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The conclusion of the first-ever on-campus game in the College Football Playoff has set the stage for our first quarterfinal matchup in the new 12-team format. Notre Dame will advance to face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 after a decisive 27-17 win over Indiana in South Bend on Friday night. The Irish led 27-3 late into the fourth quarter before a pair of late Indiana touchdowns made the score look much closer than the contest actually was.
Notre Dame’s defense took center stage, dominating multiple facets of the game. The Hoosiers were held to just 278 yards of total offense. The Fighting Irish stepped up early with critical third-down stops and a pivotal red-zone turnover that crushed Indiana’s upset hopes. As the game wore on, Indiana resorted to field position punts and a field goal attempt while trailing by double digits — clear signs that Notre Dame had taken control of the matchup.
Detractors have often pointed to Notre Dame’s Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, but Friday night’s victory serves as evidence of the Irish’s growth and transformation as a playoff contender.
The quarterfinal matchup will be just the fourth-ever meeting between these storied programs. Georgia has won all three previous games, including a home-and-home sweep in 2017 and 2019. Their only other meeting was in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 1980 season, a game that secured Georgia’s most recent national championship before the program’s recent resurgence under Kirby Smart.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/notre-dame-vs-georgia-sugar-bowl-preview-as-irish-advance-to-face-bulldogs-in-college-football-playoff/
Author : Chip Patterson
Publish date : 2024-12-21 05:00:00
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