Notre Dame football made its return to the College Football Playoff Friday evening under the bright lights of Notre Dame Stadium, welcoming in-state rival Indiana to South Bend for a much-anticipated first round showdown. Under the Golden Dome and in sight of Touchdown Jesus, “The House that Rockne Built” would be the site of the Irish and Hoosiers’ 30th all-time meeting, as well as the first ever on-campus postseason game in college football history.
Tale of the tape
Despite just 200 miles of separation between the two institutions, their respective football programs hold distinctly different histories. While 137 seasons of football in Bloomington have yielded a mere three bowl game victories, two conference championships and one 10-win campaign (this year), the Catholic institution in the northern part of the state has been responsible for revolutionizing and popularizing the college game across the nation. Starting with Knute Rockne in the 1920s, Notre Dame has captured 11 national championships and seven Heisman Trophies, while cultivating the most recognizable brand and largest fanbase in the United States.
Following just three Big Ten wins over the prior three seasons, Indiana hired head coach Curt Cignetti away from James Madison to usher in a new era of Hoosier football. Cignetti “just wins,” and that’s what they have done this year. Outside of a Week 13 defeat to Ohio State in Columbus, Indiana bludgeoned everyone on its schedule as it cruised to an 11-1 regular season.
Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke steered the offense in the regular season with 27 touchdown passes to just four interceptions. The graduate student from Oakville, Canada, earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors following his lone season in Bloomington, after starting 45 games in four seasons for the Bobcats.
The strength of the Indiana defense was the front seven, with no player shining brighter than defensive lineman Mikail Kamara. The redshirt junior who transferred from James Madison ranked 12th nationally with 10 sacks, while earning All-Big Ten Second Team and All-American Third Team honors. The Ashburn, Virginia, native was also a finalist for the Bednarik Award, which goes to the best defensive player nationwide.
2024 marked Marcus Freeman’s third season at the helm in South Bend. Freeman was a standout linebacker at Ohio State prior to rising up the ranks as a defensive assistant before landing the Notre Dame gig at just age 35. Head coaches Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz all won national championships in their third seasons, amplifying the pressure on Freeman to improve upon winning 19 games in his first two years.
The Irish opened their 2024 campaign with a program-defining win over Texas A&M at a hostile Kyle Field, before suffering a shocking home defeat to Northern Illinois just one week later. Instead of folding in the face of adversity, Notre Dame proceeded to play near-flawless football for the final 10 games of the season, culminating in a 49-35 rivalry win at USC to clinch a playoff berth.
Notre Dame has played a tough brand of football all season long, dominating the trenches on both sides of the ball. Star sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love has reached the end zone in all 12 games, while graduate linebacker Jack Kiser and graduate defensive tackle Rylie Mills captained an Irish defense that finished third nationally, which impressively allowed under 14 points a game.
The stars were out in full force Friday, as ESPN’s College Gameday visited campus for the first time this season, hosting a special afternoon show on Library Lawn. 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown presented the colors pregame, while comedian and Irish super fan Shane Gillis was seen in a suite with legendary running back Jerome Bettis.
It was also the first Friday night home game for Notre Dame since Oct. 5, 1900, as well as the first game inside Notre Dame Stadium not broadcast by NBC since the 1990 season. Despite these differences, the Irish still donned their traditional blue and gold threads, even with rumors of a blackout permeating all week long.
How it happened
Seventh-seeded Notre Dame won Big 12 referee David Alvarez’s opening coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half, leading graduate student Eric Goins to kick off into a dark December sky to begin the 2024 College Football Playoff (CFP).
The high-powered offense of 10th-seeded Indiana, which ranked second nationally in points per game, opened from the 25-yard line following Solomon Vanhorse’s fair catch. Despite five opening-drive touchdowns in their 12 regular season contests, the Hoosiers went backwards en route to a three-and-out to begin the game.
The punt from James Evans set the Irish up at their own 41-yard line, where they made their first mistake of the evening. On his second play of scrimmage, senior quarterback Riley Leonard fired a pass that was tipped up by defensive lineman James Carpenter before being easily plucked out of the air by cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. Carpenter, a redshirt senior transfer who followed Cignetti from James Madison, was a finalist for the 2024 Burlsworth Trophy, which is awarded annually to college football’s best player who began their career as a walk-on.
The start of the second Hoosier drive didn’t fare much better, as a third-and-14 had Notre Dame Stadium buzzing before Rourke connected down the left sideline to junior receiver Elijah Sarratt for 28 yards, extending the possession into the red zone. Two-time All-American Xavier Watts then left his imprint on the game, as he intercepted Rourke’s overthrow at the two-yard line, saving Notre Dame from an early deficit. The graduate safety from Omaha, Nebraska, hawked his sixth interception on the season, giving him 13 total over the last two years.
Speaking with the media postgame, Freeman praised his star defender’s leadership. “He communicates, gets guys lined up and takes the ball away. He plays the way that we need him to,” he said.
Love then took matters into his own hands, tying Josh Adams for the longest run in Notre Dame program history, as he rumbled 98 yards to open the scoring, giving Notre Dame the early 7-0 advantage. Junior left guard Billy Schrauth cleared a gaping hole for Love’s 16th touchdown of the season, which was also aided by a key perimeter block from graduate receiver Beaux Collins.
“He wasn’t gonna catch me. I knew I was finna score,” a tired Love, who would finish with 108 yards, said postgame.
“Once he creased the gap, I just headed to the sideline because I knew he was gone,” Leonard added.
Freeman addressed the importance of Love’s big run, assessing, “Coming off the interception on our last drive, that run was huge for the confidence of our entire team.”
