Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - REACTION: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish TAKE DOWN the Georgia Bulldogs and advance!

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeat the Georgia Bulldogs in the second round of the College Football Playoff and advance to take on Penn State! Locked On Irish Postcast reacts live with the Locked On Irish SQUAD.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyCancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com/lockedon today.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelThe NFL Playoffs are almost here, but it’s not too late to get in on the regular season action with FanDuel because right now, new customers can finish the season strong with TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins. Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You are Locked-on Irish, your daily podcast on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome into the Locked-on Irish Postcast, the Locked-on Irish Squad show. Today, myself, Joe George, of Locked on Sports Chicago, we do all these postcast shows for Locked-on Notre Dame, or for all these Notre Dame games. Brian Smith of Locked-on Seminoles is with us, and Tyler Wojack of Lockdown Irish, will be joining us. shortly we're all across the Locked on Sports Network on the Locked on Irish YouTube channel. Locked on Sports Today channel. We're everywhere today. Locked on ACC.

And we had a fun one. Notre Dame wins 23 to 10 advances in the college football playoff. Marcus Freeman does something that us Notre Dame fans, we've been waiting for a while to see playoff success. And Brian, he really, this team, it's a strange game to say. I mean, it's one of the most strange first possessions I've seen or, or herd or anything with all those running into the punters. Yeah, like, I like Bryce. Tampa the enthusiasm.

Slow down a little bit, young man. But you know what? Hey, he's got a couple block punts this year, so he was going after it. But look, Notre Dame wins, and they advance, and it was a fun one today. A really, you know, kind of strange game, and a majority of the offense here really comes within 25 game-time seconds for the Irish. They get the field goal, the fumble of Gunnors,

docked in the touchdown immediately and then the kickoff return touchdown to start the second half. Man, it was a fun one for the Irish and it's super sweet to see them advance because as a Notre Dame fan, as we're just watching, you know, the past performances in the playoffs, this was so refreshing to see them on the right side of a game like this. When I think of, I live in the South now. And when I think of SEC football, they usually win the majority of big games in the trenches. Today, while Notre Dame's offensive line didn't dominate by any means, they had well over 100 yards rushing. And their defense, this, I'm just looking at the stats now, they had four sacks and nine tackles for loss.

On the other side, they had one sack and one tackle for loss for Georgia. When was the last time you said Notre Dame had better trenches than the Georgia Bulldogs? Probably when Georgia wasn't very good, I'm guessing. Yeah, that was pre-Curpy. Yes, yeah. it's Notre Dame's had some really good fronts offense like the 2017 team etc but I mean realistically like when they played Georgia in 17 and night they didn't run the ball for crap they didn't try to as much that's probably more on Kelly than anything but they they stuck with what

they did and of course Riley Leonard is as clutch as it gets as a third down or fourth down running player but man when they needed a play they found it they found it they The penalty that they got on George at the end, that was a wild deal. I don't know. I think Judarian was moving too. I don't think the ref caught that. But sometimes you catch some breaks. Everything they needed to do, they found a way to do it.

And getting the turnover early, like they were just clutch. And there's nothing more important than hitting the shot or getting the first down. Whatever sport is making that play in the critical moment? Notre Dame did it about 10 times today. Yeah, I think what was what's the most impressive is like they've also they also shot themselves in the foot a lot in this game like a lot of 10 penalties. Yeah. Yeah. That's not Notre Dame football. Like that's not what we've seen this team do this year.

And to have, you know, frankly, I think definitely some some bad officiating help them a little bit. Like I'm, I'm just shocked that neither one of those running into the punters was called the roughing. And they didn't get an automatic first down. You figured the first one, no, you just figured it happens on back to back plays. I did too, I did too. But like they don't call it. Yeah. So like, but like they also on that drive, you know, the only positive yardage Georgia had on that first drive was the 15-yard penalty past interference as well that happened.

So really, I mean, the fact that they were able to have the clutch moments when they did, but also really overcome some really negative moments from a penalty standpoint, I think really what stands out. And really, we saw like that first possession, it set the tone, really, for the entire game because they just were a. attacking, you know, E-TN and the Georgia running backs and a little bit of success there at the end, but like nothing that I would say is, like, concerning or, you know, a team like Georgia is going to have some success, but really a super impressive day from the Notre Dame defense all around. Georgia on third down, I believe they were like two to 12. Let's see, where were they? This is an embarrassing stat for any team in any circumstance.

Third downs. Yeah, Georgia was two of 12. Notre Dame wasn't a lot better, but they were four for 14 and part of it. was on that last drive where they tried to bleed the clock before they punted. You can't go to 12 against Notre Dame and expect to win, especially. And I know Gunner, he's a good kid. That's a horrible circumstance to start your first game against the Al Golden defense. But I knew after the third play from scrimmage before Price,

ran into the punner for the first time, they couldn't block Notre Dame on the edges. And I'm like, they're not going to win today unless Notre Dame just turns it over. Yeah, and they didn't. On the edges. I mean, look, even like Ryan Leonard, I mean, he only throws for 80. 18 yards in this game. If you would have told me the box score of this game of just 88 yards passing from Riley Leonard.

I said, well, that either means Jeremiah Love had the best day of his career, which he obviously didn't have. And I think one of the most important things for Notre Dame, which we'll talk about throughout the show tonight, obviously will be the injuries that happened in this game to Howard Cross. And I think Xavier Watts, even a little bit was dinged up there and in the 10 at one point. But really, your three best players probably on the team got even got hurt in this game. So look, Penn State next Thursday. They have got a week to relax and get healthy and game plan as quickly as possible. But, yeah, I think the defense, and like Gunner Stockton, like on a side note for him, I thought he was pretty good in this game.

I mean, you know, that pass he had in the third or fourth quarter that went right off Bell's face masks, basically. That's ridiculous, man. Of all people, by the way, it was Xavier that was closest. I don't know if that was his coverage. But when you see him that far away, I'm like, something's gone to her. Oh, my God, he dropped it. Like, I'm like, this is a touch. Oh, never mind.

Like, it was just, that's a gift right there. And Notre Dame took advantage. They could have, like, let their guard down after that. And they didn't, again, you know, nobody's perfect. But when they had an opportunity to rise up and make a key play, Gunner Stockton was getting, I mean, that kid's tough, by the way. Yeah. He got the living, but Jesus beat out of him.

And he kept getting up. But their receivers are, I don't even think George's receiving group would be middle of the SCC. It's really not. And they drop a ton of balls. And the thing that surprised me, I'm curious what you think, Joe, the tight ends for UJ are ridiculously good. They really didn't have much impact in the game in the way that I thought they would on third downs, fourth downs, blocking the, Notre Dame destroyed them on the edges when they were blitzing and doing different things. It was a really, really good effort. Yeah, I definitely, I'm with you. Like, I thought the tight ends were going to have a much bigger impact for Georgia. And I think a lot of it has to,

probably with the pass rush, the protection that Georgia was having to use. I'm curious, like, when we look back at some of these, like how often these tight ends are kind of stuck in the mud and not being able to break out of their routes just because they've got to block these Notre Dame defensive linemen who are just eating Stockton in this game. And as good as he was in moments in this game, you mentioned it briefly, but Riley Leonard was just clutch.

