LIVE BLOG: Indiana Takes On Notre Dame In A College Football Playoff Game

No. 10-seeded Indiana invades No. 7-seeded Notre Dame at Notre Dame Stadium in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Indiana and Notre Dame warm-up about 90 minutes before the College Football Playoff game on Dec. 20, 2024 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.
Indiana and Notre Dame warm-up about 90 minutes before the College Football Playoff game on Dec. 20, 2024 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. / Hoosiers On SI | Todd Golden

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Welcome to Notre Dame Stadium and the Hoosiers On SI live blog! Follow along with the game action as No. 10-seeded Indiana visits No. 7-seeded Notre Dame in the first College Football Playoff game of the 12-team era of the College Football Playoff.

Here we go!

Indiana starters: Offense - QB Kurtis Rourke, RB Justice Ellison, WR Elijah Sarratt, WR Omar Cooper Jr., WR Myles Price, TE Ethan Horton, T Carter Smith, G Bray Lynch, G Tyler Stephens, T Trey Wedig, C Mike Katic.

Defense – DE Mikail Kamara, DE Lanell Carr Jr., DT James Carpenter, DT CJ West, LB Aiden Fisher, LB Jailin Walker, LB Rolijah Hardy, CB Jamari Sharpe, CB D’Angelo Ponds, S Shawn Asbury II, S Amare Ferrell.

0-0, 14:06 1Q. Not a great start for the Indiana offense. Justice Ellison was dropped for a 3-yard loss followed by a pair if incomplete passes thrown by Kurtis Rourke. Notre Dame gets good field position at its own 41 to start its first series.

0-0, 14:01 1Q. Big break for Indiana. On Notre Dame's second play of the game, a Riley Leonard passed was tipped at the line by James Carpenter. D'Angelo Ponds grabbed the deflected ball for an interception that sets the Hoosiers up at the Notre Dame.41. Indiana gets the first turnover.

0-0, 11:11 1Q. The turnover battle is even again. A Kurtis Rourke pass just out of Ke'Shawn Williams' reach was picked off by Notre Dame S Xavier Watts. Unfortunate for the Hoosiers as it came just after a beautiful 28-yard catch by WR Elijah Sarratt on a 3rd-and-14 conversion put the Hoosiers in scoring position. The Fighting Irish will start their series at the Indiana 2.

• Touchdown Notre Dame. Jeremiyah Love goes 98 yards for a touchdown on Notre Dame's first play after the interception. Went through the left side of the line and jetted to daylight.

Notre Dame 7-0, 10:57 1Q. Nothing too complicated about it. Notre Dame's line opened up a gaping hole on the left side and Love sprinted through it. D'Angelo Ponds gave chase all the way, might have briefly been screened by a pursuing Jamari Sharpe, but not sure that made much difference. Hoosiers have adversity to overcome now.

Notre Dame 7-0, 7:00 1Q. Tough start for Kurtis Rourke. He's 1 of 6 for 28 yards and an interception. Hasn't had the touch he typically has on his passes. Indiana did get its running game going as the Hoosiers are up to 41 yards on nine carries, but Indiana needs Rourke to settle down. James Evans' punt appeared to be deflected at the line and only goes 20 yards. Notre Dame starts its series at its own 17.

Notre Dame 7-0, 3:33 1Q. Fighting Irish moving downfield. Mitchell Evans fumbled after a short catch and shortly after the catch. No Hoosiers were near the loose ball and it was recovered by Jordan Faison for a first down. Indiana sideline thought it was an incomplete pass, but it appeared that Evans did barely established possession before he dropped the ball.

End 1st quarter - Notre Dame 7, Indiana 0. Fighting Irish are at the Indiana 14 threatening to add to their lead. For the first time all season, Indiana's defense has had big trouble stopping the run. Notre Dame is averaging 16.4 yards per carry. The 98-yard run skews the average, but even if you take that run out, the Fighting Irish are at 4.7 yards on their other carries.

Touchdown Notre Dame. Jayden Thomas with a 5-yard touchdown catch over the middle on a perfectly-executed play-action pass.

• Notre Dame 14-0, 12:52 2Q. Good fake by Riley Leonard to Jadarian Price. Amare Ferrell was a tad too late to get to Jayden Thomas, but a lot more credit goes to Notre Dame for a good play call than Indiana for any kind of system failure on the play. Notre Dame had the ball for 9 minutes, 8 seconds on that scoring series. Imperative for the Hoosiers to get a response on their next series.

