NEW ORLEANS — Locked in a defensive struggle in which neither team gained 300 yards, Georgia coach Kirby Smart made an aggressive but ill-fated decision late in the first half of the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Right after Notre Dame took a 6-3 lead on a 48-yard field goal, Smart had untested sophomore quarterback Gunner Stockton drop back to pass from his 25-yard line with 38 seconds left instead of running out the clock. Defensive end RJ Oben broke through for a strip-sack, and the Fighting Irish’s Junior Tuihalamaka fell on the ball at the Bulldogs’ 13.

One play later, Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard hit Beaux Collins for a 13-yard touchdown.

Just like that, No. 2 Georgia trailed 13-3 in a game in which every point was precious. The No. 7 Fighting Irish went on to win Thursday’s game 23-10, ending Smart’s bid for his third national title with the Bulldogs.

“Typically, when you’re down, you need every possession you can have, and we made a decision that we were going to be aggressive and we were going to try to go two-minute, and that’s what everything says you should do,” Smart said. “You can’t give up possessions when you’re trailing. We felt like we had a little quick-game pass. Certainly not counting on getting beat that quick at left tackle, and got a sack-fumble, which gave them some momentum.”

Actually, the Bulldogs already had lost momentum. Their previous possession lasted all of 31 seconds — counting the punt.

Taking over at his 14 with 3:40 left in the half, Stockton threw three consecutive incomplete passes — the last two while scrambling away from pressure — giving Notre Dame time to move into field goal range.

But Smart continued to trust his struggling offense, even though Stockton had thrown only 35 career passes before replacing injured starter Carson Beck for the second half of the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime victory against Texas in the SEC championship game.

Though the move backfired, Smart defended his thought process.

“We got an opportunity to go score,” he said. “We worked two-minute every week. I don’t question that call, because I really agree with the decision to be aggressive.”

Stockton went 20-of-32 for 234 yards, including a perfect strike to Arian Smith for a 67-yard gain that set up a go-ahead field goal in the second quarter and a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide-open running back Cash Jones that closed the deficit to 20-10 in the third.

The Bulldogs did very little outside of those plays, though, producing 62 yards rushing while Stockton was sacked four times.

“It just hurts,” guard Tate Ratledge said. “This team’s got one goal, and that was to win a national championship.”

Georgia outgained Notre Dame 296-244 but went 0-of-3 on fourth downs and 2-of-12 on third downs, and allowed a 98-yard kickoff return to open the second half.

Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman frequently outmaneuvered Smart. The last time came when Notre Dame rushed its punt team off the field and its offense back on while facing a fourth-and-1 at its own 18 with 7:17 left.

In the commotion, Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker jumped offside, and the Fighting Irish did not punt until the two-minute mark.

“I’ve been told by our head of officials in the SEC that you can’t do that, you can’t run 11 on, 11 off,” Smart said. “We got our defense out there. We were fine. They were going to hard-count us. We prepare for that, but we jumped offsides.”

NEW ORLEANS — Notre Dame‘s 23-10 victory against Georgia in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday might have been a 60-minute informercial on how to effectively use the transfer portal.

Nearly a half-dozen transfers who joined the No. 7 Fighting Irish before the 2024 season helped them capture one of their biggest victories in decades against the No. 2 Bulldogs. It was Notre Dame’s 13th win of the season, the most in program history, and it snapped an eight-game losing streak in BCS/New Year’s Six bowl games.

The Irish couldn’t have knocked off the Bulldogs without transfers such as quarterback Riley Leonard, defensive end RJ Oben, kick returner Jayden Harrison, receiver Beaux Collins and kicker Mitch Jeter, who made big play after big play at Caesar’s Superdome.

Notre Dame advanced to play No. 6 Penn State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Jan. 9.

“I see the work they put in, and I’ve seen their process they’ve gone through, and I’m just so proud of them to see them come up big,” Irish linebacker Jack Kiser said. “There’s a ton of firsts this year. It’s been an awesome ride. But it just shows that we’ve earned one more and we’re excited for that guaranteed opportunity to come, and we’re not going to take anything for granted. We’re going to seize the opportunity.”

Leonard, who played three seasons at Duke before transferring for his senior season, essentially carried the Fighting Irish offense on his back. He threw for 90 yards with one touchdown on 15-for-24 passing and ran 14 times for 80 yards.

“They’re a very physical group,” Leonard said. “They brought a lot of pressure today, but I think we handled it pretty well and stayed behind the chains early in the game, and then kind of figured it out a little bit. I was struggling in the passing game, but, shoot, that opens up the run game. And we were able to utilize our abilities and execute when it mattered.”

Leonard’s rushing total was the fourth highest by a quarterback in a CFP game, according to ESPN Research, and his 831 rushing yards this season are the second most in a season by a Notre Dame quarterback (Tony Rice had 884 in 1989).

Several of Leonard’s biggest runs against Georgia came on third down, and he lowered his shoulder to convert a few of them.

Oben, Leonard’s former Duke teammate, turned in the biggest defensive play of the game. With the Fighting Irish leading 6-3 late in the first half, Oben sacked Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton from his blind side and caused him to fumble.

Irish defensive tackle Junior Tuihalamaka recovered the ball at the Georgia 13 with 33 seconds left in the half. On the next play, Leonard threw a 13-yard touchdown to Collins, a transfer receiver from Clemson.

Oben, a senior from Montclair, New Jersey, didn’t have a sack in his first season at Notre Dame before Thursday. He had piled up 14 in the previous three seasons at Duke.

“It’s been amazing,” Oben said. “Things haven’t always gone the way I wanted them to, but this is the reason I came here, and I’m so happy to go through this experience with my team. I know Riley can take this team as far as it can go, and I’m so glad we’ve been able to keep playing together.”

