Irish ‘cherish’ historic win to kick off new CFP era
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame players and coaches linked arms in the northeast corner of the field late Friday, waiting to sing the alma mater for the final time at home in 2024.
After a slight delay, coach Marcus Freeman bounded into the group, pumping his first toward the student section before the band began to play. No. 7 Notre Dame had beaten No. 10 Indiana 27-17, using a familiar formula of stifling defense, big-play runs and relentless physicality to overwhelm a lesser opponent, just like the Fighting Irish had done for most of the season.
But Friday’s win and setting was different. A Notre Dame program steeped in history became the first to win a campus College Football Playoff game. The Irish, who had not won a CFP contest before, played their first Friday home game since 1900 before a full-throated crowd, many of whom came to campus on a snowy morning and celebrated throughout the day and night.
Freeman, fresh off a new contract in his third season as Notre Dame’s coach, took a moment to enjoy the scene.
“I’ve never been part of an environment like that,” Freeman said. “Not many times in life you’re the first to do something, and as I told the [team] in there, we were the first to win and play a playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. That’s historic. Something we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives.”
Defensive coordinator Al Golden, whose group drove Notre Dame into the CFP and overwhelmed Indiana for much of Friday’s game, doesn’t walk around campus or the team’s facility with blinders on. He absorbs the national championship banners and other symbols of the program’s distinct path.
“The lineage is so strong and so storied that it’s hard to come about something that’s the first,” Golden said. “So everybody in that locker room, everybody that’s a part of it, can say that for the rest of their lives.”
Notre Dame ensured that its first home CFP game would not be its last of the season, jumping ahead 14-0 after Jeremiyah Love‘s 98-yard touchdown run and a 16-play, 83-yard drive capped by a Riley Leonard pass to Jayden Thomas.
Love’s run through the left side of the line marked the longest play in CFP history, the longest run by an FBS player this season and the longest play Indiana has ever allowed, and it tied for the longest run in Notre Dame history (Josh Adams in 2015 against Wake Forest). The sophomore isn’t fully recovered from a knee injury sustained in the regular-season finale at USC and had been dealing with an illness.
“He is the engine that sparks this thing to go in a real positive direction,” offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said.
Love said he was “gassed” after crossing the goal line, and after the game his voice sounded weak and could barely be heard as he spoke to reporters. He logged only eight carries in the game but made sure no Indiana defender could chase him down on his most impactful play.
“I was looking up on the videoboard, [and] he wasn’t going to catch me,” Love said. “I slowed down. I knew I was going to score.”
Safety Xavier Watts set up Love’s touchdown with an interception and propelled Notre Dame’s defense with 10 tackles. The Irish kept Indiana’s offense out of the end zone until less than 90 seconds remained and turned away the Hoosiers on 8 of 12 third-down opportunities while racking up three sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Notre Dame led 17-3 at halftime and 27-3 with 4:50 left before Indiana scored two late touchdowns.
“They pretty much suffocated our offense until the last minute and a half of the game,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said.
Leonard rebounded from an interception on his first pass attempt to complete 23 passes for 201 yards and had two total touchdowns in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium. Leonard spread the ball to 10 receivers, including wide receiver Jordan Faison, who set a career high with seven receptions.
A Duke transfer and Alabama native, Leonard will continue his quest closer to home in the CFP quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Georgia at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1. Notre Dame has lost 10 consecutive major bowl games since its last win in a marquee New Year’s Day game, the 1994 Cotton Bowl.
“This is special for us,” Leonard said. “My freshman year, I went 3-9 [at Duke] and was just begging to make a bowl game. To be playing in the Sugar Bowl right now, I’ve got to go full circle. It’s really cool. We’re just staying alive, and we’re just trying to play as many games as we can.”
Notre Dame’s win might have come at a cost, as starting defensive tackle Rylie Mills did not return after sustaining a right leg/knee injury when sacking Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke on the first series of the second half. The Irish also dealt with injuries to offensive lineman Rocco Spindler and defensive lineman Bryce Young.
Freeman told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt that he has “optimism” about Mills, whose injury likely won’t end his season. Mills leads Notre Dame with 7.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
“We just got to get him right here in the next 10-11 days and get him ready for this upcoming contest down in New Orleans,” Freeman told Van Pelt.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Los Angeles Dodgers starter Blake Snell will back off his throwing program as he continues to recover from left shoulder inflammation, according to manager Dave Roberts.
