Notre Dame shuts down Georgia to reach CFP semifinals - ESPN

NEW ORLEANS — Riley Leonard passed for a touchdown, Jayden Harrison returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score and Notre Dame's defense made it hold up in a 23-10 victory over No. 2 Georgia in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday that sends the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish into the CFP semifinals.

In a game that was delayed by a day because of a deadly terror attack in the host city, Notre Dame (13-1) made enough big plays and got some help from a clever move by coach Marcus Freeman.

«Our coaches called the game aggressive. Our players executed, put everything on the line for this university and this football team,» Freeman said. «I'm really proud of them. Proud of the way they handled the events of the last 24 hours.»

Georgia (11-2) was in position to close within one score when Notre Dame stopped it on fourth-and-5 from the Irish 9-yard line with 9:29 to go.

Minutes later, Notre Dame had a fourth-and-short deep in its own territory when Freeman sent the punt team out before running all 11 players off the field and sending the offense out. Georgia raced to match up and then jumped offside as the play clock ticked down, giving the Irish a clock-sapping first down with 7:17 left.

«They were going to hard-count us. We prepare for that. We do it every week,» Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. «We jumped offsides.»

By the time the Bulldogs got the ball back, just 1:49 remained, and Notre Dame was well on its way to playing No. 5 Penn State (13-2, CFP No. 6 seed) in a semifinal at the Orange Bowl in Miami on Jan. 9.

«That's the aggressiveness in terms of our preparation that I want our program to have,» Freeman said. «That's got to be one of our edges, that we are going to be an aggressive