Georgia
Notre Dame’s signature win over Georgia shows how different Marcus Freeman’s Irish are
NEW ORLEANS — Marcus Freeman grabbed hold of his six kids, each making their way to a podium covered by blue and white confetti. Notre Dame’s head coach had already lifted the Sugar Bowl trophy, capping a Thursday night that took everything and everyone. So Freeman stole a moment to soak in the scene Notre Dame hired him to deliver, sharing it with his family.
They’d all just watched Notre Dame beat Georgia 23-10 to advance to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
Inside the Caesars Superdome, Freeman became something bigger than the first-time head coach thrust into the top job three years ago after Brian Kelly’s abrupt exit for LSU, only because he had Notre Dame at his back. His program played fearless football against the kind of opponent that had made it feel inferior for so long. The Irish went for it on fourth down, and when they didn’t get it, they forced a four-and-out. When they wanted to burn clock in the fourth quarter, they made Georgia panic with a mass substitution that got the Bulldogs to jump offside.
The Irish sprung their first kickoff return touchdown of the season, buoyed by a Marshall transfer. Notre Dame created two massive turnovers, one of which was a strip sack by a Duke transfer that set up a touchdown pass to a Clemson transfer. A South Carolina transfer hit three field goals. And when the Irish needed a fourth-down stop near the goal line, a transfer from Northwestern broke the pass up.
This Notre Dame team did what no Notre Dame team has done in 31 seasons and won a major bowl game. And it did it only because its head coach manifested this scene into reality, pulling every available lever and finding every possible edge. The Irish needed them all.
“That’s the aggressiveness in terms of our preparation that I want our program to have, and again, out there when it matters the most,” Freeman said. “That’s got to be one of our edges, that we are going to be an aggressive group and not fear making mistakes.”
The end result sends Notre Dame to the Orange Bowl to face Penn State on Jan. 9, one week after this signature win that included so many autographs. It would be impossible to read off them all, starting with the head coach and going all the way down to the walk-on receiver Leo Scheidler, who helped spring Jayden Harrison’s 98-yard kickoff return to open the third quarter.
JAYDEN HARRISON
9️⃣8️⃣ YARDS#GoIrish | @j_harrison5
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) January 2, 2025
Notre Dame needed every leading actor and bit part to follow the script. And the entire football program remembered its lines.
“They’re incredible kids. They are the best of the best,” said defensive coordinator Al Golden. “I think they choose Notre Dame for all the right reasons. It’s not me, me, me. Any of those guys to come here and submit to the program and put your ego aside and go for team glory? That’s rare. Rare. Rare. Rare.”
Golden’s defense delivered without star defensive tackle Rylie Mills and cornerback Benjamin Morrison, both lost for the season to injury. And so reserve defensive tackles Gabriel Rubio and Donovan Hinish stood tall, especially after Howard Cross III left with an ankle injury. Cornerbacks Christian Gray and Leonard Moore continue to fill in for Morrison. And when All-American safety Xavier Watts missed time, Rod Heard II stepped forward.
“All of us who decided to join the team for our last year committed ourselves to this vision of being national champions,” Heard said. “We’ve leaned into Notre Dame. Whatever I have to do for this team, that’s what I’m gonna get done.”
Inside the Notre Dame locker room, RJ Oben cradled the game ball given to him by Freeman. For one night he wasn’t the other transfer from Duke, Oben was the guy who made his first sack in an Irish uniform, dropping Gunner Stockton in the final seconds of the first half and forcing a fumble recovered by Junior Tuihalamaka. One snap later, Riley Leonard hit Beaux Collins for a 13-yard touchdown, Notre Dame’s only offensive touchdown in the game.
“If you’re gonna make a game-changing play, now is the time,” Oben said. “We came here knowing this is a big stage and this is why we’re here, to perform in a season like this. All the guys.”
GO DEEPER
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But how Notre Dame put down Georgia said less about personnel than the culture connecting it. The Irish got production from virtually every transfer against the Bulldogs, none of those players wanted by the SEC champions. And Notre Dame got much from its core too, an offensive line that’s grown throughout the season into a group that could spring a 12-play, 41-yard drive in the fourth quarter that bled 7:36 of clock and left the Bulldogs without recourse.
A punt has never looked so good.
“It’s Notre Dame football at its finest. They delivered their very best when their very best was needed,” said offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock. “We probably set offensive football back 15 years. But we did what we needed to do to win.”
Notre Dame will meet Penn State in the CFP semifinals. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
Notre Dame did it because Freeman called the biggest game of his life, the day after a tragedy on Bourbon Street pushed the Sugar Bowl back a day.
