In the inaugural extended college football playoff format, the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish dominated the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers in all phases of the game.

Photo By The Irish Tribune
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish outclassed the No. 10 Indiana Hoosiers in every aspect of the first-ever home college football game.
After exchanging turnovers early in the first quarter, Jeremiyah Love set the tempo with an explosive 98-yard run that Indiana could never recover from.
In the first half, the Irish did a good job integrating the run and pass and were extremely successful on third down, completing at a 71% rate. The Irish had many contributions from their wide receiving room from a Jayden Thomas touchdown catch to Jordan Faison being a reliable option over the middle of the field.
Indiana had success pressuring the Notre Dame front during passing plays and getting penetration on outside run plays. But in the end, Notre Dame finished with 194 rushing yards against the nation's number one rushing defense, yet Love's 98-yard scamper inflates the numbers a bit.
Riley Leonard finished with 201 passing yards, one passing touchdown, and added one on the ground, as well. All the pregame talk was surrounding the use of Leonard's legs, but he rarely had any designed runs. Most of his runs were improvised and led to Notre Dame getting three points before halftime. From the passing perspective, his first throw of the game was intercepted, but it was on a deflected pass. Leonard responded perfectly and led his team to victory.
Defensively, Notre Dame bottled up Indiana in nearly every facet. The Irish run defense was superb, thanks to the linebacker play of Drayk Bowen and Jaylen Sneed, but the star of the show was undeniably Xavier Watts. Watts led the Fighting Irish in tackles (10) and had the game-changing red zone interception that jumpstarted the Fighting Irish.
The key matchup for the Notre Dame defense was pressuring Kurtis Rourke, and the Irish did just that. While not having a plethora of sacks, Rourke never looked comfortable in the pocket and was being rushed all game. He finished 20/33 for 215 yards, but these numbers were inflated due to two garbage time touchdowns. Two players who recorded sacks, Bryce Young and Rylie Mills, both exited the game due to injury, so it is something to monitor as the Irish will be prepping for the Sugar Bowl. Another injury was on the other side of the ball, as guard Rocco Spindler left the game early too.
As for the special teams unit, it was yet again another Marty Biagi masterclass. Mitch Jeter looked as though he completely returned to form, nailing 49 and 33-yarders, before getting his last kick of the night blocked. Notre Dame also had a gadget play in the kick return game as Jayden Harrison set up a reverse to Jordan Faison, and Faison took it for 43 yards. While the Irish ended up not scoring on that drive, Biagi's play was run to perfection.
In total, Notre Dame handled business. They handled the outside noise and put together a complete performance. While it was still far from perfection, it was enough to catapult the Irish past the in-state Hoosiers. The energy was electric and Notre Dame fans did their part in securing the home field advantage. Now, Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame will be gearing up for the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. It is truly an exciting time for this Notre Dame football team.
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