I mean, look, we saw what Georgia did this year. They struggled against Alabama and Jalen Milrow. They struggled against Georgia Tech and Haynes King, two guys that can run the ball. really, really well. And Riley, Riley can't. Like, that's one of his biggest strengths. We saw it in this game, some, some huge chunk play runs and also just clutch runs that he needed. So even though you don't have the passing performance, and that's always been like my biggest kind of wonder with Riley Leonard. And I think it will be continued to be until, you know,

if they play a team like Ohio State in the national championship game, like could they compete in a shootout with Riley Leonard's quarterback? Like, we'll find out. But for today in, you know, a rock fight against Georgia, Riley Leonard was basically like the perfect quarterback Notre Dame could have asked for, honestly. If anybody has a chance to win the national title other than Ohio State, I think Notre Dame is the best because they can bleed the clock with a quarterback that runs. You're not going to just beat Ohio State straight up if they play their A game. They play their absolute best game. They're the best team in the country.

I don't think that's a shocker to say. But you've got to win turnover battle, special teams battle, and that's where Notre Dame excels better than any team in the country. They would have the best chance. I still would take Ohio State. I mean, I think most people would, but you're not going to just throw it around against them. You've got to run the ball, create big plays,

when you have to be successful in critical downs and distances. And then you could be competitive with it. But Riley Leonard, like you said, if you would have told me under 100 yards passing, I would have said, yeah, Georgia probably won this football game. But again, clutch plays when it matters most. That's what the Irish did today. Yeah, and I think, you know, you mentioned him earlier.

His name always comes up. His name always comes up. And now that you're advancing the playoffs, it makes me as a Notre Dame fan, like the angst I always felt with Brian Kelly when he was the head coach, it like solidifies that even more. To see Marcus Freeman, you know, I love the, and we'll talk about this throughout the show as well,

just because the guts that he had in this game, some of the fourth down calls, I mean, yeah, even the one that was the fourth and one, like it doesn't work out, but I love the call. I mean, it almost, if anything. He came back to it too. Yeah. I love that.

His players will love him for it. And I know as a recruiting analyst, they love it too. They should. Yeah, I mean, just out of that confidence. And then we all could have probably said, yeah, Georgia knew exactly what was going to happen. They knew Rylander was going to run right up the middle there and they didn't get it. But then I think that's why you get the, you know, you get the false start on Georgia at the end of the game there. Because you've packed the offensive line, even like they think you're going to go for it.

And they jump offside. So I love what Marcus Freeman did in this game. I think he really, he's just proving again again this week like he did last week or a week and a half ago, whatever it was versus Indiana, that he's so well deserved of that contract extension. And he really is just proven to be, like, this is kind of what Notre Dame coaches do, right? Like they have their big moment typically comes in the first, you know, three or four years as the head coach of the program.

So I think he's really set himself up well for what he's done. and what would you say the kind of the best part of today's game was, as we kind of continue to look at the positives of it, for the Irish at least. The ability, and I'm guessing that everybody listening to this is going to agree with this. Going in, you're like, without big Riley Mills, who's flat out going to play in the NFL, not make a roster going to play at defensive tackle,

how will they handle inside zone, GT, and some of the base plays at Georgia, their offense is as generic as the end. 85 bears. But Notre Dame pretty much, except for two or three plays, they held their ground against bigger, faster, stronger guys. That's what it was kind of labeled. But watching it, the faster definitely wasn't true.

That's the other thing. Notre Dame is faster on defense than they've ever been, except maybe like the 92 or 93 teams. Close. Take your pick. But it's ridiculous. And their D-line has more depth than we gave them credible. especially. And that is something as a Notre Dame fan to be very happy about, like the last play.

Heinish gets the sack on the twist and all the credit to the staff are getting him ready, gold and all those guys. But I mean, he's a guy that nobody thought was going to be that great again, myself, including out of high school, coached him up, plays a hundred mile an hour. Georgia's size couldn't handle the quickness. How are crossing the backfield, Heinish in the backfield, the linebackers, holy moly, did they destroy Georgia on the edge of tied ends or tackles. By the way, Monroe Freeling, that tackle almost went to Notre Dame. That's kind of an ironic.

He's probably pretty angry because I'm sure that, you know, that's going to stick in his crawl. He played terrible. Notre Dame destroyed him. And it's just one of those things where they finally got to the point where they can go toe to toe to with any SEC. Because it doesn't get better roster-wise in the trenches than what Georgia has. Notre Dame used to improve on the offensive side, and they still had some snafews, but they were better than Georgia was.

Georgia gave up on running the ball. When does Kirby do that? I mean, he's as generic on offense, especially as anybody. Yeah, I mean, I think you're definitely spot on with that. I'll focus on the offensive side here for a second, even though, you know, the numbers aren't going to be massive because of what happened.

And it's only four catches on the day. But Jordan Faison, like, the moments you got from him, he's so clutch. I mean, he is, it's a fun story. Like, I love hearing on the broadcast, how, you know, they're talking about how before the game he's talking to, he's the guy talking to the team because he obviously won a national championship in 2004 with the Notre Dame lacrosse team.

But he really, I think just has become, was such a good weapon for them tonight. Like, they really needed him in big moments. And Riley was finding him for a couple first downs. And really, I think that's one of the most encouraging parts of this game, too, is like, you just think, you know, Bo Collins is going to have, you know, if he's a guy you're going to need to have success in this game. And, you know, besides the touchdown, like, wasn't super involved in the offense today because the passing game just wasn't super involved.

I think my biggest, you know, even Mitchell Evans, three catches was it 72 yards. No, 22 yards on the day. I can't read. Mitchell Evans, like another like big first down that he had, which nearly turned into a disaster. And that's the other part with Riley too is like Mitchell Evans gets that first down. He then takes a sack that you can't take. He takes it, but they overcome it. Like that's, but that's like that's why Notre Dame was so impressive is that he takes a sack.

you really should not have taken. And he knows that, but they're able to, you know, find their way back into field position. And, you know, Jeter, who, the injury stuff was so real, clearly. He's been clutched through two games in the playoffs. Some of those were way, like his leg is healthy again. It's pretty obvious. Accuracy is one thing.

Like, he can kick a field goal from 60 yards. He's got a cannon. And by the way, hats off to him because he changed the game in terms of play calling, in terms of momentum. Like, when he kept, what was that last one? 47-ish, something like that? Yeah, I think so. It was pretty close to 50.

And that sucker's halfway up the net, by the way. And I'm like, okay, well, this is a good sign, you know, good for him. Yeah, I mean, look, it's, you need it. Like, you need a good kicker. We saw what happened in the games yesterday. Like, you need a good kicker. And, like, you know, I got friends who cover UT and they're, you know, crying of jealousy of watching the Notre Dame game today. But Notre Dame wins 23 to 10 over Georgia.

or they'll play Penn State next Thursday. We'll be doing another one of these shows, I'm assuming, across all these YouTube channels, because Notre Dame has advanced in the college football playoffs. We are expected to be joined by Tyler Wojack of Locked-on Irish very shortly here on the show. So we'll hold off on our first break until Tyler's ready to join us here. When you saw, we'll talk a little bit more about that first, fourth down here.

