Notre Dame dominates Indiana in College Football Playoff opener to set up Sugar Bowl matchup against Georgia

Indiana was no match for Notre Dame.

The no. 7 Fighting Irish cruised to a 27-17 victory over No. 10 Hoosiers in the opening game of the 12-team College Football Playoff on Friday night. The game was effectively over when Notre Dame’s Jeremiah Love set a school record and set a College Football Playoff record when he ran 98 yards for a TD in the first quarter.

Of course, no one watching knew at the time that Love had finished the game. But as it went on, it became clearer that Love’s run was the prime example of how the night was going to go for Indiana.

Love’s TD gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead and the Fighting Irish led 17-3 at halftime. Indiana’s three points came when the Hoosiers decided to kick a field goal with less than five minutes left in the second quarter after taking a timeout to make the decision. You could understand why Indiana would have chosen to go for it; the difference between 11 and 14 points is still a two-possession game. Had Indiana somehow cut the lead to seven, there might have been a plausible path to a victory.

Instead, Indiana kicked the field goal. Notre Dame answered with a field goal of its own before halftime.

Any chance of an Indiana upset vanished in the third quarter. Notre Dame got the ball first and returned the kickoff past midfield. The Hoosiers were able to quickly force a punt, but went three-and-out when they got the ball back.

Indiana appeared to have stopped Notre Dame on the Irish’s next drive, but James Carpenter was 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 extended their lead to 17 points and three possessions.

It was definitely over from there. And if that wasn’t enough of a clue, Indiana’s decision to punt while trailing by 17 with less than 11 minutes left should have given many neutral observers enough incentive to change the channel before Indiana scored two late touchdowns to make. the end result respectable.

Notre Dame gets Georgia

The win gives the Fighting Irish a matchup against no. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. It will be the fifth Sugar Bowl appearance for Notre Dame and the school’s first since 2007, when Notre Dame lost 41-14 to an LSU team led by JaMarcus Russell. In 1981, Georgia beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to (unofficially) claim a national title.

This Notre Dame team is capable of beating Georgia on the first day of 2025, especially with the questions surrounding the Bulldogs at quarterback. Gunner Stockton looks set to start for the Bulldogs after Carson Beck’s elbow injury in the SEC title game. Beck could miss the entire College Football Playoff.

However, Notre Dame needs to be better on offense than it was Saturday night. Riley Leonard threw an interception on the Irish’s first drive and the running game didn’t do much outside of Love’s 98-yard run. Notre Dame was clearly the better team Friday night, but it would have been a much closer game if not for Love’s big play.

The Irish may also have an injury concern on the defensive line. Rylie Moss hobbled off the field after a sack of Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke when his right leg whipped into a teammate in the second half.

Don’t call Indiana a fraud

Blowouts happen. Especially in the College Football Playoff. Indiana is far from the first team not to have a shot at the postseason. And all of the previous blowouts came in a four-team playoff.

But it’s fair to look at Indiana’s season and consider it lucky. In fact, it is perfectly acceptable and quite accurate.

After years of being in the same Big Ten division as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the Hoosiers didn’t get the Nittany Lions on their schedule in 2024. Instead, they got Washington, the team that lost to Michigan in the national title game by nearly a years ago.

Yes, both Michigan and Washington were far worse than they were in 2023 thanks to player departures and coaching changes. But that’s not Indiana’s fault. The Hoosiers beat them both as well as everyone else on their regular season schedule outside of Ohio State. That game didn’t go well. The Buckeyes won, 38-15.

Ohio State overwhelmed Indiana’s offensive line in that game, and the mismatch was clear again Friday as Notre Dame was by far the better team against Indiana’s offensive line. The Hoosiers were one of the highest scoring teams in the country, but it’s clear from their games against Ohio State and Notre Dame that they ranked in college football above most teams but below the best.

It’s okay. Not every team that makes the 12-team playoff will be great, and there are countless teams throughout college football history that have delivered double-digit win seasons thanks to fortunate schedules. And at 11-1 in the Big Ten, Indiana deserved more than a chance to play for the national title. Unlike a certain team in the SEC, it didn’t have two regular season losses to a .500 team.