Notre Dame proved it belonged in the College Football Playoff Friday night – at least, that was the takeaway from most of us who were here and saw it – with a 27-17, more-convincing-than-the-final-score win over Big 10 entry Indiana in South Bend.
The two in-state rivals don’t schedule each other; it was the first meeting between the two since 1991.
This was one of four first-round games in the CFP this weekend. Coming up tomorrow: SMU plays at Penn State, a noon Eastern time / 11 a.m. Central time kickoff; ACC champion Clemson at Texas, a 4 p.m. / 3 p.m. kick; and Tennessee at Ohio State, an 8 / 7 kickoff in Columbus, Ohio.
In South Bend, though, the Hoosiers, who had looked strong all year but against a not-so-challenging schedule, left the door open for those who argued the committee got it wrong.
Indiana (11-2), to be fair, came into the playoff as the highest-scoring team of the 12-team field. But the Hoosiers’ offense was pummeled all night, and trailed by 20-3, then 27-3, for most of the second half. For those who look at the final score and say, “Ten points isn’t that bad,” let us assure you – it was only a 10-point deficit with 25 seconds left.
Kurtis Rourke finally hit Myles Price for a touchdown, a 7-yard pass, with 1:27 left on the fourth-quarter clock. After Indiana got an onside kick, Rourke threw another TD pass, this one to Omar Cooper from 23 yards out and with those 25 seconds remaining.
Notre Dame (12-1) got onto the scoreboard on its first series, a 98-yard run by Jeremiyah Love. In the second quarter, the Irish put together an impressive 83-yard drive, utilizing 16 plays to do so. Jayden Thomas finally got them into the end zone on a 5-yard pass from Riley Leonard.
Nicolas Radicic put IU on the scoreboard with 3:26 left in the half – unfortunately, Radicic is the kicker. He hit a 34-yard field goal. And with seven seconds left until the break, the Irish scored again: Mitch Jeter countered the Indiana field goal with one of his one, a 52-yarder, that sent the Irish into halftime up two touchdowns (17-3).
Jeter hit another well into the third quarter, with 4:21 left, to be exact, this one from 33 yards, and then Leonard capped the scoring for Notre Dame with a 1-yard run, the end of a 78-yard drive.
Leonard finished 23-of-32 for 201 yards, a touchdown and an interception; that proved good enough to beat the Hoosiers, but he will likely need a better performance in the Irish’s next game: against Southeastern Conference champion Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
Love finished with 108 yards on eight carries: obviously, most of his yardage came on the one run. Notre Dame finished with 193 yards rushing and the two scores by Love and Leonard.
ND’s Jordan Faison was the game’s top receiver: 89 yards on seven catches, including a 44-yarder.
Xavier Watts led the Irish defense with 10 tackles, five of them solo, and had an interception. Notre Dame also sacked Rourke three times. They held Indiana to just 63 rushing yards.
Jeter went 2-of-3 in field goals, and the Irish only punted twice.
For Indiana, D’Angelo Ponds had the interception of Leonard, and Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker led the defense with 10 tackles each.
The Hoosiers’ top rusher was Justice Ellison, but he had only 37 yards on 11 carries. Ty Son Lawton had 34 on 10 carries. And Rourke’s numbers were eerily similar to Leonard’s – except he had two touchdowns, obviously both too late. Rourke went 20-of-33 for 215 yards, the two scores and the interception.
The Irish notched their first-ever College Football Playoff win, and will see Georgia – a team well-versed in CFP wins in recent years who had a first-round bye this weekend – on Wednesday, Jan. 1, at 7:45 p.m. in round two, in New Orleans.
