NEW ORLEANS — The No. 2 Georgia football team’s season came to an end Thursday night in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Facing No. 5 Notre Dame in front of a crowd of 57,267 at the Caesars Superdome, Georgia surrendered big plays at the end of the first half and the start of the second, and couldn’t rally for another come-from-behind win, falling 23-10.
The game, postponed a day following the deadly terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, started slowly, with neither team doing much on offense in a scoreless first quarter. Gunner Stockton, making his first career start at quarterback, completed his first seven passes, helping the Bulldogs (11-3) to an early 3-0 lead, but the Irish scored the final 13 points of the first half.
Stockton, who replaced starter Carson Beck in the second half of the SEC Championship Game after Beck was injured, completed 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown against Notre Dame, but was sacked four times. Including sacks, the Irish defense held the Bulldogs to 62 yards rushing on 29 attempts.
Notre Dame (13-1), which has won 12 straight games, will face No. 6 Penn State in the semifinals in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9. Georgia’s defense held the Irish to 244 yards, while the Bulldog offense gained 296.
Late in the first quarter, Notre Dame made the first big play of the game, at the end of a long Georgia drive. On third-and-1 at the Irish 16, the Irish’s Adon Shuler knocked the ball out of Georgia running back Trevor Etienne’s hands and Notre Dame recovered the fumble at its 10-yard line. Georgia’s defense got a stop after that to keep the game scoreless.
Early in the second quarter, after forcing Notre Dame to punt for the second time, Stockton fired deep up the right side to wideout Arian Smith for a 66-yard gain to the Notre Dame 12. However, Georgia was penalized for a sideline infraction on the play that moved the ball back to the Irish 26.
The Bulldogs eventually had to settle for a 41-yard Peyton Woodring field goal and a 3-0 lead with 12:14 to play in the half. It was the first time the Irish had trailed in a game since October. They didn’t trail for long, tying the game with 8:20 to go in the second on a 44-yard Mitch Jeter field goal.
With 39 seconds left in the half, Jeter connected on a 48-yard field goal to put the Irish ahead 6-3. On Georgia’s first play of the ensuing possession, Stockton was sacked, stripped and Notre Dame recovered the fumble at the UGA 13. The Irish scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Riley Leonard to Beaux Collins on the next play, taking a 13-3 lead into halftime.
It was the seventh time that the Bulldogs had trailed at the half this season, with Georgia rallying to win four of those games. The rally got a lot harder after the opening kickoff of the third quarter.
The Irish took full command of the game when Jayden Harrison returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and a 20-3 lead. Between the end of the first half and the explosive start to the second, the Irish scored 17 points in less than a minute of game action.
Georgia responded in strong fashion, eventually scoring its only touchdown of the game on a 32-yard completion to Cash Jones out of the backfield, cutting the lead to 20-10 with 9:36 left in the third.
The Bulldog defense got the ball back after stopping Leonard short on fourth-and-1 at the 50. The Irish then stopped Georgia short on a fourth-and-2 attempt at the Notre Dame 42. Georgia came in having converted 75% of its fourth-down attempts this season but finished 0-for-3 against the Irish.
Notre Dame added to its lead early in the fourth quarter with a 47-yard field goal, making it 23-10 with 13:47 remaining. Georgia drove inside the Irish 30 on the ensuing possession and caught a break when Notre Dame was flagged for pass interference on a fourth-and-13 attempt. On fourth-and-5 at the 9, however, Stockton’s pass toward tight end Lawson Luckie fell incomplete with 9:25 to play.
Notre Dame chewed up the clock on its next possession, a 13-play drive that lasted more than seven minutes. After the Irish punted, Georgia got the ball back with 1:49 remaining. But the Bulldogs weren’t able to mount a comeback and keep their season alive.
The Bulldogs, the SEC champions for the second time in three years, won double-digit games for the seventh time in coach Kirby Smart‘s nine seasons as head coach. This was also Georgia’s fourth College Football Playoff appearance in the Smart era.