Offensive coordinator Al Golden agreed with Freeman. “The line did a nice job executing, wiping out the frontside and walling off the backside. And then there goes 4. You give the guy an inch and he takes a mile. He does something incredible every week.”
The Irish defense forced another punt from Evans, the New Zealand native, which set up a nine-minute, 15-play, 83-yard drive to double the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter. The drive was capped off by a five-yard throw over the middle from Leonard to senior receiver Jayden Thomas. It was the longest scoring drive all year for Notre Dame, topping the eight-minute touchdown drive in the second quarter against Georgia Tech back on Oct. 19.
The two sides traded punts before the crimson and cream attack finally gained some ground on the Irish defense. The backfield tandem of Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton, who united to record over 1,500 rushing yards on the season, each got involved to move Indiana to the 16-yard line of Notre Dame with 3:30 to play in the first half. After initially lining up to go for a fourth down, Cignetti called a timeout and sent out his kicking unit. Nicolas Radicic converted his 10th field goal of the year, cutting the Irish lead to 14-3.
Leonard then masterfully conducted a rapid, no-huddle possession for the Irish, setting up South Carolina graduate transfer kicker Mitch Jeter with a 49-yard try to end the half. Notre Dame’s kicking unit had been successful on just eight of 18 tries throughout the season, worst in the FBS, and Jeter had been battling a hip injury for over a month. Nonetheless, a perfect operation was punctuated by a confident strike from Jeter, and the Irish entered the locker room holding a 17-3 lead.
“To go out and do it from distance in the cold weather gave him and the unit a lot of confidence moving forward,” Freeman said.
A reverse on the kickoff allowed the Irish to begin the second half in plus territory, but a false start penalty doomed the drive and the Irish were forced to punt. The Irish defense remained stout, and the offense utilized the short field to set up a short field goal try for Jeter. But special teams coordinator Marty Biagi had more tricks up his sleeve, bringing out the swinging gate formation, causing Cignetti to burn a timeout immediately before the snap. Jeter then knocked through his second field goal of the evening, extending the Irish lead to three possessions at 20-3.
Jeter would have a third attempt, this time from 37 yards out, blocked early in the fourth quarter, yet Indiana questionably decided to punt the ball away on the succeeding fourth-and-11 despite the three-score deficit with time winding down.
The blue and gold then milked the clock away on the ground with carries from Love and junior running back Jadarian Price, before Leonard launched a beautiful downfield pass, which sophomore receiver Jordan Faison reeled in at the one-yard line for a 44-yard gain. Leonard called his own number on a read option two plays later, slamming the final nail in the Hoosiers' coffin.
Leonard was impressed with the throw, saying sarcastically, “It would have been up there with my best if he could have gotten in the end zone.”
Despite coming up short there, Faison would finish the night with seven catches for 89 yards after dropping his first traget of the night. Speaking with the media postgame, he said, “You can’t let drops affect you because the ball is going to keep coming your way. I was fortunate to make plays late.”
With the Irish dropping off in coverage, Rourke converted multiple third downs, leading the Hoosiers down the field. He found senior receiver Myles Price on a swing route for Indiana’s first touchdown of the night, and after a successful conversion, the score was 27-11.
Indiana would recover the ensuing onside kick, and Rourke connected with Omar Cooper for a 23-yard score. This time the conversion was no good, Collins recovered the onside attempt for Notre Dame and the clock finally struck midnight on Indiana’s Cinderella 2024. The 27-17 triumph moved the Irish to 24-5-1 all-time in the series and also marked the program’s first major postseason win since the 1994 Cotton Bowl Classic.
Defensive coordinator Al Golden wasn’t concerned about the lack of resistance towards the end of game, claiming, “I’m not worried about it. We gotta finish better, but the game was in hand and we didn’t want to show anything too elaborate.”
“I want them to celebrate tonight because they worked incredibly hard for this. You don’t get enough time in life to enjoy moments like this,” Freeman said.
In the end, Notre Dame outgained the Hoosiers 394-278. Rushing yards were 193-63 in favor of the Irish. “Our defensive line battled. They made all of their yardage really difficult,” Freeman said.
The nearly 81,000 fans inside Notre Dame stadium made noise from start to finish, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the Irish.
“I’ve never been a part of an environment like that. It was special. The crowd made an impact in that game,” Freeman said.
Golden seconded the head coach, saying, “It was awesome. You could feel the energy, and execution fuels emotion. What a great environment.”
The players were fired up by the crowd as well, and as Kiser noted, it didn’t just start at kickoff.
“When you walk in there and the crowd is going nuts before we even play a snap, you have to capture that momentum," he said. "Hopefully that energy can become the standard here.”
Love and Watts agreed. “It was a special experience. You can’t match having the fans help you in a game like that,” Love said. “The crowd was pumped. I think the towels were a good addition,” Watts added.
Pour some sugar on me
Notre Dame, now 12-1, will advance into the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff where the SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs await. The 2021 and 2022 National Champions ran through the gauntlet this season, finishing the nation’s toughest schedule at 11-2. The Bulldogs are seeded second by the Playoff Committee, only trailing the undefeated Oregon Ducks, but are likely to be without star quarterback Carson Beck for the entirety of the CFP. Redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton is expected to take the reins of the Bulldog offense, which just needs to keep the game in reach for its star-studded defense.
Notre Dame and Georgia will battle in the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisianan on New Year’s Day. Kickoff is set for 8:45 p.m. or directly following the Rose Bowl Game, with coverage presented by ESPN.
