Notre Dame passed the first test.
The Fighting Irish won the first playoff game of the 12-team era with a 27-17 dominating win over Indiana.
After the win, the narrative quickly turned to whether the Hoosiers should’ve been in the College Football Playoff, not Notre Dame’s performance. Outside of Ohio State’s win over Tennessee and Clemson’s automatic bid, last weekend’s storyline centered around whether the losing team should’ve been in or out.
Notre Dame has earned the right to play the SEC champ in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia will be without Carson Beck, but the Bulldogs are the class of the SEC. Beck’s replacement, Gunner Stockton, is more than capable of leading Georgia to a championship.
As well as Notre Dame played at times, Marcus Freeman, his coaching staff, and the players will need to be much better than they were on Friday.
Keys:
Special Teams: Notre Dame will need to have confidence in Mitch Jeter, who made one field goal and missed one where he hit a line drive that looked like a 25-handicap. When Freeman and the Fighting Irish need points, Jeter must deliver.
Then there is the onside kick debacle. Notre Dame’s inability to recover an onside kick allowed Indiana to score a late touchdown. The second onside kick wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty. Indiana also had a chance at that one.
Pass Rush: For most of the season, Al Golden has made the right calls at the right time. Golden must be at the top of his game against the Bulldogs.
It’s a given that the first order of business is to stop Trevor Etienne, but that’s just the first step. Kirby Smart has had three weeks to tailor the passing game around Stockton and a core of top-flight wide receivers.
Making Stockton uncomfortable is Golden’s job.
Plays in the Passing Game: If you take away Jeremiyah Love’s 98-yard run, the Fighting Irish run game wasn’t all that spectacular.
Georgia will stack the box to prevent the run, crowd the receivers, and dare them to beat them. This could be Riley Leonard’s best opportunity to make plays in the passing game.
Notre Dame’s passing game has a lot of passes within three yards of the line of scrimmage and then depend on the run after the catch. The Bulldogs aren’t going to have any of that.
That could open the door for multiple big plays to Beaux Collins. If Mike Denbrock can dial up some plays down the field for Collins, Georgia’s defense will be compromised.
The Bulldogs will stay in run-stopping mode even if the Fighting Irish hit two big plays. That is why Leonard will have a chance to hit multiple passes for 15+ yards. If he does that, the Fighting Irish will be tough to beat.
