On Thursday night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish secured a 23-10 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in a thrilling Sugar Bowl matchup. The win propelled Notre Dame to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they will face the Penn State Nittany Lions. While several key moments contributed to the outcome, it was a controversial fourth-down decision in the final quarter that proved to be the turning point of the game.
With Notre Dame facing a critical fourth-and-short deep in their own territory, head coach Marcus Freeman initially called for the punt team. However, he quickly changed his mind, sending the offense back onto the field. In response, Georgia scrambled to get its defense in position, but a Bulldogs defender jumped offsides, giving Notre Dame a crucial first down.
The Irish then drained the clock, leaving Georgia with less than two minutes to respond, trailing 23-10. After the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about the pivotal play and whether he considered calling a timeout. “I didn’t want to because I assumed they were trying to burn one,” Smart explained. “We subbed in and out, and I was told by SEC officials that you can’t do that.”
Smart revealed that Georgia had used a similar strategy in the past, most notably against Tennessee in 2017, but had since been informed it was not allowed. “We’ve practiced it, but we were told we couldn’t do it,” he said. “We got our defense on the field, and I would have gone for it if I were them. We were ready for a hard count, but we jumped offsides.”
“It’s really unfortunate because I’ve been told by our head officials in the SEC you can’t do that… you can’t run 11 on and 11 off.”
Kirby Smart addresses the substitutions made that caused the offside penalty against Georgia late in the game ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/gGivrKbPTM
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With the victory, Notre Dame advances to face Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinals, while Ohio State will take on Texas in the other semifinal matchup.
