Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1165986
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 23, 2019 39 No. 1-ranked Bulldogs and the 9-1-1 and No. 7 Fighting Irish in head coach Dan Devine's final game. Although Notre Dame outgained Georgia 328- 127 in total yardage, the Bulldogs won the turnover battle 4-0 while the Irish also missed three field goals. Georgia's two touchdown drives, tallied by freshman phenom Her- schel Walker to clinch the program's lone Associated Press national title, covered 20 yards and one yard. The first came off a recovered fumble, and the second on what was recorded as a "59-yard on-side kick" that fell be- tween Notre Dame's two deep return men when they couldn't hear each other call for the ball amidst the din inside the Superdome. The first regular-season meeting between the two occurred on Sept. 9, 2017 at Notre Dame Stadium when a 30-yard field goal by No. 15 Geor- gia's Rodrigo Blankenship with 3:34 left in the contest provided the win- ning 20-19 margin against the No. 24 Fighting Irish. The Bulldogs went on to advance to the College Football Playoff na- tional title showdown versus fel- low SEC foe Alabama. Georgia held a 13-0 halftime lead before losing 26-23 in overtime on a 41-yard touch- down pass from Crimson Tide re- serve quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith on second-and-26. … AND MAKING HISTORY The last time the Fighting Irish vanquished a top-five opponent at night on the other team's home turf is … would you believe never in seven attempts? With bowl games not included, there were seven other instances beginning in 1999 that Notre Dame faced a top-five team on its home turf at night. The average margin of defeat in those seven contests was 20.7 points, with only one coming under double digits. Tenth-year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has been involved in two of them, and the most recent was the closest such finish, a 31-27 decision at No. 2 Florida State in 2014 after a touchdown pass from Everett Golson to Corey Robinson was negated by a much debated infraction. For a recap of those seven outings from the past 20 years, see pages 52-53. Overall, Notre Dame has not de- feated a top-five team since head coach Charlie Weis' second game with the Fighting Irish, a 17-10 vic- tory at No. 3 Michigan on Sept. 10, 2005. Making Notre Dame's task more formidable is that Georgia currently owns a 15-game home winning streak in Sanford Stadium. It is likely to be the type of raucous atmosphere that was heard in No. 3 Notre Dame's 41-8 loss at No. 7 Miami in 2017, so composure will be essential. Meanwhile, Notre Dame has regis- tered eight straight victories in night games. It needs three more consecu- tive wins under the lights to tie the school record of 11 in a row set dur- ing a 10-year period from 1973-82. Something will have to give in Athens. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA When the Fighting Irish take on the Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium Sept. 21, they will be seeking their first victory versus a top-five foe on the road in a night game. Notre Dame is 0-7 in such games to date, with two of those losses coming during the Brian Kelly era. PHOTO COURTESY UGA SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS Predictions Todd Burlage: Georgia 31, Notre Dame 24 Notre Dame plays well and keeps things close, but home field advantage — which Georgia also almost seemed to have at Notre Dame in 2017 — wins out for the Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Vince DeDario: Notre Dame 28, Georgia 27 Nothing will come easy for the Irish between the hedges, but I do think they will be able to score. The big question will be whether the Irish can stop the running game of Georgia. I think they do just enough to get the win. Bryan Driskell: Georgia 27, Notre Dame 21 There are a lot of matchups that make me believe Notre Dame can win this game in Athens, but when two teams are this even, I tend to side with the home squad. Andrew Mentock: Notre Dame 31, Georgia 30 Despite the losses of Jafar Armstrong and likely Michael Young for this game, I'm sticking with my bold prediction from the offseason. Ian Book will do a much better job of staying in the pocket against a Georgia defensive front that doesn't get to the quarterback as well as one might think. Lou Somogyi: Georgia 27, Notre Dame 24 Every fiber of my being wants to pick a Fighting Irish upset of which they are way, way overdue in this type of setting. But every time I publicly talk about "being due," it does not happen. Time for reverse psychology. If the Irish do win, it might be like Oklahoma in 2012.