Notre Dame topples Indiana to reach College Football Playoff quarterfinals
No. 7 Notre Dame shut down No. 10 Indiana’s high-powered offense and ended the Hoosiers’ dream season with a 27-17 win in the debut of the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The win sends the Irish into the playoff quarterfinals in the Sugar Bowl against No. 2 Georgia. Notre Dame dominated for much of the game. Indiana scored 14 points in the final 90 seconds after the Irish had built a 24-point lead.
Hosting the opening round of the playoff in South Bend as the higher seed, the Fighting Irish outmuscled the Hoosiers with 193 rushing yards to take advantage of frigid temperatures that slowed down both passing games.
Shop Notre Dame vs. Georgia Sugar Bowl tickets
With an eye-popping start — a 98-yard touchdown by Jeremiyah Love in the first quarter that shattered the previous playoff record for longest carry — the Irish proved they could run on Indiana’s defense, which entered the postseason as the only team in the Bowl Subdivision to have allowed fewer than 1,000 yards on the ground.
Notre Dame finished with two scores on 5.5 yards per carry. Love had 108 yards on 13.5 yards per carry, while Jadarian Price and Aneyas Williams combined for 56 yards on 15 carries.
UNSUNG HEROES: Which non-stars could lift teams to first-round wins?
MOVING ON: Ranking the best college quarterbacks in the transfer portal
Indiana’s pass rush bothered quarterback Riley Leonard, who struggled to push the ball downfield outside of a 44-yard gain to Jordan Faison that set up Notre Dame’s final score. Leonard finished 23 of 32 for 201 yards with two combined scores.
Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke went 20 of 33 for 215 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Hoosiers went into Friday night averaging 9.7 yards per attempt with an FBS-best 179.1 quarterback efficiency rating.
Overall, Indiana finished with 278 yards on 61 plays, with a heavy portion of that yardage coming with the game already decided.
The Irish have now won 11 in a row since an inexplicable loss to Northern Illinois in September. This year’s team is the fifth in program history to win 12 games, joining 2018, 2012, 1989 and 1988.
The loss ends what had been a remarkable season for Indiana and new coach Curt Cignetti. After having never won more than nine games in a season in program history, the Hoosiers went 11-1 in the regular season to earn Cignetti consensus national coach of the year accolades.
But while Indiana scored at least 30 points 10 times, the offense came up empty in games against Michigan, Ohio State and the Irish. The Hoosiers averaged 3.9 yards per play in these three games compared to 7.2 yards per play against every other team on their schedule.
Shop Notre Dame vs. Georgia Sugar Bowl tickets
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
