Notre Dame’s kickoff return TD highlights Sugar Bowl win over Georgia after terrorist attack

Fighting Irish continue on in the College Football Playoff, as No. 7 Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Georgia, 23-10, to earn its spot in the semifinals.

Notre Dame will now face off No. 6 Penn Statewho beat No. 3 Boise State, next Thursday to determine who goes to the national championship game.

This game was supposed to be played on Wednesday night, but the horrific terrorist attack in New Orleans forced a postponement to Thursday afternoon. Caesars Superdome was still packed for the match, where a moment of silence was observed for those killed and injured in the senseless act of violence.

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Shouts of “USA!” were also heard before the anthem was sung throughout the stadium.

Once the game started, these two teams showed their suffocating defenses, as both teams could not find points on the scoreboard until Bulldogs finally hit a 41-yarder to make it 3-0 early in the second quarter.

But it could have been more as Arian Smith caught a pass from Gunner Stockton and took it 67 yards to the Notre Dame 11-yard line. But one of the strangest penalties was called a 15-yard linebacker, as the lineman collided with Parker Jones, a cornerback who hasn’t played all season and was on the sideline in his jersey without pads.

NOTRE DAME PULL OUT WITH ONE RUN IN KICKER PENALTIES TO OPEN SUGAR BOWL

A 15-yard penalty ended up hurting Georgia as they settled for a field goal when it could have been four more points.

Notre Dame, however, not only got a field goal on the ensuing drive, but they took a 6-3 lead with 39 seconds left in the game when Mitch Jeter hit a 48-yard field goal just before halftime.

The Fighting Irish probably headed into the locker room with a lead despite never finding the end zone, but everything changed on the first play of Georgia’s next drive when running back Gunner Stockton was sacked by RJ Oben.

As the ball bounced across the field, Notre Dame’s Junior Tuihalamaka pounced on it and gave Riley Leonard and the Fighting Irish offense the ball at the Georgia 13-yard line with time to finally get into the end zone.

That’s exactly what happened when Leonard threw a strike to wide receiver Beaux Collins for a 13-yard score to go up 13-3 at halftime.

It was unbelievable for Notre Dame considering they would get the ball to start the second half. And then the game completely turned in favor of the fighting Irish.

Jayden Harrison took the kickoff for Notre Dame and kept it going – 98 yards down the left sideline to open the game with a 20-3 lead for his team. Head coach Marcus Freeman enjoyed every second as he celebrated with his team.

On the other hand, head coach Kirby Smart knew he needed his guys to kick into high gear, and Stockton was finally able to get one of his teammates into the end zone in the third quarter when Cash Jones was left alone on a 32-yard run that went for six.

But that was all Georgia would get in the second half, as Notre Dame’s defense forced two turnovers after that, including an incomplete pass to Lawson Luckie on fourth down and fifth down for the win.

Looking at the box score, it wasn’t pretty for Leonard, who threw for just 88 yards, though he didn’t throw an interception and rushed for 65 yards on 11 carries. Jordan Faison also provided solid production for Notre Dame with 46 yards on four catches.

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For the Bulldogs, Stockton was 18-for-29 for 225 yards and a touchdown pass. The Fighting Irish were able to hold Trevor Etienne, the Bulldogs’ hard-hitting rusher, to just 38 yards on 11 carries.

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