Oben moved into the starting lineup against Georgia after senior Rylie Mills suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 27-17 win over Indiana in a CFP first-round game Dec. 20.

“These guys don’t always control the amount of plays they get,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “Those are determined by your coaching staff in terms of what they need out of your role for this game. RJ is a guy that no matter what the role is that’s determined for him, he puts everything into it.

“And when you have that mindset and you have that work ethic, good things like what happened today happen to you. And if you’re sitting here and complaining about why you’re not playing more than the next guy, then you know what? You’re not putting everything into making the most out of your opportunity.”

Harrison, a Marshall transfer, helped the Irish put the Bulldogs in an even deeper hole when he returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

It was the longest kickoff return in the postseason in Notre Dame history and the second longest in Sugar Bowl history. Florida’s Andre Debose had a 100-yard return in a 33-23 victory against Louisville in 2013.

“The whole journey has been a blessing, and things happen for a reason,” said Harrison, who was second in the FBS with a 30.7-yard average on kickoff returns at Marshall last season. “We’re all in this together. Georgia was a great team, but my guys executed play after play after play.”

Jeter converted all three of his field goal attempts, each one from longer than 40 yards. The transfer from South Carolina had been 5-for-9 on such attempts before Thursday.

ESPN’s David Hale contributed to this report.

NEW ORLEANS — Riley Leonard passed for a touchdown, Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score and Notre Dame‘s defense made it hold up in a 23-10 victory over No. 2 Georgia in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday that sends the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish into the CFP semifinals.

In a game that was delayed by a day because of a deadly terror attack in the host city, Notre Dame (13-1) made enough big plays and got some help from a clever move by coach Marcus Freeman.

“Our coaches called the game aggressive. Our players executed, put everything on the line for this university and this football team,” Freeman said. “I’m really proud of them. Proud of the way they handled the events of the last 24 hours.”

Georgia (11-2) was in position to close within one score when Notre Dame stopped it on fourth-and-5 from the Irish 9-yard line with 9:29 to go.

Minutes later, Notre Dame had a fourth-and-short deep in its own territory when Freeman sent the punt team out before running all 11 players off the field and sending the offense out. Georgia raced to match up and then jumped offside as the play clock ticked down, giving the Irish a clock-sapping first down with 7:17 left.

“They were going to hard-count us. We prepare for that. We do it every week,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We jumped offsides.”

By the time the Bulldogs got the ball back, just 1:49 remained, and Notre Dame was well on its way to playing No. 5 Penn State (13-2, CFP No. 6 seed) in a semifinal at the Orange Bowl in Miami on Jan. 9.

“That’s the aggressiveness in terms of our preparation that I want our program to have,” Freeman said. “That’s got to be one of our edges, that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes.”

The Irish opened as a 1.5-point favorite over the Nittany Lions, according to ESPN BET, while Ohio State remains the favorite to win the CFP at +110.

Georgia entered the game without starting quarterback Carson Beck, who injured his right elbow in the Southeastern Conference championship game. He was replaced by Gunner Stockton, who was 20-of-32 for 234 yards and one touchdown.

The Bulldogs outgained Notre Dame 296 yards to 244, but Georgia was stopped on all three of its fourth-down attempts and lost two fumbles – one deep in Notre Dame territory and one inside its own 20.

“The turnovers are the difference in the game, guys,” Smart said. “I mean, you should know when you turn it over twice and they return a kickoff for a touchdown, you’re not going to have a lot of success.”

Leonard finished with 90 yards passing and a team-high 80 yards rushing, including a late first-down run in which he was sent head over heels as he tried to leap over a defender.

“We’re in the playoffs,” Leonard said. “Everybody else can put their body on the line, I’m going to do it right there with them.”

The game had been set for Wednesday night as part of a New Year’s Day playoff tripleheader, but it was postponed after an Army veteran inspired by the Islamic State group drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday, killing 14 revelers. Security was increased at the Superdome — which will also host the Super Bowl next month — and arriving fans said they felt safe.

With some fans unable to alter their travel plans, attendance in the 70,000-seat stadium was announced at 68,400. There were some patches of empty seats in the upper levels, but passionate supporters made no shortage of noise trying to will their teams into the next round of college football’s first 12-team playoff.

The score was tied at 3 before Notre Dame scored 17 points in a span of 54 seconds.

The unusual sequence began with Mitch Jeter‘s 48-yard field goal with 39 seconds left in first half.

Soon after, Georgia paid for an aggressive decision to attempt a dropback pass from its own 25. RJ Oben‘s blindside sack caused Stockton to fumble at the 13, where Irish defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka recovered. Leonard found Beaux Collins over the middle for a touchdown on the next play for a 13-3 lead that stood at halftime.

By the time 15 seconds had elapsed in the third quarter, Notre Dame led 20-3.

Harrison took Georgia’s second-half kickoff to the end zone, slipping a tackle near the middle of the field, cutting toward the right sideline and outrunning everyone.

Georgia closed the gap to 20-10 when Stockton hit reserve running back Cash Jones for a 32-yard score before Jeter’s third field goal of the game gave the Irish their winning margin.

Takeaways

Notre Dame: With a dominant defense and the dual-threat nature of Leonard’s playmaking, the Irish look dangerous heading into the semifinals.

Georgia: A team trying to win big games without its starting QB can’t afford big mistakes, and missed opportunities doomed coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs.

Up next

Notre Dame: The Irish resume a series with the Nittany Lions that is currently even at 9-9-1.

Georgia: The 2025 season opener will be at home against Marshall on Aug. 30.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.