NEW ORLEANS – The College Football Playoff semifinals are set.
And there’s no Georgia to be found.
Like top-seeded Oregon, second seed Georgia, the Southeastern Conference champion, was booted from the playoffs Thursday night in another physical battle, this one in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Notre Dame, owners of the nation’s longest winning streak, increased that streak to 12, and advanced to the semifinals with a 23-10 win over coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs in the Caesar’s Superdome in the Big Easy, a day later than everyone thought after a terrorist attack forced a postponement from the original date on New Year’s Day.
Notre Dame will meet Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9; the other semifinal will be Texas facing Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10. The two winners will meet in the CFP National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20.
The two biggest plays in the Georgia-Notre Dame game came in the second quarter and to start the second half.
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, replacing the injured Carson Beck, dropped back and threw a ball on a rope to Arian Smith for a 67-yard gain, inside the Notre Dame 15-yard-line, spotted at the 11. But a flag was thrown when Parker Jones, a player on Georgia’s sidelines not dressed out for the game, accidentally bumped the side judge as he was running with the play to ensure a correct spot.
Officials ruled that was sideline interference, and brought the ball back 15 yards from the 11 to the Notre Dame 26-yard-line.
The Bulldogs wouldn’t get into the end zone. Instead, that possession ended in a 41-yard field goal.
After the game, Smart did give his thoughts on the play.
“Yeah. Very unfortunate. We had – they said a coach. I think it was a player, from what I’ve been told, in the white, and the white is reserved for the officials,” Smart said. “That’s a safety concern. Most of the time, they’ll grant you a warning on that, but it was not a – it was a situation where it cost us 15 yards. We still had first and 10 and didn’t take advantage of it.But, again, I call those things undisciplined, self-imposed wounds that you lose momentum on. So, it’s just something you can’t have happen.”
The other huge play in the game – maybe its biggest – was a kickoff return by Jayden Harrison in the second half that extended the Fighting Irish’s lead from 13-3 to 20-3.
In the entirety of the second half, Notre Dame would only add a field goal, and Georgia a touchdown, for the 23-10 final.
It was somewhat of a shocking finale for the 2024 Bulldogs (11-3), who bounced back from road losses at Alabama and Ole Miss to reach the SEC title game, defeat Texas and earn a spot in the very first 12-team playoff.
But the Irish (13-1) were just fundamentally sound, and didn’t make many mistakes in the game. In fact, Georgia actually had more total yards of offense: 296 to 244.
The Bulldogs were looking to put the ball into the end zone with 9 ½ minutes left in the game, which would’ve gotten them within six points. They reached the Notre Dame 9-yard-line, but were stopped on a fourth and 5.
Notre Dame took over, and coach Marcus Freeman – on fourth down and 1 deep in his own territory – sent the punt team out, then changed his mind and sent his offense back onto the field. Georgia, already having its special teams on the field, had to send its defense back out very quickly. A couple of members of the defensive line jumped offsides, giving the Irish a new set of downs and allowed them to keep the clock running.
Irish quarterback Riley Leonard picked up another first down on a run moments later.
By the time the Bulldogs got the ball back, there was only 1:49 left – and they trailed 23-10, the eventual final score.
Stockton finished 20-of-32 for 234 yards and a touchdown.
Leonard had only 90 passing yards and 80 rushing yards.
Late in the first half, ND kicker Mitch Jeter hit a 48-yard field goal, and then, on Georgia’s next possession, Stockton was hit by R.J. Oben and fumbled. Oben’s teammate, ND defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka, recovered the fumble and then Riley Leonard hit Beaux Collins for a 13-yard touchdown.
That sent the game to the half with the Irish in front, 13-3, and then Harrison returned the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a 20-3 Notre Dame advantage. It proved to be more than Georgia could bounce back from.
