SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame recorded a 27-17 victory over the Hoosiers at Notre Dame Stadium Friday night.
The first College Football Playoff game of the season saw the renewal of the in-state rivalry between seventh-seeded Notre Dame and tenth-seeded Indiana in what Notre Dame’s quarterback Riley Leonard described as a “dog fight” before kickoff.
The first quarter ended with Notre Dame leading 7-0, with the highlight play occurring when Jeremiyah Love ran for a 98-yard touchdown with 10:57 remaining. Each side recorded an interception as the defense continued to dominate the early portion of the game.
Indiana posted its first points with 3:26 left in the second quarter when Nicolas Radicic slotted a 34-yard field goal. Notre Dame responded with a field goal of its own for 49 yards as the first half ended with the Irish leading 17-3.
The Fighting Irish continued their dominance in the third quarter as kicker Mitch Jeter converted a 33-yard field goal.
Indiana recorded its first touchdown of the game when Rourke fired a 7-yard pass to Myles Price, with the Hoosiers posting two more points in the following play courtesy of a Sarratt catch. It proved to be too late for the side from Bloomington.
The Hoosiers continued piling pressure late on, with Rourke throwing a touchdown to Omar Cooper with 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The 2-point conversion could not be completed as the game drew to a close.
IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who finished ninth in last week’s Heisman Trophy voting, struggled to get going offensively, going 20-of-33 for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the game.
Rourke had a standout year after finishing with 2,827 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions this year.
Rourke’s counterpart, Riley Leonard, had a much more productive evening, posting over 200 yards and running for one touchdown after completing a 44-yard pass to Jordan Faison at the Indiana 1-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Prior to tonight’s game, excitement had been building all season as Indiana delivered a school record 11 victories and recorded a top 10 ranking to bring the Hoosiers an improbable first playoff appearance. The unprecedented season culminated with Head Coach Curt Cignetti being named AP Coach of the Year and Big Ten Coach of the Year.
The Hoosiers ended the season with an 11-1 record and went 8-1 in conference play, with the team’s only defeat coming against Ohio State, losing 38-15 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Before that loss, the Hoosiers went on a 10-0 record, the best-ever start for any football team in IU history.
The Irish had only suffered a single loss all season, a shock result in September versus Northern Illinois.
The two programs had last met in 1991 when Norte Dame came out on top against Indiana by winning 49-27.
