Georgia football Sugar Bowl matchup set in College Football Playoff quarterfinals

Posted by Admin December 21, 2024 Football

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Georgia football spent time this past week preparing for both of its possible College Football Playoff quarterfinal opponents.

Now Notre Dame will have its undivided attention.

The No. 7 seeded Fighting Irish handled No. 10 Indiana 27-17 Friday night in a CFP first-round game in South Bend, Ind. That set up a matchup with the No. 2 Bulldogs Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in a quarterfinal matchup at 8:45 p.m. in New Orleans.

“Our offensive and defensive staff and special teams had to break down both teams, not to mention dealing with the (transfer) portal and portal visitors and guys going in the portal and guys coming out of the portal,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on ESPN’s College GameDay earlier Friday.

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Notre Dame (12-1) has won 11 straight since a week two loss to Northern Illinois.

Georgia (11-2) got a bye into the quarterfinals after beating Texas in the SEC championship game.

Notre Dame fans at the GameDay set chanted “We Want Georgia.”

Said host Rece Davis” “I’m not sure they do. Winless all-time against the Bulldogs.”

“Stir it up,” Smart said. “Stir it up.”

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Georgia is 3-0 against Notre Dame including two wins under Smart, 20-19 in 2017 in South Bend and 23-17 in 2019 in Athens before a record home crowd. The only other game between the teams came in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1981 when Herschel Walker and the Bulldogs won 17-10 and captured the national championship.

Notre Dame, under third-year coach Marcus Freeman, entered the playoff ranked third nationally in both scoring offense (39.8) and scoring defense (13.6).

Smart said he planned to watch the Indiana-Notre Dame game with recruits and early enrollees from this signing class.

The Irish held Indiana to 278 yards and a Hoosiers team that averaged 43.3 points per game were held to a field goal until scoring two touchdowns in the final 1:27. The Bulldogs are expected to turn to Gunner Stockton at quarterback for an injured Carson Beck against Notre Dame.

The Irish schedule strength ranked No. 64 in the nation in the Sagarin Ratings with two wins against teams ranked in the CFP top 25: No. 22 Army and No. 10 Indiana.

Notre Dame’s run game figures to be a big test for Georgia.

The Irish entered Friday averaging 224.8 yards per game rushing, good for 10th nationally, and rushed for 194 against the Hoosiers

Jeremiyah Love rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries Friday. Quarterback Riley Leonard has rushed for 15 touchdowns this season and Friday was 23 of 32 for 201 yards with a touchdown and interception.

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