Canada’s Rourke, Indiana fall to Notre Dame in first round of College Football Playoffs

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jeremiyah Love tied the Notre Dame report with a 98-yard landing run, Riley Leonard added two extra scores and the Preventing Irish shut down the highest-scoring crew within the School Soccer Playoff, overwhelming Indiana 27-17 on Friday evening.

The seventh-seeded Preventing Irish (12-1) gained their eleventh straight — and their first playoff victory. They will face second-seeded Georgia within the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman acquired the largest win of his three-year profession by extending his Irish report to 12 victories over ranked groups in three seasons.

“There’s no place like Notre Dame,” Leonard stated. “This is the reason you come right here, for this reason I got here right here — to play for a championship.”

Tenth-seeded Indiana (11-2) accomplished a magical season by ending with its second-fewest factors this season on a chilly, brisk evening within the first CFP sport ever performed on a campus web site. Each of the Hoosiers’ losses got here to top-five opponents. Indiana set a single-season faculty report for wins however nonetheless hasn’t gained at Notre Dame since 1898.

Notre Dame took management on its third offensive play when Love scooted round the appropriate aspect of Indiana’s defence, eluded one sort out and sprinted down the sideline to make it 7-0. He matched Josh Adams’ longest run at school historical past, set in 2015 in opposition to Wake Forest. It was additionally the longest run in CFP historical past.

“It’s all about discovering a strategy to get one other week,” Freeman stated. “It wasn’t simple. However we’re going to get pleasure from this one and we’ll get one other one.”

Love completed with eight carries for 108 yards regardless of showing to reinjure his left knee later within the first half.

Indiana by no means recovered after Notre Dame made it 14-0 early within the second quarter.

Leonard’s one-yard TD run late within the fourth gave him 15 this season to interrupt Notre Dame’s season report by a quarterback.

Indiana scored each of its touchdowns within the remaining 1:27.

Notre Dame made it 14-0 on Leonard’s five-yard TD move to Jayden Thomas early within the second quarter. The Irish settled for 3 extra area objectives, and the defence took care of the remainder — permitting only one area objective.

Leonard was 23 of 32 with 201 yards and one interception. Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison caught seven passes for 89 yards.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke turned in one other poor sport in opposition to a prime defence, ending 20 of 33 with 215 yards, with two TDs and one interception, and the Hoosiers rushed for simply 63 yards.

The Oakville, Ont., native struggled till the ultimate two minutes, when he tossed each of his two landing passes.

“They took it to us,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti stated. “They gained, they need to win. We didn’t play our greatest sport, however that they had so much to do with that tonight.”

Indiana: The Hoosiers trailed fewer minutes than every other FBS crew this season getting into the playoffs and had the highest-scoring crew within the playoffs. They didn’t do both Friday evening in opposition to a stout Irish defence that rattled Rourke early.

Notre Dame: The Irish have relied on the working sport and defence all season — and it was that mixture that gave Notre Dame the primary playoff win at school historical past. They might want extra out of their passing sport to win their first nationwide championship since 1988.

Indiana: Will spend a busy offseason attempting to duplicate what they in-built 12 months 1 underneath coach Curt Cignetti.

Notre Dame: Performs Georgia within the Sugar Bowl on New 12 months’s Day.

–with recordsdata from Sportsnet