If you’re looking for the short answer to who won the Notre Dame Georgia game, here it is: Notre Dame won 23-10. But honestly, just looking at the final score feels like reading the last page of a thriller without knowing who the killer was. This wasn't just a win for Marcus Freeman and the Irish; it was a total exorcism of three decades of postseason frustration. On January 2, 2025, in the humidity of New Orleans, the Fighting Irish didn't just beat the Georgia Bulldogs—they fundamentally broke a seven-game bowl winning streak that Kirby Smart had been building like a fortress.
The 54 Seconds That Changed Everything
Most games are a slow burn. This one was a lightning strike.
Basically, the first half was a rock fight. Neither offense could breathe. Georgia took a tiny 3-0 lead, then Notre Dame tied it up. It looked like we were heading to the locker room at 3-3, a real old-school defensive struggle.
Then, the world tilted.
With 39 seconds left in the second quarter, Mitch Jeter—who had been battling a nasty groin injury all season—nailed a 48-yard field goal to put the Irish up 6-3. Most teams would just take that lead and go get some Gatorade. Not the Irish. On the very next possession, Georgia tried to drop back and pass from their own 25. Big mistake.
RJ Oben came off the edge like he was shot out of a cannon, hitting Georgia's Gunner Stockton from the blind side. The ball popped loose, Junior Tuihalamaka dived on it at the 13-yard line, and suddenly the Superdome was shaking. On the very next snap, Riley Leonard hit Beaux Collins on a post route for a touchdown.
Ten points in 11 seconds.
But wait, there’s more. Georgia kicked off to start the second half, and Jayden Harrison—the transfer who has been a human highlight reel—found a seam, slipped a tackle in the middle of the field, and went 98 yards for a kickoff return touchdown.
By the time the clock read 14:45 in the third quarter, Notre Dame had scored 17 points in a span of just 54 seconds of game time. They went from trailing 3-0 to leading 20-3 before half the fans were back in their seats with their nachos.
Why Georgia’s Offense Stalled
You can't talk about this game without mentioning the elephant in the room: Carson Beck wasn't there.
👉 See also: How to Score a Detroit Tigers License Plate Without the Usual DMV Headache
Georgia’s star QB was sidelined with an elbow injury from the SEC Championship game. That meant Gunner Stockton had to make his first career start in a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal. Talk about a "welcome to the big leagues" moment.
Stockton actually didn't play "bad" in the traditional sense. He threw for 234 yards and a touchdown to Cash Jones. He looked poised at times. But the Irish defense, led by Xavier Watts and Adon Shuler, was just too suffocating.
The real killers for the Dawgs:
- Turnovers: Georgia lost two fumbles. Notre Dame lost zero.
- Fourth Down Failures: Kirby Smart is usually the king of "calculated risk," but Georgia went 0-for-3 on fourth downs.
- Red Zone Woes: Georgia got inside the Notre Dame 20-yard line three times and walked away with exactly 3 points.
It was a weird stat line. Georgia actually outgained Notre Dame in total yardage (296 to 244). If you just looked at the box score without the score, you might think the Bulldogs controlled the game. But football isn't played on a spreadsheet. It’s played in the moments where a ball hits the turf or a returner finds a gap.
📖 Related: Free MLB Streaming Sites: Why You Probably Do Not Need Those Shady Links
Ending the 31-Year Curse
For Notre Dame fans, this win was about way more than just advancing to face Penn State in the semifinals.
It ended a 10-game losing streak in "major" bowl games (BCS/New Year’s Six). The last time the Irish won a game of this magnitude was the 1994 Cotton Bowl. Think about that. Most of the players on the field weren't even born yet. Coach Marcus Freeman wasn't even ten years old.
Kirby Smart’s senior class finished with a ridiculous 53-5 record, which is a school record for Georgia. They’ve been the gold standard. But on this specific night, Notre Dame’s "portal perfection"—transfers like Riley Leonard and Jayden Harrison—proved that Freeman’s strategy of supplementing a recruiting core with elite transfers is actually working.
The Irish defense finished the season allowing only about 13.8 points per game, which was third-best in the country. Holding a Kirby Smart-coached team to 10 points in a do-or-die playoff game? That’s the kind of statement that changes a program's national perception.
Key Takeaways and Stats
- Final Score: Notre Dame 23, Georgia 10.
- The MVP: Riley Leonard wasn't a stat-stuffer (88 passing yards, 65 rushing yards), but his leadership and mistake-free play were the anchor.
- Special Teams: Jayden Harrison's 98-yard KR TD was the first Georgia had allowed since 2018.
- The "Wait, What?" Stat: Notre Dame scored 17 points in 54 seconds of game clock across the end of the 2nd and start of the 3rd quarter.
- Next Step: Notre Dame advanced to the CFP Semifinals at the Orange Bowl to play Penn State.
If you're looking to understand the future of the Irish under Marcus Freeman, this is the blueprint. They didn't have to be perfect; they just had to be more physical and more disciplined. They out-hit Georgia. They didn't beat themselves. And for the first time in three decades, the luck of the Irish felt like it was earned through grit rather than just a catchy nickname.
✨ Don't miss: Why We Are All Witnesses Lebron Still Hits Different Twenty Years Later
If you’re tracking the College Football Playoff bracket, the next move is to look at the Penn State/Notre Dame matchup. The Irish showed they can handle the SEC's physicality—now the question is whether they can maintain that defensive intensity against a balanced Nittany Lions attack.