At breakfast, Golden counseled defensive backs coach Mike Mickens that Notre Dame needed to stay aggressive in coverage, even if the Irish got beat with a deep ball. And they did get beat with Stockton’s arm. And they did stay aggressive.
Freeman knew he needed something big from special teams, no matter how much Jeter had struggled through injury this season and no matter what it took from special teams coordinator Marty Biagi. Freeman got that too. After the game, Biagi wore his father Stephen’s Notre Dame jacket, honoring him after he succumbed to lung cancer four hours after the Indiana game late last month. Just a day before Notre Dame beat the Hoosiers, Biagi’s wife gave birth to the couple’s twins. A girl and a boy. Their names are Brooke Renee and Stephen Jacob.
“He wouldn’t have wanted, as a Notre Dame grad, to go any other way,” Biagi said. “I know he was up there tonight watching. Trying to make him proud.”
Stephen Biagi would have been as Jeter drilled field goals from 44, 48 and finally 47 yards early in the fourth quarter to put Notre Dame ahead by the final score. And Harrison’s kickoff return did feel like divine intervention as he cut through Georgia’s coverage units, sprung by a walk-on receiver’s block after Scheidler subbed in for starter Collins, who needed an IV at halftime.
Even not punting worked, as Notre Dame tried that mass substitution on fourth-and-1 from its own 18-yard line early in the fourth, rushing the punt unit off and the offense on, trying to get Georgia to jump offside. Notre Dame had no intention of actually snapping the ball, until Jalon Walker jumped.
The play was called “Got ’Em.”
“And we did,” Denbrock said.
In the Superdome tunnels, Denbrock tried to make sense of this all, less the game he just called and more what it meant for the program he’d called it for. This is Denbrock’s third stint at Notre Dame under his third head coach. He’s been in these games. Never won them. No one around Notre Dame has, amid a major bowl losing streak that dates back to Lou Holtz and covers the tenure of four other head coaches. Most of these games haven’t been close. They’ve been supposed referendums on what Notre Dame football can be in the modern age.
And now Notre Dame is something else entirely.
“We’ve all endured all of these ‘we don’t belong’ and ‘you’re not supposed to be here’ and all that stuff that we’ve had to deal with all those years,” Denbrock said. “To see those kids erase that, at least for the time being, and do the things, that was all about heart and toughness.
“Regardless of the stage we’ve been on, we’ve been true to who we are. I’m just so happy for everybody.”
Because that’s exactly what this required.
Everybody.
GO DEEPER
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(Top photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Some things in life are certain. Death, taxes… and David Scott getting a primary challenge from within his own party.
On Monday, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat who has represented her Lilburn district under the Gold Dome since 2019, announced she will challenge Scott for the 13th Congressional District seat he has held since 2003.
The 13th district covers parts of Gwinnett, DeKalb, Henry, Clayton, Rockdale and Newton counties.
Clark is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and earned her PhD in microbiology and molecular genetics from Emory University and completed a postdoctoral project in HIV research.
This past November, Scott was elected to his 11th term in Congress. In the 2024 Democratic primary, he defeated six other Democrats en route to his party’s nomination.
In 2020 and 2022, Scott bested three Democrats in his party’s primaries.
Atlanta News First and Atlanta News First+ provide you with the latest news, headlines and insights as Georgia continues its role at the forefront of the nation’s political scene. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest political news and information.
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Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Two things ended today in Oxford, MS.
Georgia Tech baseball was not able to extend their season in the Oxford regional today and the Rebels took down the Yellow Jackets 11-9 to not only end the season, but the long career of Danny Hall as Georgia Tech’s head coach. For the second straight day, Georgia Tech’s pitching had major issues and their starer was not able to even get through the first inning. While the offense was strong, they were unable to do anything late, managing only one run over the final five innings of the game after scoring eight in the first four.
After dominating in the opening game against Western Kentucky, Georgia Tech’s pitching completely fell apart in the final two games, giving up 24 runs total. The offense was perfectly fine across the last three days, but once again in the postseason, the pitching came undone for the Yellow Jackets.
Here is how the Yellow Jackets lined up today:
1. CF Drew Burress
2.1B Kent Schmidt
3. SS Kyle Lodise
4. 2B Alex Hernandez
5. C Vahn Lackey
6. LF Caleb Daniel
7. 3B Carson Kerce
8. DH Drew Rogers
9. RF Connor Shouse
Jaylen Paden was on the mound today for Georgia Tech.
Just like yesterday’s game vs Murray State, Georgia Tech got off to a quick start in the 1st inning.
Burress walked to start the game and then Schmidt blasted a two-run home run to give GT an early 2-0 lead over the Rebels. Lodise then came to the plate and hit Georgia Tech’s second home run of the inning to make it 3-0. Lackey got a one-out double and got to third after a flyout from Daniel, but Kerce struck out to end the inning. Yellow Jackets led 3-0 heading to the bottom of the 1st.
