The fourth quarter of the Sugar Bowl was less about Notre Dame building its lead over Georgia than maintaining it. That meant defensive stops and some trickery by [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]. To the Irish’s credit, it all worked out, and they’ll be going to the Orange Bowl to face Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinals after a 23-10 victory.
[autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] added onto the Irish’s score early in the quarter with a 47-yard field goal. The Bulldogs then embarked on a lengthy drive that should have ended sooner but for a questionable fourth-down pass interference call against [autotag]Jack Kiser[/autotag] that advanced the ball to the red zone. Fortunately, the Irish’s fourth-down stop on the subsequent series was not nullified by a penalty.
The Irish quickly were faced with a fourth down deep in their own territory, and that’s when Freeman reached into his magic bag. After the punt team came out, it ran off the field in place of the offense, forcing the Bulldogs to quickly replace their punt return team with their defense. [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] waited a long time to snap the ball, and right before he did, the Bulldogs jumped offsides, giving the Irish a crucial first down.
The Irish drove for the next five minutes until punting it away inside the two-minute timeout. The Bulldogs barely put up a fight on their final possession, and when [autotag]Donovan Hinish[/autotag] sacked Gunner Stockton on the last play, it was time to celebrate in New Orleans.
Remarkably, this historic Irish season will continue. Hope you still have another week’s worth of cheering in you.
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