(David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)
#2 Georgia holds an 11-2 record and enters the College Football Playoff as the SEC champions after a hard-fought 22-19 victory over #5 Texas in the conference title game, their second win over the Longhorns in 2024. Head coach Kirby Smart, now in his ninth season in Athens, has led the Bulldogs to a remarkable 62-11 record during his tenure. This season, Georgia boasts marquee victories over CFP teams Clemson and Tennessee, bolstered by a strength of schedule ranked among the toughest in the nation.
Georgia and Notre Dame share one common opponent: Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs defeated the Yellow Jackets 44-42 in an epic eight-overtime thriller on November 30, while Notre Dame handled Georgia Tech with a 31-13 victory in Atlanta on October 19. Back on September 28 Georgia lost at Alabama 41-34. On November 9 they fell at Ole Miss, 28-10. Both of these losses came to teams that are considered to be the “first teams out” of the 12 team CFP field.
Winners of national championships in 2021 and 2022, the Bulldogs face the postseason without their two-year starting quarterback, Carson Beck, who was injured in the season finale against Texas. Stepping in is sophomore Gunnar Stockton, a talented but unproven player. Stockton was rated the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class and has shown promise in limited action this season, completing 25 of 32 passes for 206 yards with one interception. Although his rushing stats this season are modest (11 carries for 10 yards), Stockton’s high school career featured over 4,000 rushing yards and 77 touchdowns, demonstrating his dual-threat ability.
Georgia’s offense has definitely been more dependent on the pass than the run. they are producing 413.8 yards pergame (47th best in the nation), 284.6 yards passing and just 129.2 yards on the ground (98th). Nate Frazier and Trevor Etienne share the load on the ground combining for 1205 yards and 17 touchdowns. The Bulldogs boast 12 receivers with 9 or more catches, Arian Smith is the yardage leader with 750 on 47 catches.
Defensively, Georgia has been stout against a challenging schedule, allowing just 20.4 points and 336.5 yards per game. Two linebacker, Jalon Walker and Chaz Chambliss share the team lead in sacke with 6.5 each. Overall Georgia has gotten to the quarterback 36 times, 22nd best in the nation. The Bulldogs however have struggled to create turnovers, finishing the regular season at +1 in turnover margin compared to Notre Dame’s +16.
Despite the loss of Beck, Georgia’s elite coaching, playoff experience, and depth make them a formidable opponent as they aim for their third national title in four years. The Irish actually share most of those same characteristics, however the loss of Rylie Mills on the interior of the Irish defensive line may well be a tipping point for the Irish defense that has lost three other star players to injury in Ben Morrison, Jordan Bothello and Bubacore Traore.
It is likely that the ND offense will be able to produce points, they simply have developed too many explosive weapons to not have one or two or three not go off during the course of a game. But for Notre Dame to have winning success, finding a pass rush that can also contain a running quarterback will be critical and the loss of Mills hurts, maybe big time. That said, ND has played of late like a team of destiny and Al Golden has always found a way.
Georgia is a 2 point favorite and the over/under is 44.5
The Fighting Irish Preview Pick: Notre Dame 21 Georgia 20