NOTRE DAME, Ind. (WSBT) -- How sweet it is to be advancing to the Sugar Bowl.
Notre Dame accomplished a first in its storied history, winning the program's first college football playoff inside Notre Dame Stadium, 27-17 over Indiana.
The night was defined in the trenches.
The offensive and defensive lines set the tone and commanded the running game against IU's No. 1 rush defense.
It was highlighted by the 98-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love who still eclipsed 100 yards rushing despite battling a knee injury and illness.
"I think this is special for us," Quarterback Riley Leonard said. "Me being a guy who, my freshman year I went 3-9 and was just begging to make a bowl game, to be playing in a Sugar Bowl right now, it's really cool. But at the same time, it's another football game and we're just staying alive. We're just trying to play as many games as we can because we love the game, we love preparing for it and we love representing this university."
Defensively, outside of IU's two final drives in which they gained 126 of its 278 yards, (which was also by design per defensive coordinator Al Golden to not show Notre Dame's next opponent, Georgia too much on tape), they suffocated the nation's second best-scoring offense to build further belief into the CFP quarterfinal after its 12th win of the season.
"More importantly it's going to be elevating, getting better. You're going to have I don't know how many days, January 1st," Head Coach Marcus Freeman said. So that's crucial because it's not a normal game week. We have to find ways to elevate and improve during that week. I told these guys when we got ready for this game, I said, there has to be a consistency into the way we prepare, the way we prepare for a game. We know it's a big game, but with that consistency, how do we do it a little bit better. Every week, how do we do it a little bit better. To get 13 [wins], we're going to be a little bit better, and we're going to have to find a way to prepare in a way that makes this team better."
The Irish now go into New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl against No. 2 Georgia who will be without QB Carson Beck with an elbow injury.
The Bulldogs will turn to freshman Gunnar Stockton to face the Notre Dame defense on New Year's Day.