Were you surprised to see that aggressiveness? We both said we liked it, but were you surprised to see, you know, at that point in the game to see Marcus Freeman just say, I'm doing this right now. You're talking about the one inside their own territory? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I didn't know what the deal was with that because,

and I'm sure somebody on ESPN or Fox or whatever is going to do something, you saw Kirby saying, hey, you can't do that. And I've never seen it done that way where you take everybody off. So I was just like, what's going on? But the special teams coach for Notre Dame, by the way, landslide, best special teams coach in America. And I think he just has so much faith in what his ideas are. That was probably as much the special teams unit and everything else.

Hustling and having to set up is anything but motion and stuff. They were trying to draw them off. And, of course, Georgia took the bait, which was the, because of the goal. But here's the thing. They snapped the football. What if the referee would have failed to, to throw that flag, even though it was obvious. Walker was in the neutral zone.

Georgia has the ball first to 10 at the 20-yard line, because the ball was incomplete. So that would have been wild. I liked what they were doing, but Riley was my concern more than Marcus, because it has to be a million percent that you're getting the penalty there if you're snapping it for me.

I don't think they were supposed to run the play, but of course you'd go deep if you think you're getting the flag. He wasn't over that much. And I'm just glad the official did the right thing and actually pulled the flag. It's unfortunate that the Georgia player did that, you know, but that's part of the game. It's part of the strategy. And Notre Dame, the little things that we've talked about so far in this podcast destroyed Georgia. That's why they're in the winter circle tonight.

And that's, you know what? This is something that, like, when I was growing up and I started watching Lou Holtz's teams and stuff in the late 80s, this is how they would beat Miami. This is what it reminded me of when they beat Miami. I remember in the 90 game, they scored one touchdown. The year before, they didn't even score a touchdown. They had to generate, and that's kind of what they did here. Rocket scored a touchdown in 1990 on a kickoff.

They had a Rodney Culver caught a pet. You got to find ways against defenses that have as much talent as Georgia, and this is part of it. Special teams, finding ways with penalties, and grinding out drives on third and fourth down. Those teams did it. Now it's kind of ironic. You're seeing it again.

By the way, the younger offensive line for Notre Dame, they're starting to fill their oats a little bit. That last drive when they got it to midfield, I mean, those were really just blast plays. Georgia's D-line is massive. I know some of those kids. When you shake their hand, you don't see yours. Congrats to Notre Dame's offensive line,

because everybody in that entire stadium knew the ball was going downhill on first, second, and third down, pretty much. And the one little reverse to Thomas was kind of nice. That was good. And it's too bad the one to phase on didn't work out with the penalty. That was a nice little twist, too. They called Georgia flat footed. That was a really good play call.

I was like, okay, that's. And then I saw the fight, oh, that kind of hurts. But it was really interesting to see how they just blasted Georgia at the end and they had hands on hips. That's kind of like as an offensive lineman and somebody that follows linemen, I was excited about that. You don't see George Wyman get beat up very often. I mean, it's rare.

Yeah, it's funny. It's always funny watching a football game. And really just like the last like, like three or four days, you know, Alabama, losing to Michigan, Illinois getting a bowl win. And then today, capped off with Notre Dame. It's funny to see, you know, here we go. We got Stone here in the chat. The SEC sure is a tough conference.

We all kind of come together when it comes time to be dumping on the SEC. Look, and this is what Notre Dame needed. They needed. Like, it was Indiana last week. You know, they've really, the narrative is funny what started, you know, in that first game about how Indiana didn't belong and Notre Dame was showing that. But the Notre Dame has this performance. And I don't know what the narrative people are going to be saying about the college football playoff now because I think Notre Dame has kind of flipped it on its head a little bit. Like they didn't have the toughest schedule in the regular season.

They have by far the worst loss of any team that's in the college football playoffs. and they've beaten Indiana and then now they've handled Georgia with a lot of ease. I mean, they've just kind of, whatever narrative you want to put out there around these conferences and how good or how tough they are,

Notre Dame, the one thing you can't say with them is they're not just a damn good football team. Like that's what they, I think, have proven the most through these two games is that they're just a very, very talented team for sure. Name a team that has more resolve than the Irish. They know they're not going to.

to go out and throw for 360. You know what I mean? They knew they were going to have to find unusual ways to manufacture points and change field position. And they just don't get phased. So many times in the last 10, 15 years, when they were in a close game against a team that had similar or, quote, unquote, better talent, how many times did you get that feeling in your gut?

Well, Notre Dame here, whether you're a Notre Dame fan, you're not, how many people really had faith that Notre Dame would finalize the game? I mean, for me, for me, it was hopeful. Well, we're going to, we're going to find out from the number one Notre Dame guy, my guy, Tyler Wojack. He's going to join the show next year. We're going to take our first time out as we continue reacting to Notre Dame taking down Georgia, 23 to 10, and advancing in the college football playoff. Tyler joins us next year on the Notre Dame squad show all across the Lockdown Sports Podcast Network. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandul.

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Host of the Locked-on Irish YouTube channel joins us now. Tyler WoJack, what's up, man? How are you? What's going on, guys? Sorry I'm a few minutes late, but I'm just going to try to keep my emotions in check and try to put things down because my hands were shaking there at the end of the game

and then I raised home so I could join you guys here. But wow, what a game and what a finish. for a 13 point win, it never really felt like it was that much, that wide of a margin, but they were able to get it done late. And, yeah, I feel really good right about now. No, you should. It was a great game. We've been talking about 20 minutes or so now about, you know,

just what we saw from the Irish, Riley Leonard, the offense, the defense, all of it. I mean, look, you talk about this team every single day on the Lockdown Irish YouTube channel. And so you know them better than most people do. Is this anything of what you expected? from this game, the way they handled Georgia, you know, so kind of with ease at times, stopping the run and stopping the pass? I wouldn't say I expected Notre Dame to dominate the line of scrimmage, especially late in the game.

The way Notre Dame's defensive line played without Riley Mills was a bit of a surprise. I thought they could hold their own, but they had the advantage there late. And honestly, Brian, I was thinking about you and something that you said one time that has really sort of stuck with me, how you said 80% of college football is recruiting. And I believe that's true. but I think that this game was won in the off season because I'm not just talking about high school recruiting, although Notre Dame Stepp really showed in this game because despite seemingly countless star players going down with injuries at multiple points throughout this game, it was the game of transfers.

