Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman couldn’t help but break a grin Thursday night.
The 38-year-old coach watched his Fighting Irish out-physical Georgia for the majority of 60 minutes and beat the Bulldogs at their own game.
Notre Dame bested Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome, with Freeman applying the same sort of aggressive play-calling and elite special teams that Kirby Smart-coached teams typically exhibit in their wins.
In the 2024 season, Georgia came from behind to win four games when trailing at halftime, but there would be no late-game heroics against an Irish team determined to stay on the attack.
“That’s got to be one of our edges, is that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes,” said Freeman, whose Notre Dame team has won 12 consecutive games after a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois the second week of the season.
Georgia outgained Notre Dame 296 yards to 244 yards and was the less penalized team with five penalties for 41 yards, while the Irish were flagged 10 times for 78 yards.
And yet, it was Notre Dame proving more disciplined when it mattered most, forcing turnovers and making timely plays.
Freeman’s roster management was also on display, his Irish team leaning heavily on transfers to step up with clutch performances.
Duke quarterback transfer Riley Leonard was the MVP of the game, while Duke transfer defensive end R.J. Oben came up with a fumble-inducing blindside hit on Gunner Stockton that set up Leonard’s touchdown pass to former Clemson receiver Beaux Collins right before the half.
Marshall transfer Jayden Harrison opened the second half with a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown that made it 20-3, a lead built partly on the leg of South Carolina kicker transfer Mitch Jeter, who was a perfect 3-of-3 on his field goals with makes from 44, 48 and 47 yards.
Georgia, meanwhile, saw its marquee transfer held largely in check. Florida transfer tailback Trevor Etienne was held to 38 yards rushing on 11 carries behind a shuffled offensive line that failed to provide a push or adequately protect first-time starting quarterback Stockton.
The Irish sacked Stockton four times, and on nine occasions UGA ball carriers were tackled behind the line of scrimmage for loss.
Stockton, it turned out, was among the least of Georgia’s concerns, a solid 20-of-32 passing for 234 yards and a touchdown. Stockton’s numbers could have been even better if not for more dropped passes from a Bulldogs’ receiving corps that led the nation with 38 drops.
Dillon Bell led UGA with six catches for 33 yards in a game plan that saw him targeted an eye-popping 12 times — including one deep pass that would have gone for at least 48 yards and perhaps a touchdown against Notre Dame had the wide-open Bell not dropped it.
Etienne (four catches, 26 yards) and second-year Missouri transfer receiver Dominic Lovett (three catches, 36 yards) were targeted four times each, while walk-on tailback Cash Jones, tight end Oscar Delp and freshman tailback Nate Frazier had two targets.
Receiver Arian Smith, who caught a 67-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, saw only one pass come his way.
Freeman revealed how confident he was that Georgia did not have the playmaking firepower through the air to defeat his team.
“We had three keys to victory on defense, and number one was to stop the run, and we didn’t believe that we could lose this game by passing yards, but we could lose if we don’t stop the run,” Freeman said. “And the defense did an amazing job at stopping the run. And that put them in some difficult third down situations.”
Georgia was 2-of-12 on third-down conversions, including 0-for-5 in the second half in addition to 0-for-3 on fourth-down conversions attempts.
“Another key to victory was takeaways,” Freeman said. “And the defense got two takeaways, a couple turnovers on downs, which were huge. They were relentless.”
The Notre Dame offensive line, meanwhile, paved the way for the Irish to outrush UGA 154-62 in allowing just one sack, and one tackle-for-loss.
Leonard did most of the damage with 80 yards rushing on 14 carries while passing for only 90 yards with 15 completions on his 24 attempts.
“Our number one key to victory was the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and that’s exactly what we did,” Leonard said. “We knew if we could establish ourselves up front, we were going to have a chance at this thing.”
Leonard explained how the Irish apply a “superpower” mentality that gives them an edge over opponents.
“As a Notre Dame player, you recruit the right people for a reason, and I think adding another day is just helping our superpower out,” Leonard said, explaining how the Irish used the game being delayed an extra day to their advantage.
“We say our superpowers all the time: Our preparation and the character in our locker room. Those are two intangible things that we have that we utilize … That’s our superpower, is our preparation; and I think it definitely paid off today.”
Notre Dame advances to play Penn State in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal Thursday, while Texas and Ohio State meet in the Cotton Bowl CFP semifinal Friday.
Georgia, the No. 2 seed in the CFP, ends its season 11-3, sending its senior group out as the class with the most wins in program history (53-6) and as SEC champions after a 22-19 overtime win over the Longhorns.
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