by Leprechaun Express & Steve Welsh
Notre Dame’s defense pulled off a magic trick. In broad daylight, with 80,000 fans watching intently, Brian VanGorder’s defense took the power out of Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack.
The Irish have a running game. The Irish have a nasty defense. The Irish have a dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidate. That’s more than enough for Notre Dame to make a run with redshirt freshman quarterback DeShone Kizer, and there are more-than-enough chances left on the schedule to prove it.
Isaac Rochell couldn’t remember when his body ached so much.
And someday maybe the Notre Dame defensive lineman will look back, and the indelible takeaway will be how much that didn’t matter.
No. 8 Notre Dame’s 30-22 smothering of 14th-ranked Georgia Tech Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium — the dominance vandalized by a late, flailing burst of Yellow Jacket offense — didn’t reek of upset, but rather a big-picture big step.
Hear from the coaches and players following the Irish win over Georgia Tech.
COACH KELLY: Obviously my staff, coaches, I thought we had a very good plan. Our players executed it and beat a very good football team in Georgia Tech.
All those things have to come together when you’re playing a team like Georgia Tech, in particular a team that is prolific offensively.
I think our defensive plan was outstanding. I think our team executed it up until maybe the last couple of minutes where we probably lost a little bit of our focus. But all in all, just a tremendous performance by our football team.
Overcoming a lot offensively with a freshman quarterback going in there, playing well, DeShone, opportunistic offensively. Running the football effectively when it was difficult at times to run the football.
It was a program win today. Having to overcome injuries, playing a very good football team in Georgia Tech this early after two very difficult teams.
Really pleased with the way our kids executed in all areas.
So with that I’ll open it up to questions.
Scoring Summary
Team Statistics
Individual Statistics
Drive Chart
Defensive Statistics
Game Participation
Box Score
Play-by-Play
Play breakdown
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – C.J. Prosise provided the flash for the Fighting Irish with three touchdowns and 198 yards rushing, including a 91-yard TD run that was the longest run in Notre Dame Stadium history, and the defense provided the grit.
A pair of touchdowns for 14th-ranked Georgia Tech from Justin Thomas to Patrick Skov in the final minute, the second coming after a recovered onside kick, brought some drama before No. 8 Notre Dame’s Torii Hunter Jr. recovered a second onside kick to clinch the 30-22 victory Saturday.