Ryan Leonard came up huge in this game. RJ Obin, who's been non-existent all season long, has a forced fumble. Rod heard the transfer from Northwestern. He comes up with a huge fourth down stop. Bo Collins has the touchdown reception. And that, I think, is a testament to Marcus Freeman and the way that this coaching staff has gone about structuring this roster because it felt like every single one of those guys came through. Jordan Clark, another transfer had a big third down stop as well. All of that work, all that tireless effort from this coaching staff that they really do all year long,

but specifically in the off season came together in a huge way today because Notre Dame was never outclassed in this game. As a matter of fact, they went toe to toe from a talent perspective. from beginning that. I was a little surprised, like I was telling Joe, how well they banged with Georgia. Georgia's bigger up front, obviously, but the speed of Notre Dame was better than Georgia. How many times have I told you something like that

when I joined your show? Never. But it was considerable. Even at halftime, I was listening to Tebow, and he said, I don't think they, with Notre Dame speed on defense, Georgia is going to be able to run the ball. Tebow is as big a SEC homer,

and he doesn't deny it. Is anybody on the planet? For him to say that? I was like, okay, now I don't even have to think about this anymore. So they took Georgia out of the rhythm. And the guys you mentioned, that's a great point. They didn't all have big games throughout. But as I told Joe, it was every one of them clutch when they had to.

Like, Collins could have dropped the ball in the end zone. He didn't. Heard had a nice play in the end zone, et cetera. They had so many little guys make a key block. The punter does a good job. Mitch Jeter has three field goal. I mean, everybody did their job. This was a manufactured win as much as you will see, but with a lot of more speed than Notre Dame normally has, and they, man, they are physical. Riley, by the way, might as be

as physical a player as they have. It's kind of weird saying that about a quarterback, but that last run around the left end, he kind of embodies what it means to not be denied. He didn't care Malachi Starks was there. Starks didn't want to hit him either. He waited for Riley. That guy's going to be a first or second round pick. Riley Leonard took it to him. Yeah, I think Riley just kind of continues to surprise a really big way with, like, on this national stage, even some of the runs he had. That one where it was, it almost looked like a counter where he came back through the right hole.

Like that's such an impressive run to see a quarterback. I really have any, of any level make. Like if you saw Lamar Jackson make that cut, you'd be like, hey, like that's a really nice play. But for Ryan Leonard to have that vision there, he really, Again, like he was just so clutch in this game that he didn't need to throw the ball very well. And I think that, you know, if they can continue to play like this, you know, in the trenches like this, they'll have a real good shot. And we'll preview more of the Penn State game in a little bit here, but, you know, towards the back end of the show.

But, I mean, they just can, they just really played, they played their brand of football to a perfect tee. Like, I really don't think besides the penalties, there's anything to really nitpick from the, from this game, honestly. I guess you could say the passing game. I mean, Riley Leonard finished with 90 passing yards, but he had that passing touchdown in this game and a huge moment. Just really a giant swing in the game for RJ O'Bun to come through, force the fumble, junior two,

Alamaka dives on it in Notre Dame immediately responds with the touchdown. I thought in that moment, any points would have been great for them to score that touchdown. I didn't even mention, I just realized Jane Harrison, another transfer who had to kickoff or turn for a touchdown. Every single transfer came up, big in this game. And Brian, to your point, Mitch Jeter, who has been wildly inconsistent ever

since he got hurt. I believe it was before the Georgia Tech game this year. All of a sudden, he looks like the guy we saw from earlier this year. And it felt a lot like that Texas A&M game, where it was just a slug fest in the first half. Both teams are trading blows. Neither team could get anything going offensively. But late in the game, Notre Dame had the ball and a bunch of field to go, but they just kind of chipped away, kept the ball away from Georgia. And that was ultimately the difference in this game. I don't think Notre Dame cares about environment. And to a certain degree, Notre Dame plays better away from home than they do.

I don't understand that. If you guys want to answer that one, fire away. But A&M, Southern Cow, Georgia, three best wins? Who am I missing? Georgia Tech game. I mean, they didn't have a quarterback that day, though. But Notre Dame, the Louisville game, they played pretty lethargic offensively that day. To be honest, it's amazing.

how well they do when they're kind of being yelled at. They're like the kid that's getting beaten up on and he finally rises up, beats the bully. They've done really well in those moments. And Tyler's right. It's been a lot of the transfers that have led the Slug Fest when they turned around and started swinging. I mean, the look, they did a great job on ESPN. The look on the gal's face had all the paint right after Harrison scored.

I mean, she looked like she'd seen her own ghost. And I mean, they knew what they were in that place, just the life sucked out. of it. Those are the kinds of plays you just don't ever forget. And it's why college football is so much fun. Forget the Notre Dame part. Like the back and fourth momentum swings, fourth down plays, the bumble inside the 10-yard line, the touchdown. I mean, it's amazing how many wild swings there were in a game. All right. I'm trying to find this kid's name because there's one moment we haven't talked about yet. We haven't talked about the penalty early in the game. Feel bad for that kid. The walk on. Oh my God.

Oh, man. They're going to lane Kiff and him. He's going to get tarmac. He's stuck in New Orleans. Like, I will, you be nice. He may not make it out of the state. I know Jordan. I felt so bad for him there at the end.

They kept, they kept showing them. They're like, this is Parker Jones. This is where he lives. It's like, all right, guys. He's up on the poor kid. I feel awful for him. And hopefully he just deletes all of his social media for a term. No, he's not going to be a friendly, friendly place at all.

Well, he's got to go back to campus. No, you got transfer. Hit that transfer portal, dude. Like, I don't know. They have transfer portals for walk-ons, but you better hit it and go find a D-2 school to play football out. Because it was almost like the crying Northwestern kid from the tournament a couple years ago, from March Madness, where it just kept showing him.

I felt so bad for this guy. They just kept showing him over and over and over again. I mean, at one point, people were saying on X that his profile page crashed on the Georgia website because everyone was looking at him so much. I feel awful for him, but it was a penalty. You can't collide with an official on the timeline. Head, too. It wasn't like he hit his shoulder.

That's terrible. Well, honestly, like, it's a nasty penalty too. Yeah. And like, and if you look at like the impact of it, if they don't call that, you know, like they're a little bit closer. I mean, who knows how things go differently? Like, it probably doesn't. I don't think it swings the game in any direction.

But, I mean, like, they said it on the broadcast. I'm, I'm, this is like, we do locked on sports. Chicago. Like, we do postcast shows. We, I'm a Cubs fan. Like, they, they called him Steve Bartman on the broadcast. Like, that was harsh, man. That's harsh. Steve Bartman, Notre Dame alum, by the way, too.

