Indiana was no match for Notre Dame.
The No. 7 Fighting Irish cruised to a 27-17 win over the No. 10 Hoosiers within the inaugural sport of the 12-team College Football Playoff on Friday evening. The sport was successfully over when Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love tied a faculty file and set a College Football Playoff record when he ran 98 yards for a TD within the first quarter.
In fact, no person watching knew on the time that Love had ended the sport. However because it went on, it grew to become clearer that Love’s run was the good instance of how the evening was going to go for Indiana.
Love’s TD gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead and the Preventing Irish led 17-3 at halftime. Indiana’s three factors got here when the Hoosiers determined to kick a area objective with lower than 5 minutes to go within the second quarter after spending a timeout to make the choice. You would perceive why Indiana would have chosen to go for it; the distinction between 11 and 14 factors continues to be a two-possession sport. Had Indiana by some means lower the result in seven, there might need been a believable path to a win.
As an alternative, Indiana kicked the sphere objective. Notre Dame responded with a area objective of its personal earlier than halftime.
Any likelihood of an Indiana upset disappeared within the third quarter. Notre Dame bought the ball first and returned the kickoff previous midfield. The Hoosiers had been in a position to shortly drive a punt, however went three-and-out as soon as they bought the ball again.
Indiana appeared to have Notre Dame stopped on the Irish’s subsequent drive, however James Carpenter bought flagged for hitting Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard as Leonard went out of bounds. The third-down penalty gave Notre Dame a free first down and the Irish prolonged their result in 17 factors and three possessions.
It was undoubtedly over from there. And if that wasn’t sufficient of a clue, Indiana’s resolution to punt the ball whereas trailing by 17 with lower than 11 minutes to go ought to have given many impartial observers sufficient of an incentive to vary the channel earlier than Indiana bought two late touchdowns to make the ultimate scoreline respectable.
The win provides the Preventing Irish a matchup in opposition to No. 2 Georgia within the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. It’ll be the fifth Sugar Bowl look for Notre Dame and the varsity’s first since 2007, when Notre Dame misplaced 41-14 to an LSU crew led by JaMarcus Russell. In 1981, Georgia beat Notre Dame within the Sugar Bowl to (unofficially) declare a nationwide title.
This Notre Dame crew is able to beating Georgia on the primary day of 2025, particularly with the questions surrounding the Bulldogs at quarterback. Gunner Stockton seems set to start out for the Bulldogs after Carson Beck’s elbow damage within the SEC title sport. Beck could miss the entirety of the College Football Playoff.
Nevertheless, Notre Dame will should be higher on offense than it was on Saturday evening. Riley Leonard threw an interception on the Irish’s first drive and the run sport didn’t do a lot outdoors of Love’s 98-yard run. Notre Dame was clearly the higher crew on Friday evening, however it will have been a a lot nearer sport if not for Love’s massive play.
The Irish may even have an damage concern on the line of defense. Rylie Moss limped off the sphere following a sack of Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke when his proper leg whipped right into a teammate within the second half.
Don’t name Indiana a fraud
Blowouts occur. Particularly within the School Soccer Playoff. Indiana is way from the primary crew to not have an opportunity within the postseason. And the entire earlier blowouts got here in a four-team playoff.
However it’s honest to take a look at Indiana’s season and think about it lucky. The truth is, it’s completely acceptable and fairly correct.
After years of being in the identical Massive Ten division as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the Hoosiers didn’t get the Nittany Lions on their schedule in 2024. In change, they bought Washington, the crew that misplaced to Michigan within the nationwide title sport practically a 12 months in the past.
Sure, each Michigan and Washington had been far worse than they had been in 2023 because of participant departures and training adjustments. However that’s not Indiana’s fault. The Hoosiers beat each of them in addition to everybody else on their common season schedule outdoors of Ohio State. That sport didn’t go nicely. The Buckeyes received, 38-15.
Ohio State overwhelmed Indiana’s offensive line in that sport and the mismatch was clear once more on Friday as Notre Dame was by far the higher crew in opposition to Indiana’s offensive line. The Hoosiers had been one of many highest-scoring groups within the nation, however it’s clear from its video games in opposition to Ohio State and Notre Dame that they occupied an area in faculty soccer above most groups however under the most effective.
That’s OK. Not each crew that makes the 12-team playoff goes to be nice and there are myriad groups all through the historical past of school soccer who posted double-digit win seasons because of lucky schedules. And at 11-1 within the Massive Ten, Indiana greater than deserved an opportunity to play for the nationwide title. Not like a sure crew within the SEC, it didn’t have two regular-season losses to .500 groups.
