Game Balls: Notre Dame's Shuler, Leonard, Harrison, Jeter all on Sugar high

Safety Adon Shuler and the Notre Dame defense kept the pressure on Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton in ND’s 23-10 CFP victory on Thursday. (Photo by Gerald Herbert, Associated Press)

Maybe Georgia coach Kirby Smart was just doing the polite pregame patter that MOST coaches do ahead of a big game when asked about their opponent.

And maybe he meant it when he talked about 7 seed Notre Dame looking like an SEC team.

Thursday in the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, the Irish not only looked the part, they acted like it — especially on defense — in sideswiping the SEC champion/2 seed Georgia Bulldogs, 23-10, in the four and final College Football quarterfinal — this one staged at the Sugar Bowl.

Notre Dame (13-1) advances to next Thursday’s CFP Semifinal/Orange Bowl at Miami Gardens, Fla. against 6 seed Penn State (13-2), with the nation’s longest active win streak of 12 games at ND’s back.

Picking out who deserved the game balls this Thursday in the delayed quarterfinal, should start with the officials and first responders who helped make staging the game a day later than scheduled even possible, in light of the terrorist attack in the early morning hours Wednesday.

As for the Irish players, it’s Inside ND Sports’ custom to award two. Well, the heck with custom, we’ll expand it to four — and it easily could be double digits. We’ll award one for offense, one for defense and two for special teams.

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Defense: Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler

The sophomore tied a career high with eight tackles, was relentless is his pass coverage — which included a pass breakup — and he forced a first-quarter fumble by Georgia running back Trevor Etienne in the red zone, with linebacker and Louisiana native Jaiden Ausberry recovering.

OFFENSE: Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard

What the senior DIDN’T do was a big part of his contribution on offense. Zero turnovers. He also outrushed Georgia on his own, with 80 yards on 14 carries. As a team the differential was 154-62, nudging ND head coach Marcus Freeman’s record to 29-3 when his team wins the rushing battle.

Leonard completed 15-of-24 passes for a modest 90 yards, with a TD pass to wide receiver Beaux Collins late in the first half off another Georgia turnover.

SPECIAL TEAMS I: Kicker Mitch Jeter

The former South Carolina kicker faced Georgia in two games as the Gamecocks’ No. 1 place-kicking option, but he had never had a chance to attempt anything more than extra points against the Bulldogs.

Thursday, he got three cracks at field goals and looked back to his pre-October hip injury form. He nailed all three attempts — from 44, 48 and 47 yards. He also made both of his PATs, and for the first time since suffering the injury Oct. 12 against Stanford, Jeter kicked off.

SPECIAL TEAMS II: Kick returner Jayden Harrison

Harrison was the nation’s No. 2 kickoff returner last season for Marshall, then transferred to Notre Dame in January. The first time Notre Dame touched the ball, Harrison took back the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a TD — the second-longest return in Sugar Bowl history.

The return, Harrison’s first for a TD in an Irish uniform, gave Notre Dame a 20-3 lead.