So we got one back. Didn't know that, actually. I did not know that Bartman was a Notre Dame alum. But yeah, he's basically like the Steve Bartman of, uh, of Georgia football now. So that's, feel bad for that kid, but it was the right call. Like, I was surprised that they called it honestly. I just feel like that's something we don't never see. Maybe it just never happens. But I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a college

football game or any football game and see that penalty thrown in that moment or just throwing it all. Penalties were a huge factor in this game. I apologize if you guys have already talked about this. No, no, go ahead. What did you guys make of the officials in this game? Because there was a couple plays like the Jordan Faison play late when they ran that end around to him that was an illegal formation, which is disappointing because if they did not, if they didn't call it, if Notre name had not committed that penalty. I think that's game. right there. I don't know if Georgia even gets the ball back after that. But I thought some of the calls were a little bit tickey tack. Some I agreed with like the pass interference penalty on Jack

Heiser on fourth down as frustrating as that one. He has he's got to turn his head. He's got to turn his head in that situation. But then there was a couple others like the phazon motion. I thought, you know, guys guys kind of get away with that a lot, especially with how much motion is involved with all of the modern offenses. I thought that was a little bit ticket tack. But what did you guys think? No, I'm with you specifically on that one. I definitely think it's a play that we see. Honestly, if you probably watch this game over, like not even the All-22, if you just rewatch every single time a Notre Dame or Georgia wide receiver goes in motion,

you probably see like that exact same thing happened at least three or four times in this game. It was so bang, bang. I was surprised they called it for sure. I definitely think it wasn't the worst officiating of the weekend or of the couple days here, I would say. But it was not the best. This is where, like, I do agree with like Brent Yormack. the Big 12 commissioner, which is ironic because they were his referees today in this game of like there needs to be a standard in the college football playoff. And we know what college like refs are.

Like they're like college kickers. Like they're usually bad. That's a lot of pressure. But there were so many weird plays they were put into, as Tyler mentioned, how many times does a guy physically run into the official on the sideline? I mean, really in a playoff game? and how many times on consecutive plays? Does a freshman that his father is a Hall of Fame run into the punter at the beginning of the game? Like there were just situations they were thrust into they shouldn't be that made it worse.

And then I think Christian Gray got a little grabby, got away with a few. They don't, like in the NFL, Christian Gray would have 109 pass interference calls the way they call it the NFL. He's very grabby. He just don't call it that much. But at the same time, Notre Dame had four sacks and Georgia held the whole game. They would add 10 plus sacks. They annihilated George's ability to pass protect. And by the way, Stockton played pretty well considering.

Receivers didn't do crap. Their tight ends were worse. And the pass rush was in his face. He was better than Riley throwing the ball despite having no pass protection for consistency. So hats off to him with what he had to work with. And by the way, all those kids are four and five stars. Notre Dame whipped up on him pretty good. Yeah, I feel like that narrative.

of that discourse is coming about how Notre Dame played against a backup quarterback. But I thought Stockton played well. I agree with you, Brian. When he throws the ball. Without him, and he got slaughtered. And they had that, that huge drop, although I think they ended up scoring on that drive. That was the cash Jones touchdown drive. But when he throws the ball, he's got some zip on it.

Like he's got a fellow. Yeah, he really, when he throws it, man, there is no fear. And I have a lot of respect now for Gunner Stockton because he's, you know, he's got to. He was getting pressured the whole game. He's probably got to be a little bit better at protecting the football. But like you said, his wide outs weren't helping him and his line wasn't helping him either. But he stepped up every single time and just didn't work out for him. Yeah, I mean, I think Gunner's probably going to be like, he's going to be like one of

new college football darlings now that we have. Like people are going to be really excited to see what he has. And Stephen says, or Stefan, I don't know, give you either one. For me, it's Stephen. Says I'm happy we had to play Stockton now rather than later. He's going to be great. Totally agree. Like, I'd rather catch this kid in his first start from Notre Dame than like,

what happens down the road because he's got like that it factor. I think when you watch this game. It's like everything he was overcoming and still having his team really in this game. It wasn't his fault that he lost. So, you know, I thought he was really good in this game. And I think that kind of goes to still like the larger picture of the defense. You did mention the touchdown there. I guess that's really the only blemish.

It's just that, you know, their running back got so wide open on a miscommunication or whatever happened there. And kind of really the easy touchdown. Besides that, I really think that's the only thing with the defense besides the penalties that it would even be hard to harp on at this point for the defense. Yeah, it's unfortunate for Drake Bowen because I think otherwise he played a phenomenal game. But I don't know if it was him because when they went into the wide shot and the replay, it did look like he was supposed to. Icast Jones. Instead, he was sort of spying Gunner Stockton. And it's rare that you see a complete coverage bust in an Al Golden defense.

That's exactly what it was in that situation. but overall, Notre Dame's defense played so well in this game. The linebackers were all over the field. And Adon Schuller, there's been so much talk about Xavier Watts the season, and for good reason, unanimous All-American for the second year in a row. But Adon Schuller, you think about where he was before the season started. Most people projected Rod Hurd the transfer to start. Schuller beats him out in camp, immediately starts the season with an interception against

Texas A&M, forces a critical fumble in this game that really, really stalled any momentum that Georgia had because they were moving. the ball on that drive. And it looked like they were going to score a touchdown. Shuler gets his helmet right on the ball, forces the fumble. And then Jane Osbury was there to jump on the ball. So there's so many different guys you could pick out on the Notre Dame defense who stepped up in a big way. And I just wanted to give some love to Shuler because I think that was the best game of this entire career.

I don't think anybody's going to disagree that he couldn't have timed that hit better, form tackle, and like, ETN's an NFL player. So he didn't just punch it out at some freshman they had to throw in the lineup because of injuries. That guy's, you know, when Georgia flat bought him off Florida's roster, but it's not kid ourselves. And he punched it out. And that you could argue that's the most impactful play of the game because Georgia's in scoring position. It's a short yardage situation. If they get the first down there, which he still wouldn't have got the first down, but they mean, you know, they didn't get points.

And again, they sucked the life out of the Georgia crowd. And I'm guessing, I'm going to guess 65, 35 was the crowd, if not more. Yeah. It sounded like a Georgia home game, really. I know some people who are there. Unfortunately, a lot of people had to leave yesterday after the tragedy what happened. So I think that it's just easier for Georgia fans to make that commute to Louisiana because they probably don't have flights.

They can just drive where a lot of Notre Dame fans had to fly into the game. And unfortunately, it doesn't sound like hotels or airlines were accommodating whatsoever to what these fans were having to deal with after the game. So I know a lot of people that went to that game, they had to leave, unfortunately, and a lot more Georgia fans were in the crowd. I think it would have been a pro-Georgia crowd anyway if they had played the game on New Year's Day's schedule. But I think after what happened, it was even more of a pro-Georgia crowd. I think I saw Ross Dellinger from Yahoo post like 60% full.

It didn't really feel like that on the broadcast because it was loud. Both sides, Georgia and Notre Dame were getting loud. But that was a critical moment earlier in the game when Georgia seemingly had all the momentum and it just flipped on its head. And Notre Dame was able to maintain it for the most part. throughout the rest of the game. Yeah, it was his first fumble ever on his 425th touch

of his career, ETN there. I mean, just to have that timely of a moment. It's just, and that's how you win championships or at least advancing in the college football playoff right now

is to do things that force your opponent to do something they've never done before. And I think that's what was so great about this game. And to what, yeah, you were saying about the hotels, yeah, I know Chris Gordy from Locked on SEC,

he flew in yesterday morning. So when he landed from Houston, I know like he got to the hotel and he said there was just like lines and lines of people trying to extend their stays and they just weren't able to. But I did think the Notre Dame fans that were still there were incredible. I mean, they were so, so loud. Like you said, like 60% full, like it didn't sound like at all. I think that's the hardest part for like the fan side of this for the college ball playoffs is you're now asking Notre Dame to potentially to travel to three playoff games. that's not a cheap thing to do to all these games, but they showed up in a big way for this one for sure.

