I think that’s what you do in tough moments,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Marcus Freeman. “You want to spend time with family, and that’s what we are.
“And again, it’s unprecedented. Life — you know, I told them this morning, there’s things in life that are unpredictable. And the ability to handle those unpredictable things determine the success. And they handled this incident, this change, but they handle everything that’s thrown at them in an unbelievable way.”
The Irish weren’t lucky. They made plays.
Notably, Notre Dame had a fourth-and-short deep in his own territory when Freeman sent the punt team out before running all 11 players off the field. After seeing how Georgia lined up, Freeman sent the offense back out. Georgia raced their defense back on the field and Leonard induced the Georgia defense to jump offside as the play clock ran down. The penalty gave the Fighting Irish the first down.
Georgia ultimately got the ball back with 1:49 remaining in the game. The Fighting Irish effectively took the air out of the ball, while deflating the Bulldogs’ hopes of playing for a national championship in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“That’s the aggressiveness in terms of our preparation that I want our program to have,” Freeman said. “That’s got to be one of our edges, that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes.”
Meanwhile, Smart said of the play that it can’t really be ran in the SEC.
“We did it in 2017 against Tennessee,” explained Smart. “We’ve carried that. We practiced that and repped that because teams try to do it, and we were told by officials you could not do that. And so we were trying to say you couldn’t do it. We got our defense out there. We were fine. I mean, I would have gone for it, if I was them.”
Where do the ‘Dawgs go from here?
A notable statistic: Georgia was 2-for-12 on third down in Thursday’s game. Even though backup quarterback Gunner Stockton finished with 234 passing yards and one touchdown, he was under duress all afternoon. He was sacked four times and fumbled the ball once.
“He had some tough moments out there,” Smart said of Stockton’s performance. “When it’s your backside and you can’t see it coming, it’s tough. I thought he tucked it down and ran. He got us out of a couple sacks with his feet and legs, threw the ball away. Did some good things there.”
As for Georgia, the senior class ends their careers with an FBS-leading 53-5 record, which is a school record. Those players won a pair of national championships and two SEC titles in their career. Because their standard of excellence is high, this loss stings.
“That takes nothing away from these men on the stage and the seniors that are a part of this class,” Smart said during his press conference. “I mean, absolutely incredible. I just told them, what they went through this year and what they played and how they played, the resiliency, the injuries that we’ve had, and to win an SEC championship — which I have so much respect for our conference — and to win some of the comeback games they won and never quit, even in this game, never quit, that’s the attitude you’ve got to have to get better as a football program.”
What’s Next?
Notre Dame: The Irish resume a series with the Penn State Nittany Lions that is currently even at 9-9-1. Notably, the team that advances to the College Playoff National Championship game, will have a Black head coach. Freeman is of South Korean and African-American descent. Penn State Head Coach James Franklin is of African-American and English descent.
Georgia: The 2025 season opener will be at home against Marshall on Aug. 30.
