Two of college football’s most storied programs square off in the Sugar Bowl as Georgia takes on Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals.
Notre Dame is 12-1 on the season, winners of 11 in a row. The Irish punched their quarterfinal ticket with an impressive 27-17 victory over Indiana in the first round of the CFP in South Bend.
Georgia heads into the Sugar Bowl with an 11-2 record, with the two most recent victories instant classics that will be forever remembered in Bulldog lore. A College Football Playoff ticket was punched with a thrilling come-from-behind 44-42 eight-overtime triumph over the Yellow Jackets the night after Thanksgiving, which delivered a seventh straight Governor’s Cup and state championship. Eight days later at the Southeastern Conference Championship Game at Mercede- Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the Bulldogs rallied back to top Texas 22-19 in overtime. The victory over the Longhorns secured Georgia’s 15th SEC title – the second most in league history, and the third under Kirby Smart’s watch – and earned the Bulldogs a bye into the quarterfinal round of the CFP in New Orleans.
Injuries were again costly for the Bulldogs in Atlanta. Brett Thorson, finalist for the Ray Guy Award and one of the top punters in program history, was lost for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Starting quarterback Carson Beck went down with an arm injury on the final play of the first half, as he was hit while attempting a Hail Mary.
Which takes us to Gunner Stockton …
The third-year sophomore from Rabun County rallied the Bulldogs past Texas, and he is projected to make his first start as Georgia’s quarterback on New Year’s night in New Orleans.
The Sugar Bowl battle will mark the fourth meeting between the Bulldogs and Irish. Georgia beat Notre Dame 17-10 on New Year’s Day 1981 in the Sugar Bowl to cap a perfect 12-0 season and capture the 1980 National Championship. Smart’s Bulldogs beat Notre Dame 20-19 in South Bend in 2017, and Georgia topped the Irish 23-17 Between the Hedges in 2019.
This will be Georgia’s 12th Sugar Bowl appearance. The Bulldogs all-time record in one of college football’s most famed postseason showcases is 5-6. That includes a 5-5 record in New Orleans, plus a 38-35 loss to West Virginia on New Year’s Day 2006 in Atlanta, as the game was moved due to the destruction from Hurricane Katrina.
For Smart, who was an assistant to Mark Richt on that 2005 SEC title winning staff at Georgia, this will be the third time he’s led Georgia to the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs fell to Texas 28-21 on New Year’s night 2019. The next season, the Bulldogs beat Baylor 26-14 in New Orleans, which started a streak of seven consecutive bowl victories – including National Championship Game victories to clinch the crowns of 2021 and 2022.
Now the Bulldogs try to make it eight straight, and keep the ultimate dream alive.