Just like yesterday though, the lead was gone by the end of the first inning.
The Rebels got a leadoff double and then an RBI single made it 3-1 with no outs. A walk from Paden put two runners on with no outs. After getting a lineout, Ole Miss got a one-out, three-run home run to give them the lead 4-3. Another single and then a double put runners on second and third with one out and then an RBI single made it 5-3. Paden was pulled in the first inning in favor of Carson Ballard. He got the final out, but GT now trailed.
After Georgia Tech left the bases loaded in the 2nd, Ole Miss added another run. They got a leadoff double and then a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. After striking out a batter, a sac fly extended the lead to 6-3. It was the only run of the inning, but GT now trailed by three.
They slowly got back into the game though.
Lackey reached on an error to start the 3rd and advanced to second to put him in scoring position. After Daniel struck out, Kerce hit an RBI double to cut the lead to 6-4. Rogers struck out and Shouse lined out to end the inning and the Rebels led by two going to the bottom of the 3rd
After a 1-2-3 scorless inning from Ballard, Georgia Tech got the lead back.
Back-to-back home runs from Burress and Schmidt tied the game up at 6-6 and there were still no outs for GT. Lodise walked and Hernandez singled to put two runners on and after Lackey lined out, Daniel came through with a 2-RBI double that gave the Yellow Jackets the lead back 8-6. Kerce and Rogers could not capitalize, but Georgia Tech now led heading to the bottom of the 4th.
After another scorless inning from Ballard in the 4th, he ran into trouble in the bottom of the 5th.
A leadoff home run cut the lead to 8-7. After striking out the next batter, Ballard walked one and hit another, putting two runners on with one out. He was then replaced by Riley Stanford. Stanford walked the first batter to load the bases and after getting the second out, issued a bases-loaded walk that tied the game 8-8. He got the final out, but the lead was lost.
The two teams proceeded to go back and forth, with Georgia Tech getting the lead back, but then not being able to hold it in the 6th.
Lackey recorded a two-out single and got to second on a wild pitch. Daniel hit an RBI single to put the Yellow Jackets back on top 9-8. Kerce struck out to end the inning, but Georgia Tech was in front once again. A two-out RBI single tied the game 9-9 and that was the score heading into the 7th
After a scoreless inning from the Yellow Jackets offense, Ole Miss took the lead for good in the bottom of the 7th. Mason Patel came in to replace Stanford on the mound and Ole Miss got a one out single and then a steal to put a runner in scoring position. After striking out the next batter, Patel gave up a two out, RBI single that gave the Rebels the lead 10-9. He got the last out, but Ole Miss took the lead back.
After another scoreless inning from Tech’s offense, Ole Miss added an insurance run in the 8th. Patel gave up a one-out solo home run to extend the lead for Ole Miss to 11-9 and then a double ended his day and Connor Chicoli came in to pitch for the Yellow Jackets. He struck out the final two batters to end the inning, but GT trailed 11-9 going to the 9th.
It looked like Georgia Tech had them right where they wanted them in the top of the 9th. After Kerce grounded out, Rogers reached on an error and Shouse laid down a bunt single to put two runners on with one out and the top of the lineup coming to the plate. Burreess flew out and then Schmidt was intentionally walked, which loaded the bases with two outs and Lodise coming up to the plate. With a chance to tie or take the lead, Lodise swung out and the season was over for Georgia Tech.
Georgia
Former Georgia star Jarvis Jones named head coach at Carver-Columbus — Georgia High School Football Daily
Former Georgia football star Jarvis Jones was announced last week as head football coach at defending Class 2A champion Carver of Columbus, his alma mater.
Jones played on Carver’s 2007 Class 3A championship team and became an All-American linebacker at Georgia and a first-round NFL draft pick who played four NFL seasons, mostly with the Steelers.
After leaving the NFL, Jones returned to Georgia to get a degree and has worked with the football program since, most recently as player connection coordinator.
Jones was the AJC’s Class 3A defensive player of the year in 2007, when Carver won its first state title under Dell McGee, who is now Georgia State’s head coach.
Jones played one season at Southern Cal before transferring to Georgia.
After sitting out a year, he became a two-time first-team All-SEC selection. In 2012, Jones was the SEC defensive player of the year and a consensus first-team All-American for a 12-2 team that finished ranked No. 4 in the final coaches poll.
Jones will replace Pierre Coffey, who recently resigned to become the principal at Stewart County High.
The 2024 state title was Carver’s second. Carver finished 14-1 and outscored its five playoff opponents by an average score of 47-10.
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