Irish end Bulldogs’ season in CFP Quarterfinals

NEW ORLEANS — The No. 2 Georgia football team’s season came to an end Thursday night in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Facing No. 5 Notre Dame in front of a crowd of 57,267 at the Caesars Superdome, Georgia surrendered big plays at the end of the first half and the start of the second, and couldn’t rally for another come-from-behind win, falling 23-10.

The game, postponed a day following the deadly terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, started slowly, with neither team doing much on offense in a scoreless first quarter. Gunner Stockton, making his first career start at quarterback, completed his first seven passes, helping the Bulldogs (11-3) to an early 3-0 lead, but the Irish scored the final 13 points of the first half.

Stockton, who replaced starter Carson Beck in the second half of the SEC Championship Game after Beck was injured, completed 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown against Notre Dame, but was sacked four times. Including sacks, the Irish defense held the Bulldogs to 62 yards rushing on 29 attempts.

Notre Dame (13-1), which has won 12 straight games, will face No. 6 Penn State in the semifinals in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9. Georgia’s defense held the Irish to 244 yards, while the Bulldog offense gained 296.

Late in the first quarter, Notre Dame made the first big play of the game, at the end of a long Georgia drive. On third-and-1 at the Irish 16, the Irish’s Adon Shuler knocked the ball out of Georgia running back Trevor Etienne’s hands and Notre Dame recovered the fumble at its 10-yard line. Georgia’s defense got a stop after that to keep the game scoreless.

Early in the second quarter, after forcing Notre Dame to punt for the second time, Stockton fired deep up the right side to wideout Arian Smith for a 66-yard gain to the Notre Dame 12. However, Georgia was penalized for a sideline infraction on the play that moved the ball back to the Irish 26.

The Bulldogs eventually had to settle for a 41-yard Peyton Woodring field goal and a 3-0 lead with 12:14 to play in the half. It was the first time the Irish had trailed in a game since October. They didn’t trail for long, tying the game with 8:20 to go in the second on a 44-yard Mitch Jeter field goal.

With 39 seconds left in the half, Jeter connected on a 48-yard field goal to put the Irish ahead 6-3. On Georgia’s first play of the ensuing possession, Stockton was sacked, stripped and Notre Dame recovered the fumble at the UGA 13. The Irish scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins on the next play, taking a 13-3 lead into halftime.

It was the seventh time that the Bulldogs had trailed at the half this season, with Georgia rallying to win four of those games. The rally got a lot harder after the opening kickoff of the third quarter.

The Irish took full command of the game when Jayden Harrison returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and a 20-3 lead. Between the end of the first half and the explosive start to the second, the Irish scored 17 points in less than a minute of game action.

Georgia responded in strong fashion, eventually scoring its only touchdown of the game on a 32-yard completion to Cash Jones out of the backfield, cutting the lead to 20-10 with 9:36 left in the third.

The Bulldog defense got the ball back after stopping Leonard short on fourth-and-1 at the 50. The Irish then stopped Georgia short on a fourth-and-2 attempt at the Notre Dame 42. Georgia came in having converted 75% of its fourth-down attempts this season but finished 0-for-3 against the Irish.

Notre Dame added to its lead early in the fourth quarter with a 47-yard field goal, making it 23-10 with 13:47 remaining. Georgia drove inside the Irish 30 on the ensuing possession and caught a break when Notre Dame was flagged for pass interference on a fourth-and-13 attempt. On fourth-and-5 at the 9, however, Stockton’s pass toward tight end Lawson Luckie fell incomplete with 9:25 to play.

Notre Dame chewed up the clock on its next possession, a 13-play drive that lasted more than seven minutes. After the Irish punted, Georgia got the ball back with 1:49 remaining. But the Bulldogs weren’t able to mount a comeback and keep their season alive.

The Bulldogs, the SEC champions for the second time in three years, won double-digit games for the seventh time in coach Kirby Smart’s nine seasons as head coach. This was also Georgia’s fourth College Football Playoff appearance in the Smart era.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Bulldog Senior Class Finishes 53-5: The 2024 Senior Class ends its career with an FBS-leading 53-5 record, which is a school record. They won a pair of national championships and two SEC titles in their career.

Post-Season Win Streak Ends: SEC Champion Georgia (11-3) saw its seven-game winning streak in bowl/CFP games snap in a 23-10 loss to No. 5 Notre Dame. They are now 38-22-3 in bowl games, 5-7 in the Sugar Bowl and 4-2 in the CFP. This was its first loss to Notre Dame as the series is 3-1.

