Gone in 57 Seconds: Irish Attack Dawgs in Sugar Bowl
57-Second Irish Attack
Georgia and Notre Dame fought an evenly matched first half. It looked like the two teams were headed into halftime tied at three points apiece. In a 57-second time frame spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second half, the Irish went into full attack mode and seized the game from Georgia.
It started with the Irish getting a late field goal in the first half to put them up 6-3 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half. Georgia got the ball on their own 25 and decided to see if they could find some late momentum and catch the Irish off guard. Unfortunately for the Daws, a Gunner Stockton strip-sacked flipped the game on its head when the Irish recovered on the Georgia 13-yard line. On the next play, Riley Leonard found Beaux Collins for the game’s first touchdown, putting the Irish up 13-3 heading into halftime.
Kirby Smart was asked at halftime what his thoughts were on the decision. Smart remarked that they wanted to be aggressive but, in hindsight, regretted the decision. As bad as the turnover was, it didn’t seem fatal. If Georgia had held Notre Dame on the first possession coming out of the half, everything the Dawgs wanted would have been in front of them. Unfortunately, Notre Dame went into attack mode again at the start of the 3rd quarter, taking the opening kickoff to the house.
The 57-second swing took a 3-3 game and put Georiga in a hole 20-3, forcing them to play catchup the rest of the game. As bad as the 57 seconds were, the two turnovers did Georgia in early.
14 Point Swing
Georgia’s second drive of the game looked promising. They were moving the ball on the ground, and Gunner Stockton looked poised in the pocket. The young quarterback got off to a hot start, finishing 6 of 6 on the drive. A Trevor Etienne fumble cost Georgia a shot at an early touchdown and lead. Unlike Stockton’s late turnover in the first half, the Irish would not capitalize on the early fumble. Games are not won or lost on plays in the first half, but those two turnovers proved costly. The Georgia defense played well for most of the game. The Irish had difficulty converting third downs and driving on the Bulldog defense. An early score could have helped give Georgia the necessary breathing room to give their young back success and not feel that he had to be perfect.
Georgia Fails to Capitalize on Irish’s Gifts
After Notre Dame’s kick return for a touchdown, Georgia picked themselves off the mat. The offense again showed some spark and moved the ball against the Irish D. Cash Joness caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to close the gap to 20-10 with just under 10 minutes to play in the third quarter. The two teams would exchange body blows for the rest of the quarter. Georgia failed to capitalize on a few Irish gifts late in the third and early in the fourth quarters.
The Georgia defense twice stopped Notre Dame’s fourth down attempts. First, Georiga knocked a Notre Dame receiver out of bounds, inches short of a first down at the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, Georgia failed to convert its own fourth down on the next drive, giving Notre Dame the ball back at midfield.
An illegal shift by Notre Dame’s Jordan Faison helped Georgia stop another Irish fourth-down attempt. Rather than picking up another first down, the Irish would extend their lead to 23-10 on another field goal. Smart’s comment at the start of the 4th quarter was that Georgia needed to capitalize on their gifts. The defense did a nice job of providing the opportunities, but the offense failed to deliver.
Irish Sneak Attack Seals the Sugar Bowl
Attack mode may have been the Irish’s play call that helped them seal the win. Notre Dame faced 4th down and one from inside their ten-yard line and looked ready to punt. Freeman then pulled out the stops. He pulled his punt unit and put his offense back on the field. Smart matched with his defensive personnel, but unfortunately, two Georgia players proved to be two twitchy, jumping offsides just before the Irish snapped the ball. Freeman and the Irish salted the game away after that. Notre Dame ran nine plays and smiled 5:17 off the clock before finally punting the ball away to Georgia with just over a minute left in the game.
Hats off to Freeman and the Irish. His defense played well all game. He could have punted it away but instead decided to go into full attack mode and seize the game from Georiga. Georgia finishes the season 11-3.
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