Notre Dame 14-0, 9:30 2Q. Hoosiers did a good job getting the ball to midfield with a first down catch by Ke'Shawn Williams and a long run by Ty Son Lawton, but Notre Dame's defense has shut the Hoosiers down via pass or run more often than not. Indiana strangely ran the ball up the middle on 3rd-and-10 at midfield and were stuffed. James Evans shanks his punt and the Fighting Irish will try to build their lead from their own 22.

Notre Dame 14-0, 7:26 2Q. Indiana defense steps up with a much-needed stop. Bizarrely, Jeremiyah Love is now at 91 rushing yards after his early 98-yard touchdown run. Indiana stuffed him for a loss twice on that series and underpublicized Lanell Carr Jr. tipped a third down pass at the line. Hoosiers get a chance to get a foothold in this game with the ball at their own 36.

Notre Dame 14-0, 5:48 2Q. Nice blitz pickup by RB Ty Son Lawton on a 15-yard catch by Elijah Sarratt that gets the Hoosiers past midfield. After that, a holding penalty on another Indiana pass gets the Hoosiers to the Notre Dame 39.

Notre Dame 14-3, 3:30 2Q. Indiana got to the Notre Dame 16 faced 4th-and-4. Hoosiers tried to draw the Fighting Irish offsides, but no dice. Ever dependable Nicolas Radicic boots a 34-yard field goal to get Indiana on the board. Touchdown would have been better, but the Hoosiers needed something positive and has something to hang its hat on. Defense has to prevent a Notre Dame answer before halftime.

• Notre Dame scoreboard showing Indiana fans with Notre Dame booing all of them, including some kids. Tempting fate, the Fighting Irish. One Indiana fan pointed to his middle finger on one of them. All in fun I guess.

Notre Dame 14-3, 2:00 2Q. The numbers don't look that bad. Notre Dame has a 194-132 edge in total yards. That 98-yard Jeremiyah Love TD run is skewing the numbers, but that's like saying my four-cylinder engine is what's keeping me out of the Indianapolis 500. An inconvenient fact is still a fact.

Notre Dame 17-3, :07 2Q. Mitch Jeter boots a 49-yard field goal. Notre Dame converted two third downs on the series. The Fighting Irish are 5 of 7 on third down in the game. Indiana way off their usual stout third down defense. Coming into the game, Indiana ranked 8th in 3rd down conversion percentage defense at 31.3%.

• Halftime - Notre Dame 17, Indiana 3. Hoosiers were out-classed in the first half, but the deficit isn't so large it can't be overcome. Defense needs to be better and the offense needs to be opportunistic.

Notre Dame 17-3, 13:15 3Q. If Indiana wants to get back into this game, it needed a stop and it got it, albeit past midfield. Indiana begins its first second half series at its own 12.

Notre Dame 17-3, 12:57 3Q. On Indiana's first second half play, quarterback Kurtis Rourke is sacked by Rylie Mills, the sack leader for the Fighting Irish. Indiana is knocked back to its 4 yard line, but Mills was hurt on the play and had to be helped off the field.

Notre Dame 17-3, 11:03 3Q. Notre Dame fans really getting into it. Getting loud and Indiana can't get hear anything buried in the north end zone of Notre Dame Stadium. An offsides penalty got Indiana out of a potential safety, but there was little else going for the Hoosiers. Notre Dame takes over at the Indiana 43 after a solid punt by James Evans.

Notre Dame 17-3, 6:40 3Q. Indiana had Notre Dame stopped on third down as Riley Leonard was forced to scramble out of a blitz, but James Carpenter hit Leonard out of bounds to keep the Fighting Irish drive alive in the red zone. An absolute killer penalty. Curt Cignetti was shown on a replay shouting, "Why! Why!" A replay that said it all. (Was it a late hit, though? Didn't look nearly as blatant on replay. Angles aren't great. One from behind looks like it was legal. One from the end zone looks like Leonard is way out of bounds.)

Notre Dame 17-3, 4:25 3Q. When it rains it pours. Indiana defense had an admirable stand inside the 10 and forced the Fighting Irish into a field goal attempt. Notre Dame broke out of field position formation and overloaded left with a direct snap to tight end Mitchell Evans. He was stopped short of first down yardage, but a timeout that Curt Cignetti had tried to call was granted after the play had run. So Notre Dame gets another chance.

Notre Dame 20-3, 4:21 3Q. After a false start penalty, Mitch Jeter boots a 33-yard field goal to give the Fighting Irish a 17-point gap.

Notre Dame 20-3, 2:48 3Q. Just isn't happening for the Indiana offense. Hoosiers go three-and-out and Notre Dame takes over at its own 31. Have to give Notre Dame's defense credit as the Irish have held the Hoosiers to just 3.6 yards per play and 2.2 yards per rush.

End third quarter - Notre Dame 20, Indiana 3. Getting to the point where the Hoosiers need to force a turnover or two and, of course, get the offense going. Easier said than done.