*Summary Of The Offense: Redshirt sophomore QB Gunner Stockton, making his first career start, was 20-for-32 for 234 yards and 1 TD and was sacked four times. The Bulldogs finished with 296 yards of offense on 61 plays. In the first half, he was sacked thrice with two fumbles, one which was recovered by the Irish at the UGA 13 that led to a TD at the end of the half.

*Georgia entered the 4th quarter trailing 20-10 and then fell behind 23-10 with 13:47 left and turned it over on downs in the red zone.

*Down 20-3 in the 3rd quarter, the Bulldogs went 63 yards in five plays capped by a 32-yard TD catch by Cash Jones (career-long) to cut it to 20-10. 

*At the half, Georgia trailed 13-3 with 152 yards of total offense on 33 plays. Notre Dame came in allowing just 13.8 ppg which ranked 3rd in the FBS. Notre Dame forced two fumbles and turned them into seven points to improve to +18 in Turnover Margin.

*Georgia now has trailed at the half seven times this year (@UK 6-3, @#4 Bama 30-7, vs. Florida 13-6, @#16 Ole Miss 16-7, Ga. Tech 17-0, Texas 6-3, Notre Dame 13-3) and finished 4-3 in those games, beating #2 Texas, Ga. Tech, Florida and Kentucky.

*Georgia’s first possession was five plays for minus 13 yards with a sack and fumble out of bounds. The second drive covered 70 yards on 13 plays and ended with a Trevor Etienne fumble on a 3rd-and-one play at the ND 16 that was recovered by the Irish at the 10. It marked just the fifth time that the Bulldogs have not scored in the Red Zone this season and their fourth turnover there.

*For the seventh time this season, Georgia did not score in the first quarter. The Bulldogs were 5-2 in those games. 

*Georgia’s third drive resulted in a 41-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring and a 3-0 lead with 14:03 left in the first half.

*Junior Trevor Etienne had a team-high 38 yards on 11 carries. With three sacks in the first half, the Bulldogs had just 10 yards on the ground.

*Junior wideout Arian Smith had one catch that covered 67 yards, a career-long for Stockton. Junior Dillon Bell had a team-high six catches for 33 yards.

*Defensive Review: Notre Dame came in third nationally in scoring, averaging 38.8 ppg, and it was held to 13 points and 135 total yards in the 1st half while the 2nd half scoring was a KOR for a TD and a field goal. They finished with 244 yards on 61 plays in their victory.

*The Irish were blanked in the first quarter. Their first drive was three plays for minus nine yards. The second drive was five for 20 yards. Down 3-0 in the 2nd quarter, their third drive covered 49 yards and resulted in a 44-yard field goal with 8:36 left in the first half. With 38 seconds left in the first half, the Irish added a 48-yard field goal.

*Following a sack, forced fumble and recovery at the UGA 13, the Irish turned it into a TD and a 13-3 halftime lead. 

*Senior Smael Mondon, Jr., notched a sack for minus 11 yards, his third of the year and eighth of his career. He had a team-leading nine tackles in the first half while freshman KJ Bolden and sophomores Christen Miller and Raylen Wilson had five each.

*Special Teams Summary: Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied four points on a 41-yard field goal and one PAT. He is now 21-for-23 in FG this year. Also, he handled kickoffs.

*With Ray Guy finalist and All-America punter Brett Thorson sidelined due to injury, true freshman Drew Miller handled the punting for the first time in his career. His first official career punt went for 36 yards as the Irish was flagged twice for running into him. He had four for a 39.8 average. His longest punt of the first half covered 48 yards.

*Notre Dame’s Jayden Harris took the second half kickoff 98 yards for a TD and a 20-3 lead. It marked the first one allowed by Georgia since 2018 when Juanyeh Thomas had a 100-yarder. It was the second longest surrendered by the Bulldogs in a bowl as Texas A&M’s Bob Smith had a 100-yarder on the opening kickoff of the 1950 Presidential Cup.

*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Tate Ratledge, Chaz Chambliss, Dan Jackson, Malaki Starks, and Jalon Walker.

*Notre Dame won the toss and deferred the ball until the second half. Both teams were forced to punt on their opening drive.

*Junior safety Malaki Starks made his team-leading 42nd consecutive start. Also, seniors Xavier Truss (OT) and Nazir Stackhouse (DL) started their 42nd game in their career. Sophomore LT Monroe Freeling made his sixth straight start at LT.