Georgia survives in 23-17 win over Notre Dame

The Georgia Bulldogs came away with a 23-17 win under the lights on Saturday night. Amid some shoddy playcalling (from both sides, if we’re being honest), the third-ranked Bulldogs were able to defeat the seventh-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a nighttime affair between the hedges.

The Domers got on the board firs ton a 4th and goal touchdown pass from Ian Book to Cole Kmet . UGA promptly answered though thanks to the legs of D’Andre Swift. Swift rumbled in from three yards out to tie the game at seven points apiece. But, Notre Dame was however able to gain a 10-7 edge heading into the break thanks to a field goal with no time remaining in the first half.

Two field goals by ‘Hot Rod’ Rodrigo Blankenship gave UGA a 13-10 edge after the 4:21 mark of the third quarter. Georgia would march towards the end of the third quarter, after Swift gained 27 yards on three consecutive runs. Lawrence Cager then made a 36-yard catch down the field, and would later score on a 15-yard touchdown pass by Jake Fromm to put the Dawgs up by 10.

Another field goal by Blankenship, which was preceded by a clutch interception by J.R. Reed, pushed UGA up to a 23-10 lead. Notre Dame wasn’t through yet though. They drove on down the field and bookended the drive with a touchdown pass from Book to Chase Claypool. And after kicking it deep, Notre Dame buckled down and bottled Georgia up after some questionable playcalls led to UGA’s demise.

With the game hanging in the balance, Notre Dame got one more opportunity to get the lead. But, Georgia’s defense was able to hang in and pressured Book into throwing a wild pass that was batted down, which led to the victory for the Dawgs.

UGA’s win will keep them up near the top of the rankings this week. But their play calling certainly needs to improve. It looked at times that they were playing very conservatively, and it very nearly bit them in the behind. For Notre Dame, they should be able to feel “good” about themselves for hanging with one of the best team sin the nation in one of the more hostile environments in the nation. But they obviously didn’t walk away victorious, so it’s hard to feel “good” per se.