#12 Notre Dame Beats Georgia Tech In Rugged Match-Up
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ATLANTA — Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech 31-13 on Saturday in what was their first game on the road in over a month. While the scoring line may seem dominant, it was a game in which the Fighting Irish quite literally had to fight for every point they scored.
It can’t be reiterated enough how important each game that remains is on the schedule as the margin for error for Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes remains incredibly thin.
The Yellow Jackets, who were 5-2 for the first time since 2014 heading into the match-up, proved as good as advertised from the opening kick making it quite challenging for Riley Leonard and the Irish offense to generate any sort of rhythm through the first five minutes of the 1st quarter.
Georgia Tech would strike first taking advantage of an interception thrown by Leonard on a deep pass. It was an interception that, quite frankly, was the fault of Beaux Collins who appears to let up on the route he was running. GT defensive back William Burnell made a nifty one-handed grab of the ball setting up what would end up being a 13-play, 71-yard drive capped off by a fumble and recovery by Georgia Tech running back Jamal Haynes.
Just like they were a week prior against Stanford, Notre Dame found themselves having to climb out of an early hole. Climb they did off the sure-footedness of Jereimyah Love and Jadarian Price.
Using both backs, along with a solid passing performance from Leonard, Notre Dame marched right down the field 14 plays, 75 yards on their subsequent possession to knot the score up 7-7.
Heady defense and more aggression on offense kept the Yellow Jackets from responding as the Irish punched it in again with Leonard doing the honors on the ground himself, taking a 14-7 lead to the half.
The Georgia Tech offense struggled in the third quarter with their first four drives ending with punts, a blocked field goal, and Xavier Watts gathering his 10th interception of the season.
“We knew going into this game we would have to steal some possessions,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. “Because (Georgia Tech) does a really good job with time of possession. We did that.”
The shortcomings on offense from the Yellow Jackets were the gain of the Irish as Jeremiyah Love scored his only touchdown of the ballgame set up by masterful passing from Leonard. He would finish the day with 203 yards through the air despite that lone pick in the 1st quarter.
The lead would swell for the Irish in the fourth quarter, but not before the Irish flinched off a missed 46-yard field goal from kicker Zac Yoakam. That would be negated on the very next play as Georgia Tech quarterback Zach Pyron’s pass was picked off by Adon Shuler and taken 36 yards to the house for a ‘pick six’ and the last puff of smoke in the bee hive for the Yellow Jackets.
“We have a lot of confidence in those guys (Shuler and Watts),” Freeman said. “We are confident in the guys that we put on the field. They’ve stepped up in a big way for us.”
The Irish gave up a touchdown late in despite the game being out of reach at that point.
The 12th-ranked Irish will have a tough test when they face #25 Navy at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the coming week. Navy will be the first ranked opponent the Irish will face since beating #15 Louisville in late September. Navy trounced Charlotte 51-17 on Saturday and is 6-0 for the first time since 1978.
The tests will keep coming for Notre Dame as we move into the second half of the season and I needn’t tell you again how imperative it is that the Irish keep winning from here on out.
