Notre Dame holds off Indiana, faces Georgia in CFP quarterfinal

Riley Leonard passed for 201 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another score, and No. 7 seed Notre Dame held on for a 27-17 win against No. 10 seed Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff tournament on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.Jeremiyah Love rushed for a 98-yard touchdown and tallied 126 total yards for Notre Dame (12-1). The Fighting Irish advanced to the CFP quarterfinals, where they will face No. 2 seed Georgia on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.Kurtis Rourke completed 20 of 33 passes for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Indiana (11-2). Myles Price and Omar Cooper Jr. each caught a touchdown pass.Notre Dame outgained Indiana 394-278, including a 193-63 advantage on the ground.Notre Dame opened the scoring with 10:57 to go in the first quarter.The Fighting Irish got the ball on their own 2-yard line after All-American safety Xavier Watts picked off an errant pass from Rourke. Moments later, Love took a handoff, bounced off a defender and outraced the Indiana secondary for a 98-yard touchdown.The play marked the longest rushing play in a CFP game, surpassing Ezekiel Elliott’s 85-yard touchdown run for Ohio State in 2015.Notre Dame increased its lead to 14-0 with 12:52 left in the second quarter. Leonard hit Jayden Thomas on a play-action pass for a 5-yard touchdown.Indiana pulled within 14-3 on Nicolas Radicic’s 34-yard field goal with 3:26 to go in the first half.

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