The Notre Dame Fighting Irish dominated the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets as they cruised to a 31-13 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. With starting quarterback Haynes King out with an upper-body injury and Zach Pyron having to start, Tech knew they had to win this game on the ground. Coming off a 371-yard rushing performance against North Carolina, Georgia Tech needed just halfway to replicate that if they wanted to defeat the nation’s #12 ranked team.
In their only loss this season, Notre Dame allowed Northern Illinois to rush for 190 yards. Unfortunately for the Jackets, that was not even close to what happened. Tech rushed 29 times for only a total of 64 yards.
“[The rushing attack] wasn’t there…” Coach Brent Key said. “We weren’t able to establish the line of scrimmage and get positive plays.”
Notre Dame seemed to have the same idea of beating Tech. Coming into the game, NCAA had Georgia Tech as the 23rd-ranked run defense in the nation. Notre Dame must have taken that as a challenge as they ran all over Tech. They ran the ball 39 times for 168 yards.
Georgia Tech’s defense played its most sloppy game of the season. Notre Dame dominated on the ground so well because of a ton of missed tackles in the second and third levels.
“We were tentative, very tentative…” Key said. “We got to go take our shots. We got to be aggressive.”
The game could not have started much better for the Jacket’s defense as they attempted to set the tone early by forcing The Irish to a three and out. Georgia Tech failed to take advantage with their first drive, as they only gained one first down before being forced to punt. Something to note is that the referees missed a roughing the kicker penalty that would have given the Jackets another first down.
Notre Dame punched Tech in the gut with a nice 19-yard run by Jadarian Price to start their second drive.
However, Tech’s defense ate that punch and got them to a fourth down. Notre Dame went for it and picked up that fourth down with a nice run from their dual-threat quarterback, Riley Leonard. The Fighting Irish got greedy and took a shot at the endzone, where Georgia Tech’s corner, Warren Burrell, made an incredible play to intercept the ball and turn the momentum back in Tech’s favor. Zach Pyron ran the offense and marched downfield, ending the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jamal Haynes right as the first quarter ended.
Notre Dame didn’t like Georgia Tech moving the ball the way they did, so they wanted to keep the ball away from them for as long as possible. The Irish started the second quarter with a long eight-minute drive, ending with a touchdown to tie the game. Riley threw the ball short to his receivers, making Tech’s defense look foolish. Just about every play, Tech would miss a tackle and allow Notre Dame to pick up an extra six or seven yards.
Being off the field for so long made Tech’s offense cold as they ran three plays and punted the ball right back to Notre Dame.
Riley threw quick, short passes like their previous drive, and Tech missed their tackles. They marched downfield again, and Riley ran in a 12-yard touchdown to give the Fighting Irish a 14-7 lead.
Georgia Tech had time to regain their confidence and try scoring at least a field goal before halftime. Pyron used his legs to get the drive going before making a 25-yard completion to a wide-open Avery Boyd. In field goal range, Pyron took a shot into the endzone and was very lucky it wasn’t intercepted. Georgia Tech settles for the field goal; however, a high snap causes the holder to pick up the ball and run. Notre Dame tackled him, keeping the score at 14-7 heading into halftime.
Zach Pyron threw the ball well in the first half against an elite Notre Dame secondary. Their defense was the primary concern heading into the second half.
Georgia Tech started the second half with the ball and a chance to get back into the game by tying it up. In the first play, Pyron nearly threw an interception, which must’ve shaken up the players because that led to another three and out for the Jackets. With this game probably having playoff implications down the road, Notre Dame came out firing their first play of the half with a bullet to Jaden Greathouse for 28 yards. The Irish offense was just too much for the Jackets as Notre Dame rushed for another touchdown, this one from Jeremiyah Love, to go up 21-7.
With Notre Dame going 60 yards on just six plays, all the energy was sucked out of Mercedes Benz Stadium. After another failed drive, all hope seemed lost for Georgia Tech. A glimmer of hope reappeared as Tech’s defense stood strong at midfield on a third down. They finally got
pressure on Riley and forced them to punt the ball. The tide seemed to shift for the Jackets after a first down pass went for 60 yards to Eric Singleton.
The Jackets had life once again.
Any score would’ve felt incredible for Tech. That opportunity presented itself with a field goal try. Notre Dame would dig down and get their third blocked field goal of the year. The score remained 21-7. Georgia Tech could not catch a break.
To begin the fourth quarter, Tech’s defense got a big fourth down stop to get the ball back. Once again, the momentum shifted slightly towards the Yellowjackets, but Pyron King made a brutal mistake and gave Xavier Watts one of his easiest interceptions all year.
Just when Tech thought they forced another three and out, Notre Dame pulled out some trickery with a fake punt that converted the first down. Zac Yoakam would end their drive by nailing a 42-yard field goal to extend their lead to 24-7.
Tech’s offense is nowhere to be found as they pick up one first down on their next drive but fail to pick up another on a fourth down. Notre Dame, obviously trying to run the score up to look better for the playoff committee, set up for another field goal and faked that just like they faked the punt and picked up the first down. Their attempt to run up the score failed as they were held to another field goal that Yoakam missed.
On the first play of Tech’s drive, Pyron threw a pick-six to worsen the pain for Georgia Tech fans. On their final drive, Tech finally put together some nice plays and scored
another touchdown. However, it was too late for any miracle comeback. Notre Dame would run the clock out and take the victory, 31-13.
No one expected Georgia Tech to beat #12 ranked Notre Dame, especially with Haynes King being out. This is not a loss to feel down about. There are some key issues on defense they need to work out as they try to get their Bowl game-clinching sixth win next Saturday at Virginia Tech.
Photo: Compliments of Georgia Tech Sports
