SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With the pregame temps hovering in the 20s, Notre Dame’s wide receiver corps “warmed up” without shirts.
It may have been one of the biggest splashes on offense for either team Friday night in the debut of the 12-team College Football Playoff at Notre Dame Stadium — with a few notable exceptions.
No, in a matchup between the Nos. 2 and 3 scoring teams in the FBS, Friday night belonged to the defenses. Especially the one coordinator Al Golden orchestrates for 7 seed Notre Dame, which rolled into a Jan. 1 quarterfinal matchup with 2 seed Georgia by virtue of its 27-17 smothering, then quasi-survival of 10 seed Indiana.
The Hoosiers got some late offensive pyrotechnics, thanks in part to a successful onside kick.
The Irish (12-1) roll into the Sugar Bowl with the nation’s second-longest active win streak (11) for a 8:45 p.m. EST matchup with the Bulldogs (11-2). IU (11-2) heads home with the most successful season in its history.
It’s Inside ND Sports’ custom to hand out two game balls. Golden gets a virtual one for his game plan. Here’s who gets the actual ones:
Defense: Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts
Watts missed repeating as a unanimous All-American by a single team — the FWAA made him a second-team selection among the five organizations that count toward unanimous and consensus honors.
He made that slight look a little silly on Friday night.
Watts stopped an early Hoosier offensive threat with his sixth interception of the season, picking off the nation’s leader in pass efficiency, Kurtis Rourke, at the ND 2-yard line. He also had a team-best 10 tackles.
Offense: Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love
It was the nation’s No. 1 rush defense against Love and the nation’s No,. 10 run offense, And Love pierced the veil of invincibility early with a 98-yard TD run the very next play after Watts’ interception.
The Irish rotated liberally at running back, with Love coming back from a knee injury he sustained in a 49-35 win over USC on Nov. 30 in the regular-season finale. He finished with 108 yards on eight carries and caught two passes for 18 yards.
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