Notre Dame 20-3, 12:12 4Q. Indiana finally gets a break and the man around the big moments tonight - James Carpenter - is the one who was there. Carpenter blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt by Mitch Jeter. Indiana was able to advance the ball to its own 35. Here's the window of opportunity the Hoosiers so badly needed to be opened up for them.

Notre Dame 20-3, 10:45 4Q. Hoosiers face 4th-and-10 from the Notre Dame 47. Notre Dame defensive lineman Bryce Young is hurt on the third down play so the game is stopped. Hoosiers are in a position where they really have to go for it. Lights out at Notre Dame Stadium for timeout entertainment. Kind of distracting if you're trying to plan a pretty important play, but whatever.

Notre Dame 20-3, 10:34 4Q. Indiana doesn't go for it. A 26-yard James Evans punt gives Notre Dame the ball at the Indiana 22. Curt Cignetti hoping his defense can give it back quickly. I would have gone for it.

Notre Dame 20-3, 725 4Q. Curt Cignetti's faith in his defense isn't being repaid. Fighting Irish have converted a pair of first downs since the Hoosiers punted the ball away ... and that clock is ticking. Right after I typed that, Riley Leonard escaped containment and threw a 44-yard pass to Jordan Faison to put Notre Dame on the Indiana 1.

Touchdown Notre Dame. On a fake handoff, Riley Leonard strolls in from a yard out. Game over for the Hoosiers.

Notre Dame 27-3, 4:50 4Q. Was just discussing with the Hoosiers On SI team how much worse this is than the loss at Ohio State. At least in Columbus, Indiana had flashes of quality. Not tonight. Notre Dame has been dominant from start to finish. Sometimes, you just have to tip your cap.

• Notre Dame fans turning the "Hoosier Daddy" chant around on the Hoosiers. This after a very dumb shove out of bounds after a play was over to knock the offense back 15 yards. Not that it will matter much in the final balance.

Touchdown Indiana. Myles Price with a 7-yard touchdown on a swing pass to the right side. He reached over the goal line to get the TD.

Notre Dame 27-11, 1:27 4Q. Two-point conversion pass is completed to Elijah Sarratt. Indiana needs a lot of prayers to be answered for a miracle comeback.

Notre Dame 27-11, 1:24 4Q. Indiana recovers the onside kick! Great kick by Nicolas Radicic took a huge bounce and Elijah Sarratt recovered it.

Touchdown Indiana. Omar Cooper Jr. with a 23-yard touchdown catch with 25 seconds left.

Notre Dame 27-17, :25 4Q. Jordan Clark tips the pass intended for Elijah Sarratt for the two-point conversion Indiana needed to have a miracle hope of forcing overtime. Onside kick by Radicic was good again, but this time Notre Dame recovers and that should do it.

FINAL - Notre Dame 27, Indiana 17. The dream season comes to an end with a bit of a thud. Notre Dame dominated this game from start to finish. Some late desperation TDs make it look better than it really was. Nonetheless, Indiana was 11-2. A remarkable season comes to an end, but it was still remarkable. Hope Indiana fans are giving the Hoosiers a standing ovation in their minds right now.

Pregame

• Notre Dame won the toss. Indiana will have the ball first as it has so many times this season.

• I guess the Dropkick Murphys are inevitable at Notre Dame, but c'mon man. Please be original. (Not a big fan.)

• If pregame boos and cheers are any indication, Indiana got booed pretty lustily. I don't think that's a major surprise. It's a road playoff game. Everyone knew it would be a tough environment coming in.

• Temperature right now is 28 degrees with wind at 9-19 miles per hour from the north. Wind chill is 19 degrees. Notre Dame press box reports that flurries are possible, but skies are expected to get clearer as the game goes along.

Notre Dame sent out info to the media earlier this week about coldest games at Notre Dame Stadium. A 1964 game against Iowa is the record at 13 degrees. This game might be just out of the top 5, but should be comfortably within the top 10.

• Where does the Notre Dame fight song rate in your pantheon? Iconic, of course. The rare fight song that is kind of known beyond the scope of athletics.

• Pregame ceremonies have begun. The Notre Dame band is on the field. Several Notre Dame legends are on the field being introduced, including 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown.

• Definitely going to be more than 2,500 Indiana fans in the house. Good mix walking into the stadium of Notre Dame and Indiana fans. Plenty of "Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers" chants. Notre Dame will have the majority of fans, of course, but Indiana fans will be noticeable.

• I'll just leave this one out there. It speaks for itself.

• Nick Saban had a pretty funny comment on Curt Cignetti as well.

