Notre Dame stuns Georgia in an emotional Sugar Bowl

Notre Dame is headed to the College Football Playoff semifinals after stunning second-seed Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, being played in New Orleans just a day after an attack on New Year’s revelers left 14 people dead.

Notre Dame is headed to the College Football Playoff semifinals after stunning second-seed Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, being played in New Orleans just a day after an attack on New Year’s revelers left 14 people dead. The dominating performance by the Fighting Irish, a 23-10 victory, means all four teams that had a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff have now been eliminated. The game started slowly for both teams, with defenses dominating and Georgia’s punter getting hit on two consecutive punts in the first quarter by the same Irish defender. The critical stretch came on either side of halftime, with Notre Dame seizing the game by the collar. With the game tied 3-3, the Irish kicked a field goal with 39 seconds left in the half to take a slight lead. On the first play of the ensuing possession, Fighting Irish defensive lineman RJ Oben strip-sacked Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton and Notre Dame recovered the fumble to set up good field position their offense right before halftime. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard delivered a quick strike wide receiver Beaux Collins for a 13-yard touchdown, taking a 13-3 lead to the locker room. The Fighting Irish didn’t stop there – wide receiver Jayden Harrison returned the opening kickoff for 98 yards to put the Irish in dominant position, 20-3. According to the ESPN broadcast, the 17-point Notre Dame scoring blitz took only 54 seconds of actual game time.