Notre Dame is locked and loaded, looking to build momentum after a convincing first round performance. We take a look at how they stack up in the film room against an SEC powerhouse.

Photo by The Irish Tribune
After a stellar first round performance against Indiana, the Fighting Irish have solidified their belonging in the first ever twelve team playoff. Leading up to their Friday night game vs IU, the talk was about each team's perceived strength of schedule, and who may end up getting exposed. Those questions were quickly answered on the field, as Notre Dame controlled the game from start to finish. The final score did not reflect just how dominating ND was due to some garbage time scoring (which we will revisit later in this article), but it did put the rest of the country on notice that this is a team with as good of shot as any to be the last one standing. The high of such a victory, unfortunately, did not come without some bumps and bruises. More injuries on the defensive side of the ball to players like Bryce Young and Rylie Mills, the latter of which is now done for the season, raises the concern of how long Notre Dame can lean on their depth before it becomes too much to overcome. With a team like the Georgia Bulldogs waiting on deck, we will get an answer to that question sooner than later.
Georgia won the SEC Championship after defeating Texas for the second time this season, and yet outside of Athens, there is a sense that this is not the "same old Georgia". After losing to Alabama and Ole Miss, and narrowly getting by teams like Kentucky and Georgia Tech, for the first time in recent memory, Georgia is not the run away favorite. Add in the fact they will now be without their starting quarterback Carson Beck for the duration of these playoffs, and it almost seems trendy for people to pick against Georgia, which has been unheard of over the last few seasons. UGA Head Coach Kirby Smart is a master motivator, and even as his teams were winning back to back National Championships, would lead you to believe they were the underdogs, and no one thought they had a shot. I imagine now that there may finally be some legitimate doubt over what they could accomplish this season, the bulletin board material is endless, and with a roster full of 5-stars that have a chip on their shoulder, in reality they are just as dangerous as ever.
Notre Dame will be facing Georgia for just the fourth time in school history, and the last two meetings, 2017 and 2019, were decided by a total of only 7 points combined. This time around should be just as competitive, as both teams are as talented as ever with all of their goals still ahead of them. After breaking down the film from some of Georgia's biggest games this year, these are some things to look for in the 2025 Sugar Bowl.
When Notre Dame is on Offense:
Georgia is a base 3-4 defense that utilizes a reduced front, meaning the linemen squeeze down making it hard to run inside. Their nose tackle, Nazir Stackhouse, stands at 6'3" and 320 pounds and is hard to move off his spot. This a game to test Georgia's ability to set the edge, as they have had their struggles in that department all year. Alabama found some success using a "pull and pin" blocking scheme, to spring some outside runs which helped them build a big lead in that game. Edge Chaz Chambliss is one of their better pass rushers, but can be moved in the run game. Notre Dame would benefit from running to his side rather than away from him and allowing him to use his speed to shut down plays from the backside.
When breaking down their game vs Georgia Tech, I couldn't help but recognize the similarities between Georgia Tech's QB Haynes King and Notre Dame's very own Riley Leonard. King was able to grind out over 100 yards on the ground, and I think for Notre Dame to be successful in this game, Leonard will have to do something similar. The linebackers for Georgia sometimes struggle with eye discipline against the option, and overcommit to the to running back leaving lanes for the QB to pull it and go. They were also gashed for a ton of big plays by Jalen Milroe when they played Alabama, although Milroe presents a different type of threat as a runner.
This would be a game for Mike Denbrock, who does have some experience facing Georgia from his time at LSU, to install a lot of pre snap motion and "window dressing". As mentioned above, the linebackers for UGA do let their eyes get caught in the backfield, and even being a half a step late to filling their gap against someone like Jeremiyah Love could lead to some big plays.
Where Indiana was a heavy zone coverage team, Georgia is much more balanced mixing in a lot of man. They are hard to beat on the perimeter even when their corners are one on one, but where they can be had is in the short to intermediate passing game. Mixing in some crossing routes to create natural rubs is perfect against man, and because they do trust their linebackers to play coverage, this is a game to get Love involved in the passing game, as I do not think they would be able to cover him one on one.
Georgia will run a lot of "cross-dog blitzes", which just means they will send both inside linebackers at once to create a numbers mismatch for the offensive line. When they do this, the middle of the field becomes a soft spot for the defense, and I truly believe Jordan Faison can have a huge game finding the empty area at the second level and just sitting down. In 3rd and passing situations, Love/Price/Williams will need to key the blitzers and do a good job in pass protection, because if they do, the middle of the field will open up for quick throws.
Players to Watch
No. 11 Jalon Walker - Walker may be Georgia's best pass rusher. He has a good jab step and routinely beats linemen inside with a rip move. Whoever he lines up against must do a good job of not over setting on their kick step. If they get too much depth too quickly, Walker will be able to get inside of them and into the face of Riley Leonard, and that's when disaster could happen.
No. 3 CJ Allen - The Georgia linebacker is a big time hitter when coming downhill, and they like to use him as a blitzer as well. Will lose eye discipline occasionally looking to make a big play, and Notre Dame's best bet is trying to keep him off balance. When he is able to key plays and react fast, he lives in the backfield of the offense. Denbrock must give him extra things to think about pre snap.