Yeah, I'm very happy that so many Notre Dame fans got to experience something like that in person because, look, I'm 28 years old. They've never won a game like that in my lifetime. I don't know if this officially counts as a major bowl win. I don't know what counts as a major bowl, but I think the Sugar Bowl should count. So that streak is over. And yeah, it's been a long time coming,

but so glad that they were able to get that done. feels like a giant weight is lifted off the shoulders of not just the program, but the fan base as well. Yeah, I think before, as the game started, it was some of the, one of the comments here is, I can't remember who it was. They were talking about last week, it kind of counted as like getting over that hump for Notre Dame. So this definitely counts.

Like, you won the Sugar Bowl. You've won two playoff games now. Like, all that stuff of, I'm 33. So, like, I'm with you. Like, I have never seen anything, like, important. It feels like in my life for Notre Dame or of, like, great significant value. I mean, like, I was at the Texas A&M game this year, and that was incredible. But this is obviously 10 times that because of it's the college football playoffs.

So, yeah, I definitely think the narrative has changed about this. And, you know, Brian, I'm curious, like, you've covered the game for a long time. Like, now that you see whatever, everything that's going on in college football, like, where does this kind of big picture for you immediate reaction, where does it put Marcus Freeman right now, like, in terms of the top of the coaches in college football winning these two games? Well, I think that's a great. conversation. We could do about seven podcasts on that one question in a literal sentence.

Yeah. And I'm sure I'll join Tyler at some point, discuss some of that in the offseason. But his theory of building through your own roster in the high school ranks, which, you know, it's kind of a Notre Dame thing anyway, admissions and all that. We saw what the difference the transfer portal has done for teams. And it's the conference that has lost the moat from the transfer portal is by a million miles, the SEC, because their depth is, no longer that good. I'm not going to name names, but I'd even spoken to a few people that have coached, it played, et cetera, pointed out guys at Georgia, different schools. I'm like, that kid's not good enough to be a starter there. And there was a couple of times today that, again, I'm not going to pick players, pick on them, but they're not normal Georgia players that were in the lineup. Their depth is not the same. So when a guy goes out,

they struggle a little more. Marcus Freeman didn't have that. They have guys. that kind of go through the system. He's figured it out. And I know Tyler brought up the portal guys he brought in this year where clutches all get out today. You can't, you couldn't have scripted that better. That was an incredible movie seed all over three hours. But I mean, Freeman?

Is he a top 10 coach now in college football? I don't know. I mean, they lost the North. It's so weird because they lost the Northern. I don't know how to grade that. But it is a great question. It does count. The loss to know of the Illinois.

Oh, it absolutely. On the report card at the end of the year. But the fact that he was able to get this team to refocus after suffering a loss like that. And then win, by the way, what is this? 11 in a row, 10 by double digits. That's crazy, including two playoff games where you beat Indiana in the first round. And even though they only ended up winning that game by 10 points, there was a much bigger gap than that scoreboard would suggest. But then to beat Georgia by 13 points in it, honestly.

could have been more if they played a little bit better. Like they, they did not play their best in this game. And I think the fact that they were still able to be in complete control of the second half is just a testament to the roster. I mean, you got junior two, Yala Maka, who is the number four, or number 44, Notre Dame's defensive end. He was third string in September. And he came up with a huge game.

And he's been playing really well in the second half ever since Notre Dame lost, Jordan Betelho and Bubacar Chiori for the season. Like, that kind of stuff doesn't happen. I still have PTSD from being at the Cotton Bowl back in 2018 when Julian Love goes down. And then they brought in, I think it was Dante Vaugh in the corner. And then Clemson hits him with two touchdown passes immediately. And that was the game. Notre Dame continues to lose guys.

They got to get healthy before Penn State. But the fact that guys like Jr. Tuial Amaka just come in and make plays on the biggest stage is it's just really hard to wrap your head around, considering where this program was not that long ago. All right, we are going to take our final time out here when we get back. You mentioned Penn State there, getting healthier. We'll kind of start to look ahead a little bit to next Thursday before they play in the Orange Ball now against Penn State.

So we'll do that next year on the Lockdown Sports, Notre Dame Irish Squad Show reacting to Notre Dame's win over Georgia in the college football playoffs. Today's episode is brought to you by game time. attending the new 12-team college football playoff is an incredible experience that brings fans together like never before. I remember the excitement of the past playoff games this year. Obviously, tonight's game was absolutely incredible and can't wait to make new memories with the updated format and the extra teams involved. If you're looking for tickets for the Notre Dame game, game time is the best place to go and do it. We're all traveling to watch these games.

So if you're wanting to look already, you can look on game time right now and see what is available with game time. picks. You can take the guest work out of buying tickets with game time. Download the game time app, create an account, and use code locked on college for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code locked on college for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right. So looking ahead to the game coming up here next week, Penn State. I like this for you better. This is better. Versus Penn State already. You know, obviously, because of, you know, unfortunately what happened yesterday. Like, the schedule is a little bit different for Notre Dame and Penn State,

but they'll play in seven days from now. Tyler, you mentioned it there about, you know, Notre Dame not playing at its best. I think we definitely look at the running game besides Riley Leonard today and say obviously they didn't have a ton of success. So what do you think is the biggest difference for you, Tyler, between today and next week for what needs to change, what needs to be improved the most for Notre Dame to advance to the championship game? Look, I know it's cliche to say, but they've got to get healthy.

Like, eventually it's going to come back to haunt him. I mean, Howard Cross went down late in the game today. He did come back in the game, but clearly he's not full go. And if you're not going to play with Riley Mills, you need at least like 80% Howard Cross in there because we know Penn State is going to try to run the ball. But losing Jeremiah Love, that one looked, I don't want to say severe in the sense that it was a tear. I mean, he was still moving around on the sidelines.

He was trying to come back in the game. game. But when you think about the fact that he hurt his knee against USC and then re-injured it, he didn't really look like himself going against IU. I mean, those are two critical players. Look, I love Judarian Price. He's really good. And E.S. Williams is a bright future. But if Notre Dame is going to beat Penn State, especially when Penn State already has the advantage, they really just got to get healthy between now and then. And because of what happened, they have a shorter amount of rest before that game. So it is a big advantage for Penn State. Abdul Carter is looking for information now.

And if he doesn't play, that's a problem for Penn State too. This is something that we talk about with NFL playoffs every year. Football is barbaric. They're going to be very good players on every team that are beat up. But like Abdul Carter didn't even play in the second half of their game, that is a first round draft pick that is an edge rusher. He might be the most dynamic pass rusher in college football. If he doesn't play, and again, I'm not.