• Weather? It could be worse, but it's going to be uncomfortable for those in the crowd. Temps are floating around where it was predicted, right at or just under 30 degrees. The wind is coming in from the north as predicted and it was a brisk walk from my parking spot southeast of the stadium. December weather, so just part of the territory

.No snow to speak of. I know some fans who left Bloomington in the morning ran into snow and snow-related accidents. By noon-ish, most of it had cleared out. Up here, it's cloudy and there could be a flurry during the game, but nothing that's going to affect anything on the field.

Fashion report: Indiana never changes. Hoosiers are in all-white with red helmets. Notre Dame is warming up in their traditional blue jerseys with gold pants. There are names on the jerseys, a first for Notre Dame that I know of. Looks like the names are in gold which is pretty cool.

Imagine if Indiana basketball had to wear names on their jerseys for a playoff game? People would be freaking out!

• Speaking of fashion, Notre Dame's gold helmets are impossibly gold. I know they paint them regularly, but it seems in recent years, they've used a different coat or paint style (I don't work at Sherwin-Williams and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), but they look really cool.

• Still hard for me to wrap my mind around what a massive moment this is. When you're around it all of the time and you're writing about it almost everyday, you're in a bubble, and it's hard sometimes to try to see perspective outside of that bubble. Deep down, you know that what Indiana did this season is remarkable, but we're sitting here in South Bend for a College Football Playoff game against one of the biggest brand names in the sport. Kind of have to take a deep breath and let that sink in a bit. Amazing stuff.

• This is my first trip to Notre Dame Stadium and it showed as I went to the west side of the stadium where the press box typically is in most stadia. However, after a renovation, the press box is on the east side of the stadium, which was clearly pointed out in the materials sent to us by Notre Dame that I obviously didn't read clearly. Nice to see how the other half lives in the swanky west press box. Opulence? Uh, yeah.

• No one of consequence was on the Indiana injury report. Quarterback Tyler Cherry and defensive lineman Te'Derius Collins were listed as out, the only players on the Indiana availability report.

Touchdown Jesus
The "Word Of Life" mural, better known as Touchdown Jesus, looms above the ESPN College GameDay set on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024 on Notre Dame's campus in South Bend, Ind. / Todd Golden | Hoosiers On SI

• Touchdown Jesus is lit up in green for tonight's game. Hard to see it from my vantage point in the press box, but the mural is there. Growing up Catholic, I've been in a ton of churches that have iconography just like that.

• I grew up Catholic, so I can identify with Tom Brew's column on growing up in a similar environment. The difference for me is that I grew up in Milwaukee and in the 1970s and 1980s when Marquette basketball was a big part of being both Catholic and a Milwaukee native.

Back then, Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame and Dayton were part of the so-called Catholic Alliance and they usually played each other home-and-home, even though they were all independent at the time. Being a Marquette fan, I had no love for Notre Dame and particularly Digger Phelps. And being in the Marquette feeder system of parochial schools? We were praying for the (then) Warriors, not for the Fighting Irish! My basketball-rooted animus towards Notre Dame was easily transferred to football over the years even though Marquette dropped football after the 1960 season.

However, I'm not here as a fan, I'm here as a journalist, so all of that gets put aside while I'm on the job!

Related stories on Indiana football

  • PREDICTION: A berth in the Sugar Bowl quarter final is on the line as Indiana and Notre Dame begin the 12-team College Football Playoff era. CLICK HERE
  • TOM BREW COLUMN: I grew up an Irish-Catholic kid in Northwest Indiana and went to a Catholic grade school where we prayed for Notre Dame victories in church. I never got that, but also never imagined that Indiana, my alma mater, would ever have a playoff game at Notre Dame, either. That happens Friday night, but let me take you back 60 years first. CLICK HERE
  • 3 QUESTIONS FOR IU-ND: Three notable factors in Indiana’s playoff game at Notre Dame will be how the Hoosiers’ offensive line protects Kurtis Rourke, how Indiana’s top-ranked rush defense fares against a potent Notre Dame run game, and which team wins the turnover battle. CLICK HERE
  • HOW TO WATCH: No. 10-seeded Indiana football plays at No. 7-seeded Notre Dame at 8 p.m. ET Friday at Notre Dame Stadium. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, the latest on the point spread, series history, coaching information and more. CLICK HERE
  • TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER: Hoosiers On SI's Transfer Portal Tracker for incomings and outgoings from and into the portal. CLICK HERE.
  • JOY OF JAILIN: Indiana linebacker Jailin Walker brings joy to his job and it's infectious for the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE.
  • WHAT CIGNETTI SAID: What Curt Cignetti said in his final press conference before Indiana's College Football Playoff game at Notre Dame. CLICK HERE.

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