After a chaotic, tragic, and draining 48 hours in the city of New Orleans – the Sugar Bowl has crowned a champion.
Notre Dame has upset the SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs 23-10 to advance to the College Football Playoff Semifinals.
The Fighting Irish will be off to the Orange Bowl where they will play No. 6 Penn State – with the winner of that game off to the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
In a sports sense, the win means that all four of the top seeds have been eliminated from the College Football Playoff in the first year of its new 12-team format.
But in a larger sense, the celebration of Notre Dame players on the field and fans in the stands comes in the aftermath of a devastating terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 14 people and left dozens injured. The attack forced the Sugar Bowl to be pushed back from it’s Wednesday evening kickoff to Thursday afternoon.
After Notre Dame players gathered in the end zone, linking arm-in-arm as they swayed side-to-side while their alma mater played, cameras found LouisianaState Troopers manning the sidelines following a devastating period for the city, the state, and the nation.
Notre Dame players lift the Sugar Bowl trophy after defeating Georgia 23-10 on Thursday
Victorious Notre Dame players sing their alma mater after the CFP quarterfinal win
Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his players
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard completed 15-of-24 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown while also leading the team in rushing with 14 carries for 80 yards.
But it was the Fighting Irish’s defense and special teams that truly led the way for Notre Dame.
Georgia fumbled the football twice in the first half – with the second of those fumbles leading to a Notre Dame touchdown to go up 13-3 on the stroke of halftime.
Notre Dame received the ball to open up the second half and punched the Bulldogs in the mouth with a 98-yard touchdown return from Jayden Harrison to make it a 20-3 game.
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, who made his first career college football start in this game, made up for his late first-half fumble by completing a 32 yard strike to receiver Cash Jones to make it a 20-10 game in the third quarter.
But he couldn’t find consistent success through the air as he was held to 20/32 passes completed for 234 yards and the one touchdown.
Stockton, who was stepping in for the injured Carson Beck, was sacked four times as Notre Dame’s pass rush consistently kept breaking through.
Adding to Notre Dame’s special teams dominance was the leg of kicker Mitch Jeter – who had been struggling down the stretch of the regular season.
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard had a combined 170 total yards of offense
Notre Dame’s Jayden Harrison (2) returns the second half opening kickoff for a touchdown
Georgia’s Gunner Stockton got his first ever college football start and was sacked four times
Fans leave the Caesars Superdome after the conclusion of the Sugar Bowl on Thursday
But in the College Football Playoff, he’s gone 5/6. That includes hitting two of three kicks in the first round against Indiana and going three-of-three on Thursday afternoon against Georgia.
Notre Dame now plays in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida against Penn State – another team that needed to play in the first round.
The Nittany Lions knocked off SMU at home and then eliminated Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
The winner of the game between Notre Dame and Penn State will advance to the CFP National Championship game played in Atlanta. There, they will take on the winner of the Cotton Bowl Classic CFP semifinal game between No. 8 Ohio State and No. 5 Texas.