I'm trying to pick on anybody. There's a certain left tackle at Notre Dame, though, that's probably hoping he doesn't put on at Penn State helmet. Because that's not a good matchup for the Irish. It's not. So if cross doesn't play and love is diminished, which I think that's a conservative answer. And their guy does go,

that doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy if you're rooting for the Irish. But it just seems like they find ways to win. I didn't think Donovan Heinish was going to be that good this year. I didn't think Junior Tali Amaco was going to be that. There's always somebody. So if you want to put out a prop bet on some random Notre Dame player, preferably a transfer based on what Tyler said today, to have a great game against Penn State.

Now is the time to do it. Yeah, I think that the injury stuff is where I push back against everyone talking about the buy format. Yes, all four teams with the buy lost. But the advantage is that we're seeing Penn State, Notre Dame, both banged up with injuries. now going into the semi-final game against each other. And part of that's because they're playing the extra, you know, game at this level for the playoff.

I think that if love is not out, like I'm with Utah, like I like Price. And like really was kind of the most, one of the most explosive players on the field. A couple of like really nice runs in this game. But without love, it definitely will be challenging. What's weird, and this is where I think it goes back to what you were mentioning earlier too

about, you know, past injuries. They've done such a good job. It's so cliche, but just next man up, it's just worked so well for Notre Dame. I mean, they really, throughout the entire season, have lost guys to injury. And Marcus Freeman has just continued to put these guys into great position to have success. So I'm fascinated by this game. I just looked, it's Notre Dame minus one and a half is the opening spread in this game, which is how they opened up against Georgia.

It closed that, I think, one and a half again. It kept flipping back and forth throughout the week. So they're again expecting this game to be a very, very good game, which it should be. to semifinals. Yeah, Notre Dame doesn't really have a great history in Miami. So they've got to exercise some demons down there in South Beach. But look, on the injury front, this is going to happen every single year, not just specific to Notre Dame, but every team who makes the college football playoff. I mean, Georgia had an SEC championship game. So even though they had to buy, they still had to play another very fiscal game against Texas. Like, there's never going to be a

year where any team gets to the college football playoff and makes a run, and they're entering the semifinals unscath. It's just the nature of the sport. Like Brian said, it is barbaric. So I saw some Notre Dame fans, you know, rightfully upset when they found out that Riley Mills was going to be lost for the rest of the playoff. And I was like, look, you can't use that as an excuse because the next time that Notre Dame makes the playoff, whenever that is, they're going to be dealing with injuries again.

This is going to happen every single year. You just kind of have to roll with the punches and build a roster that is deep enough that you can sustain it. Up to this point, Notre Dame has been able to. as more injuries pile up. I wonder if there is a limit, if there is a point where they can't make up for it. But it's too early.

I mean, we are just a few minutes after the game ended. I don't really expect to see Jeremiah I love next week, anywhere close to 100% if he's even able to go. But I think that cross injury, it's really good that he was able to get back in the game. Maybe he was just riding on adrenaline there late in the game, but it did not look good when he went down. So it's going to be a test,

but this team has answered the call every single time. I see no reason why they wouldn't be able to next weekend. What's your biggest concern, Tyler? I assume you've seen Penn State play a little bit. Besides, they obviously have two good running backs. That's kind of a duh factor. What would you say is your biggest fear with Penn State? Carter.

So if he doesn't play, I mean, that's huge. Their defense, they fly around the ball. And even in that game against Ohio State, they had, they were in that game. And I think their defense is really good. Offensively, they're kind of similar to Notre Dame in the that there's no guys in the outside that really scare you, but they have two great running back. So these teams are very, very similar. And I have a feeling it's going to look a lot like this game between Georgia, where it's one on the margins.

Today, Notre Dame came up with a big kickoff return for a touchdown. They baited Georgia into that offside. So it's going to be played in a phone booth. I just worry about their pass rush because eventually Notre Dame is going to have to get something going into the passing game. And Anthony Knapp had a tough day going up against that Georgia front. But those guys are dudes, but Penn State has got some dudes as well. Yeah, I don't think that'll be very easy. Joe, what about you?

What's your biggest concern for the Irish against Penn State? Well, I mean, you mentioned it earlier, kind of like what we thought about going into this game was the success of the Georgia tight ends. So it's Tyler Warren for me. That guy is a monster, by the way. That's a solid dick. Yeah, that guy is a monster out there. Like, honestly, I've been really impressed with Drew Aller. Like, I'm kind of wondering if he's having some, like, early commitment back to Penn State regret.

because I saw some of the scout guys on Twitter talking about like NFL GMs are interested like a gala played well in that game he's got to he throws a good ball so definitely I mean Carter and Warren are just such they're really two of the best players left at this point I would say in the college ball playoff so I think it's really clearly it's those two guys and if one of them's out it's a huge advantage for you but they have to find a way to shut down the best they can to shut down Warren because he is really just it's not Brock Bowers. last year for Georgia, but it feels close, honestly. AJ Harris would be my other concern. That's a kid I know that transferred from Georgia, ironically, to Penn State. He's a locked down corner and he allows them to bring safeties into the box. If you're not winning outside against him and all their DVs are pretty good, that's going to be rather rough. I didn't think that Georgia's corners were as good as they normally are this year.

And I'm not trying to pick on him. Bo Collins is not great. He won that touchdown rep. pretty convincingly. That wasn't very close. Penn State's DBs are better. It's very odd to say this than what Georgia's are. And they know that.

I think they're going to challenge Notre Dame at the line of scrimmage and put seven in the box, spy winner and say, if you beat us deep, we'll go home. I think it'll be an open-ended deal. Our is the better passer. They don't have great receivers, but Joe brought it up the key. We're going to throw it to warrant. We're going to shovel pass it to him.

going to screen it to him, we're going to hike it to him, we're going to hand it to him. Notre Dame doesn't get beat to the edge much, but Coney's does a really good job as a play caller coming up with ways to get him the ball where he's at least got a chance to make the first guy miss and for a tight end. He's pretty agile. That would be a very big concern of mine. So I'm curious what Notre Dame does with that. The Drew Aller storyline is so interesting because he'll have moments.

like he hit that deep ball against Boise State just dropped in the bucket. That was a beautiful ball. He had that one play on fourth down going up against Oregon where he scrambled to his right and just threw an absolute dime for a touchdown to keep them in that game. But then there's other times you're like, man, he's not really seeing it out there. And something that I thought was really interesting in this game today. Stockton came out and he was in a rhythm. He was finding guys and he looked really good.

And then as the game went on and Notre Dame's defense started to make adjustments, Stockton all of a sudden was not seeing the fuel. well at all. And that's been sort of the story of the Al Golden defense all year long. Like if you're going to get them, it's probably going to be early. While they're still kind of figuring things out, Nurame gave up a touchdown on the opening drive to teams that they were much better than like Stanford. They went right down the field and scored. But as the game goes on, Norame's defense is able to confuse these quarterbacks.

And it'll be interesting to see how they plan their attack against Aller if they can force him into mistakes like they did with Gunnar Socton today. I think after you get punched in the mouth a few times, Tyler. quarterback start looking down at the ground and looking around, even Gunther Stockton. Yeah, I think, I feel like Xavier Watts might have a big moment next week against Aller, because kind of what you were saying, Tyler, just like the inconsistencies of where, like, he makes at least like some eyebrow raising throws, like, and they're both in both directions. Some are incredible.

