The College Football Playoff is underway, and it couldn’t have gotten off to a crazier start. Whether Notre Dame or Indiana wins, the victory will have to be earned.
After the Irish’s defense started the game with a three-and-out, [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s first pass was deflected at the line and ended up in the hands of the Hoosiers’ D’Angelo Ponds. But just when it seemed like the Hoosiers were going to score the game’s first points with a short field, [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag] got his own interception of Kurtis Rourke near the end zone.
Even with the Irish backed up to their own 2-yard line, it proved not to matter for [autotag]Jeremiyah Love[/autotag], who promptly tied a program record with a 98-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage. Just like that, it was the Irish on the scoreboard first.
The Hoosiers put together a nice drive on their next possession but ultimately were forced to punt again. The Irish didn’t have another explosive play on their ensuing drive, but it was far more calculated, and it resulted in one first down after another. They were in the red zone by the time the clock hit zero on the game’s first 15 minutes.
Breathe easy, folks. There’s a lot of football ahead.
Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.
Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89