Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 37 QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW: GEORGIA C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F SEC Championship Game. Should Notre Dame see backup Gunner Stock- ton, a redshirt sophomore, it'd be the equivalent of Steve Angeli starting for the Fighting Irish. Stockton doesn't have much in-game experience in backing up Beck over the last two seasons. For his career, Stockton is 37 of 51 (72.5 percent) for 354 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 intercep- tions. In the second half and overtime against Texas in the SEC title game, he completed 12 of 16 attempts for 71 yards. He threw a costly intercep- tion with just less than three minutes remaining in regulation that enabled Texas to tie the game in the final seconds and send it to overtime. The Georgia offensive line is average when it comes to allowing sacks, sitting in a tie for 55th in the FBS with 21 allowed entering the CFP. Stock- ton appears to be a bit more mobile than Beck, though, so his elusiveness and ability to extend plays will be a factor if he's in the game. Georgia has six players with at least 20 catches this season: three wide receivers, two running backs and a tight end. The ball gets dispersed to a variety of targets in Bobo's offense. Missouri trans- fer Dominic Lovett is No. 1 among them with 56 receptions, but senior Arian Smith leads the team with 750 receiving yards. Lovett has 571. Notre Dame has the No. 1 pass efficiency de- fense in college football, even after allowing USC to throw for 360 yards in the regular-season fi- nale. That output was an outlier. This Irish passing defense is for real, from the adequate disruption caused up front to the relentless coverage on the back end. Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 27, Georgia 24 If Notre Dame was ever going to get its best shot at knocking off the mighty Georgia Bulldogs, this is the season. Yes, the Bulldogs — who have been to the CFP three times in the last four years — ended up the No. 2 overall seed in the CFP after beating Texas in the SEC Championship Game Dec. 7. But nothing has come easily for Georgia (11-2) this season. The Bulldogs suffered a 41-34 loss to Alabama in September, then was throttled 28-10 by Ole Miss in early November. They only beat Kentucky 13- 12, struggled to beat Mississippi State 41-31 and needed eight overtimes to beat rival Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale. Georgia ranks only 29th nationally in points per game (33.2), and No. 23 in points allowed per game (20.4), and it turned the ball over (18 times) this season about as much as it took it away (19 times). Notre Dame matches up well here: The Irish pull the upset and advance to the national semifinal round. Steve Downey: Georgia 17, Notre Dame 13 With Georgia quarterback Carson Beck not likely to play, I was tempted to take the Fighting Irish. However, Notre Dame needs to prove to me they can get it done on the biggest stage before I fully believe. It's been three decades since Notre Dame has registered a victory in a major bowl, and this would qualify as a huge win for head coach Marcus Freeman and company. The Irish are probably as well equipped as ever to finally end that drought, and I do think they have a puncher's chance. But the Bulldogs' defense is loaded with speed and depth, and comes at you in waves. Just ask the Texas Longhorns, who lost a pair of games to UGA and averaged just 17 points in the process. Tyler Horka: Georgia 21, Notre Dame 17 The Bulldogs might be without starting quarterback Carson Beck, and they are not the same version of themselves that compiled a 42-2 record in the 2021-23 seasons. They're much more vulnerable, as evidenced by a 28-point deficit to Alabama in an eventual seven-point loss and an 18-point loss to Ole Miss. But having said all that, this is still Georgia, and this is still Georgia's time of year. The game is being played in the South where there should be a pro-UGA crowd at the Superdome. These are just the kind of games I expect the Bulldogs to win, so I have to pick them here — even if Notre Dame has a legit shot at taking them down, as it seems the Irish do. Kyle Kelly: Notre Dame 27, Georgia 26 This year's Georgia team is not like the ones that won championships in 2021 and 2022. However, they still have a championship pedigree that could give the Irish fits. But with the uncertainty surrounding Bulldogs starting quarterback Carson Beck's injury status, I can't fully buy into the Bulldogs, no matter how tough of a matchup it might become for the Irish. I'll take Notre Dame in a close one to give Marcus Freeman one of the marquee wins of his coaching career and of this college football season. Jack Soble: Notre Dame 28, Georgia 24 The winner of this game will be my pick to reach the national championship. And every time I take a look at the Dawgs, I like the way Notre Dame matches up with them. Georgia will likely be without its starting quarterback, Carson Beck. Even with Beck, the Bulldogs don't have a true offensive identity like the Irish do with their multifaceted run game. Georgia's defense has delivered signature performances against Clemson, Texas, Tennessee and Texas again, but when teams have hurt the Dawgs, they've done it with dual-threat quarterbacks (Alabama's Jalen Mil- roe and Georgia Tech's Haynes King). Hello, Riley Leonard. And hello, Final Four. Redshirt senior Carson Beck threw for 3,485 yards with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions before he was injured late in the first half of the SEC Championship Game. His status for the College Football Playoff is in question. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGIA Staff Predictions