“As he was playing catch, he just didn’t feel great,” Roberts said Wednesday afternoon before the Dodgers played the Chicago Cubs. “Right now, we’re going to slow play the throwing. Will probably get it looked at again when we get back home.”
Snell, 32, has been on the injured list since early April after making just two starts for the Dodgers. He signed a five-year, $182 million contract this past offseason.
Snell, who was set to throw a bullpen session Wednesday, felt discomfort in the shoulder while playing catch Tuesday. Roberts was asked how concerning the latest setback was.
“I wouldn’t say concerning because part of the messaging from us to Blake is, it’s about later on in the season and if there’s any type of discomfort, let’s not try to fight through it,” Roberts responded.
Snell is one of several Dodgers pitchers on the mend, including left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who pitched three innings in a minor league start Tuesday, his second rehab outing this spring.
“Velocity was good,” Roberts said. “Got into the fourth inning. He’ll make a start next week. Really positive stuff.”
The Dodgers also received positive news about right-hander Tyler Glasnow after he left his last start with leg cramps. His latest bullpen session went well, according to Roberts.
Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani is throwing again after missing time on the paternity list. He’ll have another bullpen session Saturday as he recovers from elbow surgery, though the team still doesn’t have a timetable for his return to major league action.
The team was also without catcher Will Smith on Wednesday after he injured his wrist on a play at the plate in Tuesday’s loss to the Cubs.
“As he made the tag, his [left] wrist turned in and so there’s some residual soreness,” Roberts said.
Smith could get imaging done when the team returns to Los Angeles, but Roberts wasn’t overly concerned about the injury.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Most players are happy to be done facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong might not be one of them.
The Los Angeles native has torched his childhood team this season, including Wednesday night at Wrigley Field when he went 3-for-4 with a home run, two stolen bases and a career-high four RBIs, helping the Cubs to a 7-6 win. It came one night after Chicago beat L.A. 11-10, with Crow-Armstrong contributing another home run.
He was asked Wednesday whether his production has special meaning coming against the team he used to root for.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean, they are regarded as the best, and I think we’ve enjoyed being able to show that we’re right there with them, and yeah, it’s always a little extra special for me getting to do it against the team I grew up going to see.”
Crow-Armstrong erased a 2-0 Cubs deficit with an opposite-field, three-run homer in the fourth inning, then added a run-scoring single an inning later, which turned out to be the final run of the night for the Cubs.
Overall, he had four home runs and nine RBIs in the seven-game season series against the Dodgers, which the Cubs won 4-3 after losing the first two games in Japan in mid-March. But that was before the Cubs’ offense took off. They’re averaging an MLB-high 6.3 runs per game.
Crow-Armstrong’s season took off as well, starting over a week ago when the teams met in Los Angeles. In the 10 games since, the 23-year-old is hitting .400 with five home runs.
“He needs to send me a bottle of wine or some golf balls with all the success he’s had,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped before Wednesday’s game.
Roberts and Crow-Armstrong exchanged pleasantries before the first game of the series, as the second-year player is friends with Roberts’ son, Cole. The two played against each other growing up.
“I got a couple different connections to Doc,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s so great.”
That’s the same word Crow-Armstrong’s teammates are using about him as he continues to impress both at the plate and in the field. According to ESPN Research, he’s the fastest player in Cubs history to reach five home runs and 10 stolen bases, doing it in 26 games.
Plus, his pitchers love seeing him patrol center field.
“Defensively, I got to say he’s probably the best,” Wednesday’s starter, Matthew Boyd, said. “And what he’s doing at the plate is no surprise.”
Crow-Armstrong showed signs of breaking out late last year but then struggled early this season before locking in during the Cubs’ most recent road trip. He said he got “on-time” with his swing while learning how to deal with failure better. He was asked how satisfied he is with his game right now.
“If it comes out in a win, it’s very satisfactory,” he said. “It makes me feel very content. I love being able to impact it in any way I can.”
So does his manager, who called Wednesday a “wonderful game” for Crow-Armstrong.
“He made his presence felt in a big way for sure,” Craig Counsell said.
Crow-Armstrong is quickly becoming a fan favorite, as the Cubs faithful are taking to his aggressive style of play. He was asked what it’s like to hear his name chanted when he comes to the plate after producing in previous at-bats.
“I’ve tried to tune that out,” he said with a laugh. “I was actually thinking about it yesterday and I was like, I got to be 0-for-20 when they’ve chanted my name. But they continue to chant and they get behind every one of us and it’s the coolest thing.”
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