Notre Dame and Indiana Hoosiers faced off on December 20th to advance to the next round of the CFP Playoff and the Fighting Irish came out on top 27-17.
The Irish came into this game 12-1 in their respective conference, and the Hoosiers came in 11-1. Notre Dame was favored in this match, and they came and showed why they were the ones that were picked to win. The Hoosiers didn’t play their best ball; they weren’t playing to what they are capable of, and that’s key why they lost in the first round. It was a great team effort to show why the Irish want to stay in the playoff.
Head Coach Marcus Freeman explains the statement that was needed for the team to win.
“It’s all about trying to get another week and we did enough to get the victory. Iit wasn’t easy and that’s a good football team we played that didn’t quit until the end of the game, so I have a lot of respect for them,” said Coach Freeman.
The game started out with the Notre Dame score in the first quarter after a big 98 yard run from Sophomore running back Jeremiah Love and a kick from Mitch Jeter was good. A Lot of noise was made into the second quarter after another touchdown from Jayden Thomas and a field goal to cap off the Irish score. Then Redshirt Freshman Kicker from Indiana made a 34 yard field goal to stop the shutout. To close out the half, Notre Dame made a field goal to go up 17-3 to end it out. Indiana wanted to come out with a fire in their eyes to come out into the 3rd quarter to get back in the game.
Quarterback Riley Leonard is hyped about what it feels like to get their first CFP Win at home in school history.
“It’s a full circle moment for me and for these guys. I’m so proud of them and all the adversity that we’ve faced throughout the year, just you know living one game at a time and to be where we are now it’s something special,” said Leonard.
Coming out of the half, Notre Dame wanted to score another but the 3rd quarter was quiet. With 4 minutes remaining, Notre Dame went up with another field goal. Then a big 4th quarter was needed from the Hoosiers, but it isn’t how they wanted it. Notre Dame’s Quarterback Riley Leonard scrambled for a one yard touchdown and made the field goal to make it 27-3. Indiana wanted to put up a fight, Indiana Quarterback threw a seven yard pass to Miles Price, but attempted a 2-point conversion and came up short. Now it is 11-27. With little to no time, Indiana put another score on the board from a pass to Omar Cooper Jr. to make the deficit down to 10. But the Fighting Irish came out victorious.
Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti is mourning this loss.
“Well all good things come to an end and when you’re my age, you’ve seen it all and you got a lot of guys hurting in there but it’s part of life is learning how to deal with disappointment the proper way and coming back a stronger person,” said Coach Cignetti.
