By Pete Sampson, Joe Rexrode and Seth Emerson
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — No. 7 Notre Dame cruised previous No. 10 Indiana 27-17 within the first sport of the 12-team School Soccer Playoff on Friday evening. The Combating Irish advance to play No. 2 Georgia within the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
Two interceptions within the first three drives and a 98-yard landing run by Notre Dame working again Jeremiyah Love acquired the primary on-campus Playoff sport off to a dramatic begin. However the fireworks fizzled from there, significantly for the Hoosiers, till they lastly reached the top zone twice within the remaining two minutes to shrink the margin of defeat. Nonetheless, Indiana was held to its second-lowest scoring output of the season and was held to 278 yards of offense to Notre Dame’s 394. Indiana gained simply 63 yards speeding to Notre Dame’s 193.
Combating Irish quarterback Riley Leonard went 22-for-32 with 201 yards and one landing with one other 30 yards and a rating on the bottom. But it surely was the trouble of Notre Dame’s protection to cease Indiana’s often high-powered offense that set this one aside.
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The Athletic’s evaluation:
Notre Dame’s protection dominates
Notre Dame opened the season asking its protection to hold it, which it did nearly each week by means of Thanksgiving. The Irish requested their protection to do the identical to open the postseason. Once more, it answered the bell, holding Indiana to 17 factors because the Hoosiers barely threatened the objective line wanting a first-quarter drive that ended with a Xavier Watts interception.
It was a near-perfect sport plan from defensive coordinator Al Golden, who turned up the stress on Kurtis Rourke early and by no means let the Indiana quarterback get snug. Notre Dame’s defensive position had so much to do with that, because the return of Howard Cross from an ankle sprain overwhelmed Indiana’s offensive line. Regardless that the Irish misplaced defensive deal with Rylie Mills and defensive finish Bryce Younger throughout the sport as a result of harm, it didn’t matter a lot.
Indiana, the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense throughout the common season at 43.3 factors per sport, had no likelihood.
The efficiency put to mattress Notre Dame’s struggles at USC three weeks in the past when the Irish have been picked aside by means of the air till ending the sport with back-to-back decide sixes. The efficiency was sufficient to surprise if Notre Dame had lastly been stretched too skinny, counting on underclassmen within the secondary with a cross rush shedding steam.
Not precisely.
Indiana barely took pictures in opposition to Notre Dame.
The Irish might be examined at a brand new degree in opposition to Georgia within the Sugar Bowl and the rising harm checklist might be a priority. However within the remaining house sport of the season, Notre Dame put one other efficiency on tape to recommend it has a nationwide championship-level protection. — Sampson
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Indiana had an unimaginable season, however Ohio State and Notre Dame pulled off the masks
Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers don’t must apologize for making the School Soccer Playoff with an 11-1 document. The CFP committee doesn’t need to apologize, both. Indiana performed dominant soccer for a lot of the season, in opposition to a schedule that regarded way more troublesome than it ended up being. However Notre Dame’s romp in tandem with the Hoosiers’ 38-15 loss at Ohio State mix to inform the story of a workforce that couldn’t hold up entrance in opposition to supremely proficient defenses. Michigan uncovered that offensive line a bit in its loss at Indiana as properly. Kurtis Rourke had little time to throw and missed some he wanted to make on the uncommon events he was capable of scan the sector.
It was a historic, spectacular debut season for Cignetti. It ended with a reminder {that a} program with this historical past producing a real nationwide title contender in a single yr merely isn’t real looking. — Rexrode
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What’s subsequent? Georgia within the Sugar Bowl
Kirby Good seen what Notre Dame followers have been yelling whereas the Georgia coach appeared on ESPN’s “School GameDay” on Friday afternoon: “We wish Georgia! We wish Georgia!”
“They gotta win this one first,” Good replied, smiling, amid the booing.
Notre Dame received, establishing a marquee matchup that harkens to Georgia historical past, and Good’s tenure.
It’s a redux of the 1981 Sugar Bowl, when Georgia received its second-ever nationwide title. Then in 2017, it was at Notre Dame the place Good launched his program with a one-point win, on its technique to an surprising run to the nationwide championship sport. Georgia received the rematch in Athens two years later, although it was additionally shut.
That was when Brian Kelly was the coach. Georgia continues to be basically the identical talent-laden, bodily SEC program, simply with a extra trendy passing offense. The query is how far Marcus Freeman has taken a Notre Dame program that has wilted within the postseason earlier than.
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Who does Georgia wish to play: Notre Dame or Indiana?
The Combating Irish are a bodily workforce. The Bulldogs haven’t had their standard dominance within the trenches however a lot of that was due to accidents, and now they’re as wholesome as they’ve been all yr.
Georgia’s protection is based on stopping the run and taking its possibilities in opposition to the cross. But it surely’s been inclined to edge runs this yr, so one has to think about the cringe Good felt watching Love go 98 yards down the left sideline. Love in all probability received’t outrun Georgia’s defensive backs like that, however he might get a number of chunk performs on the skin. Georgia has additionally been inclined to dual-threat quarterbacks, so Leonard’s toes could possibly be a headache.
Then once more, so might new Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton in his first faculty begin. Stockton vs. Notre Dame’s stable secondary will even be attention-grabbing. Georgia does determine to have significantly better talent place gamers than Indiana, particularly with tailbacks Trevor Etienne and Nate Frazier.
All in all, it’s a tough sport to foretell. Throughout Good’s look, ESPN’s Rece Davis identified that Notre Dame has by no means crushed Georgia. That’s true, however all three video games have been determined by one possession. Nobody ought to be stunned if the fourth matchup is simply as shut. — Emerson
(Photograph: Michael Reaves / Getty Pictures)
