Georgia football opens as an underdog to Notre Dame in the CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinals

ATHENS – Georgia has opened as a 1 1/2 point underdog to Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinal Sugar Bowl per oddsmaker FanDuel.

It’s just the third time in the past 57 games that the Bulldogs have been an underdog — but the second game in a row since Texas was favored to beat UGA in the SEC title game earlier this month.

The no. 7-seeded Irish (12-1) beat no. 10-seed Indiana (11-2) 27-17 Friday night in South Bend, Ind., to extend their season.

RELATED: Notre Dame overpowers Indiana, what Kirby Smart said about prep

Notre Dame held a commanding 27-3 lead when quarterback Riley Leonard scored on a 1-yard run with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left before the Hoosiers scored two touchdowns in the final 1:27 to make the score more respectable.

Notre Dame outgained Indiana 394 yards to 278 and rushed for 193 yards against a Hoosiers unit that previously led the nation in rush defense (76.2 yards per game entering the CFP).

It was the 11th straight win for the Irish, who suffered a stunning 16-14 home loss to Mid-American Conference team Northern Illinois in the second week of the season.

That momentum — combined with an elbow injury that has sidelined Carson Beck — has oddsmakers giving Notre Dame the early edge.

Georgia holds a 3-0 series lead over Notre Dame, with Kirby Smart’s 2017 UGA team prevailing 20-19 in South Bend before the 2019 Bulldogs won a 23-17 home game.

The SEC champion Bulldogs (11-2), the No. 2, have won four in a row since suffering their most recent loss, a 28-10 setback at the time. 16 Ole Miss. UGA’s second loss came on the road at Alabama, 41-34, on Sept. 28.

Georgia’s last two wins have been in overtime: a 44-42, eight-OT home win over Georgia Tech and a 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the SEC Championship Game

“Georgia, they keep winning, but it feels uncomfortable when you watch them do it,” ESPN commentator Sean McDonough said.

“They keep finding a way to win, but it always feels like they’re on the ropes,” the veteran play-by-play man said. “We saw a Georgia Tech team that is good, not as good as Notre Dame, who really should have beaten Georgia at the end of the year.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Notre Dame beats them.”

Greg McElroy, who provided analysis for the Irish’s win over the Hoosiers, put UGA’s current status in perspective.

“I think this Georgia team has some resiliency that we haven’t necessarily seen at times before from Georgia because they’ve been so dominant,” McElroy said. “I think they are callous and ready to play their best football.

“But I also think this is a team whose identity will look different without Carson Beck.”

Indeed, backup quarterback Gunner Stockton is not the thrower Beck is, but he brings enough mobility to the position to pose a threat.

The Bulldogs have been hard at work practicing and “working on themselves,” according to Smart, and can now turn their attention to this version of Notre Dame.

Georgia’s most recent wins over the Irish came with current LSU coach Brian Kelly on the Notre Dame sideline, but Smart has previously gone up against current Irish head coach Marcus Freeman.

Freeman was the defensive coordinator for a previously undefeated Cincinnati team that Georgia beat in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, 24-21.

The Bulldogs trailed the Bearcats 21-10 entering the fourth quarter before JT Daniels rallied Georgia to victory to end the Covid-shortened 2020 season with a Top 10 victory.

Kicker Jack Podlesny made a 53-yard field goal with 3 seconds left to give UGA a 22-21 lead before Azeez Ojulari sacked Desmond Ridder on the game’s final play for a safety.

Much has changed in college football since then, as the winner of the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl (8:45 p.m., ABC) advances to the 12-team playoff to play in the Orange Bowl at 19.30 on 9 January. in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The second Orange Bowl team comes from a pod that features the Fiesta Bowl winner between No. 4 seed Boise State and the winner of the first-round game with SMU at Penn State (noon Saturday, TNT).