The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame overpowered the Indiana Hoosiers with a 27-17 first-round College Football Playoff (CFP) win in South Bend, marking the first-ever Friday night home game in Notre Dame Stadium. Riley Leonard overcame early mistakes to lead the Irish to the next round of the College Football Playoff.
Notre Dame won the toss and elected to defer, giving the Hoosiers the first opportunity on offense. However, their opening drive ended swiftly in a three-and-out.
This set up the Irish with an opening possession at their own 41-yard line. Just two plays in, Riley Leonard’s pass was tipped and intercepted, giving Indiana the ball at the Notre Dame 41-yard line.
The Hoosiers reached the red zone, but Kurtis Rourke overthrew his receiver, and the pass was intercepted by Xavier Watts, giving the Irish possession at their 2-yard line. On the very next play, running back Jeremiyah Love broke free down the left sideline for a 98-yard touchdown.
This made it 7-0 Notre Dame with 10:57 left in the first quarter.
Looking to respond, Indiana picked up two quick first downs and crossed into Irish territory before being forced to punt. Leonard then led a methodical, 16-play, 83-yard drive—the longest in terms of plays in CFP history. He capped it off with a play-action pass to Jayden Thomas, extending Notre Dame’s lead to 14-0 with 12:52 left in the first half.
Later in the quarter, Indiana faced a 4th-and-4 from the Irish 16-yard line. After a timeout, head coach Tom Allen opted for a 34-yard field goal by Nicholas Radicic, cutting the deficit to 14-3 with 3:26 left in the half.
Notre Dame added a field goal of their own before halftime, pushing the lead back to 14 points.
To open the second half, the Irish gained excellent field position after a 43-yard kickoff return by Jordan Faison, starting at the Hoosiers’ 47-yard line. However, after a delay of game penalty pushed them back five yards, their drive stalled, and they were forced to punt following a three-and-out. This was the stop the Hoosiers needed.
Starting at their own 12-yard line, Indiana quickly faced trouble. An 8-yard sack on first down set the tone, and by fourth down, their punter was backed up into his own end zone. James Evans’ 49-yard punt was returned into Indiana territory, setting up the Irish with prime field position.
Notre Dame capitalized on the short field, adding a field goal to make it 20-3 while eating nearly seven minutes off the clock.
After another Hoosiers three-and-out, Notre Dame continued to dominate time of possession. They marched deep into Indiana territory, setting up for a 37-yard field goal. However, James Carpenter blocked the attempt, giving Indiana possession at their own 40-yard line.
Down three scores with 12:12 left to play, Indiana quickly crossed midfield into Irish territory. However, on 4th-and-11 from the Notre Dame 48-yard line, they chose to punt—a decision that put their defense back on the field.
Leonard led another efficient, clock-draining drive, which he finished with a 1-yard rushing touchdown. This extended the Irish lead to 27-3 with just 4:50 remaining.
The Hoosiers finally found the end zone with a pass from Rourke to Myles Price, followed by a successful two-point conversion to make it 27-11 with 1:27 left.
Indiana then executed a perfectly placed onside kick, recovering it to keep their slim comeback hopes alive. Rourke quickly connected on a 23-yard back-shoulder fade to Omar Cooper Jr. for another touchdown. However, the two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 27-17 with just 25 seconds remaining. A second onside kick attempt was recovered by Notre Dame.
A final kneel-down from Riley Leonard sealed the victory for the Irish in the first-ever first-round game of the new 12-team playoff format. The win punched Notre Dame’s ticket to New Orleans for a Sugar Bowl matchup against second-seeded Georgia on New Year’s Day.
Written by: Adrian Beecher