When Notre Dame is on Defense:
There is no way around the fact that Rylie Mills being out for this game hurts the Irish. Georgia likes to mix in some "Duo" run blocking concepts. In this situation, the left guard and center will block one interior DT, the right guard and right tackle will block the other, and a tight end will seal the edge defender one on one. When a team runs this, a defensive tackle must be able to hold the point of attack vs the double team, and Mills was more than capable of that. Whoever Notre Dame decides to run out there in his stead will need to play with good leverage and keep lane integrity, or risk the defense getting gashed up the middle.
This will be a tough matchup for Notre Dame's linebackers. Georgia runs a lot of 12 personnel on offense, meaning one running back and two tight ends. Both tight ends are good blockers and legitimate threats in the passing game. Out of this formation, they are pretty balanced with what they call, so the linebacking corps for the Fighting Irish needs to not be drawn in too quickly on play-action while still being able to key on the run and get downhill fast enough to beat second level blockers to their spot. Georgia Center, Jared WIlson, does an excellent job getting up on LB's quickly.
Georgia's O-line is better in pass protection than they are getting a consistent push in the run game. In obvious passing downs, Notre Dame may need to bring a little extra heat to be able to get home. Gunner Stockton is liable to make some questionable decisions when under duress, so the ability to bring pressure will play a big factor in how this game goes.
Throughout the course of the year, UGA's receivers have struggled with drops and contested catches. The defensive backs for Notre Dame really shined against Indiana, and if they can stay in phase and be physical against Georgia's WR's, the advantage goes to Notre Dame the same way Georgia's DB's probably have the upper hand against Notre Dame's receivers on the perimeter. This does not mean Georgia does not have talent on the outside. Arian Smith is an absolute burner, and if he gets a step, he is most likely gone. If ND is going to press or be physical at the line it better be with caution, as missing on a jam against a WR like Smith will spell trouble. Senior wide receiver Dominic Lovett is also a big threat after the catch. Good at making people miss in space and can quickly turn a short gain into a big play. Colbie Young may be their best all around WR, but he is dealing with a personal issue and although it has not been officially announced whether or not he will play in the Sugar Bowl, based off Kirby Smart's stance when the incident initially took place, he is most likely not going to play.
Quarterback Carson Beck went down in the second half of the SEC Championship and was replaced by Gunner Stockton. There is not a plethora of film on Stockton, but UGA's offense did change to an extent when he came in. He is not the natural thrower Beck is, and has a much longer wind up and slower release. He is, however, a more fluid runner and they called his number multiple times on designed QB runs. Notre Dame faced Kurtis Rourke in round 1, who is much more of a pure pocket passer. Stockton on the other hand, has no problem looking to leave the pocket and throw on the move or take off when things break down. Notre Dame will need to be disciplined in this area as they haven't played many true dual threat QBs this season.
Players to Watch
No. 11 Arian Smith - As discussed above, Smith is your prototypical vertical threat. He has track speed on the outside, and it may be beneficial to keep a safety over the top more times than not. He has burned some really good secondary's over the course of the year, and averages over 16 yards a catch. Not as effective when trying to catch the ball in traffic, but if he gets some space he is a game changer.
No. 32 Cash Jones - Travis Etienne Nate Frazier get most of the fanfare when it comes to the running back room for Georgia, but Jones is just as dangerous. Primarily used on third down, Jones is an excellent receiving back out of the backfield, and Notre Dame must keep eyes on him as a lot of times he will stay in and block and then release late. Jones was their leading receiver against Georgia Tech, and caught a key touchdown which fueled that comeback victory.
Additional Thoughts and Notes
Georgia had to play from behind multiple times this year, and a lot of that was attributed to the type of year Carson Beck was having before he got hurt. Coming into the season, many viewed him as a first round NFL type talent, but before his injury, he was struggling with accuracy and taking care of the ball. Still, when UGA had their furious comeback attempt against Alabama, it was due to the arm of Carson Beck. When Georgia needed to erase a 17-point deficit vs Georgia Tech, Beck once again led the way. They have played from behind at various points this season, and I just don't know if they would be able to live like that during these playoffs with Gunner Stockton under center. If Notre Dame can find a way to build a lead, I think it would be a much tougher ask this time around for Georgia to put points on the board in bunches and in a hurry. If Notre Dame finds themselves in that position, they can not let their foot off the gas like they did in the waning minutes vs Indiana, which gave the box score a much different look than how the game actually played out.
I still worry about the kicking game for ND. Yes, Mitch Jeter was able to knock through two field goals which was great to see, but both those kicks came with a lead in low pressure points in the game. He also had a third kick blocked, which seemed to have a way lower trajectory than needed considering the distance of the attempt. Kicking is sometimes viewed as being outside the main parts of the game, but the deeper in the playoffs we go, the more talented the teams Notre Dame will face, and the tighter the point margins become. These kicks will be more and more crucial going forward, and I hope he can get back to his South Carolina form where he was 23-25 of FGA's in two seasons.
Test number one for the Fighting Irish in these 2024 College Football Playoffs was passed with flying colors. Test number two, a much tougher test, awaits them in New Orleans on January 1st. Notre Dame did not get here by accident, and this is a chance to show the world exactly why they belong on the big stage.

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