Some are like, what are you see in there? So I'm fascinated by this game. I mean, I think this is, it's kind of funny, too, like we were talking about like the Notre Dame angst. Like it's really two college programs to have so much of it now. Is Penn State fans and James Franklin and can't win the big game? And well, now they've won their playoff games. And Notre Dame, they've won their playoff games. And then now the winner is headed to, you know, the college football championship. Honestly, I'd imagine that they're pretty thrilled with the final four teams as is.

Kind of before we get like final thoughts on, you know, just tonight's game, I'm curious to your guys' thoughts. Like this first time we've, you know, all been together talking about this. now that we're through two rounds, what do you guys think of the college football playoff format? Do you like it? Is it, you know, Notre Dame's won two games, so I think it helps our feelings a little bit, but what do you guys think? Kyle, you go first. It's obviously flawed with Boise State getting a buy, but I think they're going to make that change. In something that I don't think is being talked about enough, so when Notre Dame agrees to this playoff format where there's not a situation

where they could get a buy, I wonder if Jack Swarbrick, he would never say this, But I wonder if he knew when he made that agreement if he thought, okay, we'll do this to start, but this is going to get changed because it took one season for everyone to look at it and say, hold on, wait a second, Boise State's getting a buy and Arizona State is getting a buy. And now we have all these weird matchups like Ohio State Tennessee in the first round. This is not how it's supposed to be. We're going to make this change. And it sounds like they're ready to make that change immediately.

So there is a world where Notre Dame that all that can. concerned about not ever being able to get a buy, that might go away after one season. Still a lot of time they're going to figure it out. I don't know if they would make Notre Dame still have to play in the first round because they're not a conference. But the fact that it's even on the table where we could be looking at next year's playoff format in a world where Notre Dame could actually get a buy, I think it's pretty interesting how these things have played out.

The thing that I like about it is the home games at least for weekend one, even if Notre Dame wasn't in it or whatever, it's cool. to see some different environments, especially like the cold weather games and stuff. I love that. And I also think it's kind of interesting where you see guys that haven't been in the spotlight before. I'm not trying to pick on him. The SMU quarterback is pretty good. But holy cow, that moment was too big for him.

It shows you what pressure is. We know he's better than that. But what was he threw two pick sixes and like 10 minutes, like real time or something? It was just, it was horrendous. So those are the things that I think. the playoff gives you that you can't play out theoretically. You have to see it in the moment. Beaver Stadium is not a friendly place, and Jennings found that out. So those are the things that I think are great about it. And to Tyler's point, yeah, there probably needs to be some different things.

I don't know if Notre Dame will get a buy situation, but at the very least, if you win your conference, that's one thing. But what if the Big 12 champion next year is nine and three? Like they should not get a buy. But under this rule, they technically would. That's just terrible. So there's got to be some changes. Yeah, I'm curious, like, how it's just like, do they want to make it simple or do they want to make it super complicated? Like, is it want to be, well, if you have three losses, you also can't have a buy in the first round. I think that would be a fair rule, by the way. Yeah, like, I don't mind it, but like it's just like how complicated you want to be.

Honestly, like, I, what's funny, though, is I think Boy's State, the score doesn't necessarily show it. I think it's actually the opposite of the Indiana Notre Dame game, where that game was never as close as the score indicates. I think Boise State's game was much closer, obviously. I mean, yeah, that guy doesn't do the hands of the face. Yeah. That guy scores there. It's a one score game getting his ready to start. I mean, two miss fuel goals.

And then Arizona State goes overtime with Texas. Like the lower level conferences, like their argument will be, hey, Boise State and Arizona State, like, why do we need to change it? They play great. They lost, but they played, you know, they play good in their games. So, yeah, I'm fascinated to see. I mean, I'm hopeful to what Tyler is saying that this is a path to the, a buy for Notre Dame for sure, just because the less games you play,

the better. So before we wrap up here, any final thoughts on today's game? Anything we hit on that you guys want to mention or Tyler, I knew you joined a little late. So I don't know if you got any spicy things left for us or anything. No, I just think it is a testament to everything that Marcus Freeman has done over the past three years. Like it all came to fruition today. You saw it against Indiana.

Like Notre Dame was so much better than them. But this is the test, right? Even though this isn't Georgia of 2021 or 2022 and they just steamrolled everyone on their path, that team, that program is at the very top of college football. Notre Dame had 60 minutes to show that they had closed the gap. Right. How many times have you heard of that phrase, close the gap between Notre Dame and the elite teams in college football? I don't know if Notre Dame's here to stay at the very top.

It's always going to be a little bit more difficult for them and what they have to deal with. But to have this opportunity going up against a Georgia team that we knew was beatable and then to actually take advantage of it is just, it's a really, cool moment and just everyone who's been involved with that team, the coaching staff from the top down, they are so focused on one singular mission and they keep this train rolling a little bit more. I can't wait. I'm just so excited we get to talk about this team a little bit more because the offseason is fun.

It's interesting. There's newsy stuff, but there's nothing that I enjoy more than watching Notre Dame play and then reacting and talking about it to get the chance to do with you guys today's been a lot of fun. Brian, any final thoughts? One last thing, Tyler is correct on what he just said, though. Like the game, the game in the playoff, there's no way to top those podcasts. Those are better than anything we can do in the offseason, although portal, that's fun.

Notre Dame is going to need one of the receivers to have a big game against Penn State. I don't know which one, but I'm not talking about A play, but like they're going to have to do something to make Penn State change what they do up front or make them eat it. Because I'm telling you, they're going to bring everybody up and dare Notre Dame to do. you something other than run the book. Yeah, I'd love for Mitchell Evans to finally go off. I've been asking for it all season. Like, give me a tight-on battle of Mitchell Evans versus Tyler Warren next week. Yeah, look, as you guys mentioned, like, this is a lot of fun doing these shows.

If you guys are new, watching, listening, whatever, if you're a Chicago sports fan on the Lockdown Sports Chicago channel, we go live after every Bears, Bulls, Cubs, and Notre Dame game. So I'm thankful for Notre Dame to give me something positive to talk about because the other three teams are terrible this season. And they've been brutal, do these Bulls and Bears games. So thankful for Notre Dame for sure. So that will do it for this episode of the Notre Dame squad show here all across the Locked on Sports Podcast Network, Locked on Sports Chicago, Locked on Irish, Locked on ACC, and Locked on Sports today.

We'll be back live next week after Notre Dame plays Penn State. As soon as that game wraps up, we will be on these very same channels, I believe, or at least the Locked on Chicago and Locked on Irish channel as well talking all things, Notre Dame and Penn State. So thanks for watching. Make sure you check out Tyler's work every day for Locked on Irish, getting you ready for the next round of the college football playoffs. Thank you for watching.

Thanks for all the people in the chat. Appreciate you guys. And we will talk to you next Thursday.