Notre Dame Played Like a Champion Today in Win Over Indiana: 5 Key Takeaways

Notre Dame’s victory over Indiana showcased its national championship potential. Here are 5 key takeaways from the dominant CFP performance.

Dec 20, 2024; Notre Dame, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman celebrates with his team after defeating the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

It was an almost perfect performance by Notre Dame in the 27-17 win over Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

The defense was in total control right up until the game was out of reach - the real final score was 27-3. The running game rolled, Riley Leonard was solid, the team worked out some of the three-week layoff kinks, and now ...

It's on to Georgia. More specifically, it's on to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl. Win that, and it's on to the Fiesta Bowl. Win that, and it's on to ...

One step at a time, and Notre Dame just took a huge one in its win over IU. Here are five things that matter about the first game of the expanded College Football Playoff era.

5. No, this loss to Notre Dame doesn’t mean Indiana was bad.

X is a total cesspool now and Bluesky isn’t up to speed like it thinks it is, so social media was a mess during and after the Notre Dame win over Indiana.

It was all about Indiana not belonging in the CFP - yes, an 11-1 Big Ten team should be in a 12-team College Football Playoff - and there was plenty of hammering on the strength of schedule, but that wasn’t what this was about.

Indiana was good, and Notre Dame just showed how much better it is. This was about the more talented team getting three weeks off to rest, reset, and fully focus on a team with less talent.

No one seems capable of believing that this Irish team might be the real deal. With that said …

4. Riley Leonard will have the spotlight on.

Leonard was able to escape and elude the Indiana pass rush. His pocket mobility to buy time saved him on several key plays, and overall, he was relatively sharp.

The one early interception wasn’t his fault, he hit the big downfield throw to Jordan Faison, and he wasn’t used much as a runner until it was time to put the game away. But he’ll have to be even better against Georgia.

He didn’t take many chances and the yards after the catch weren’t there. He’ll have to run far more than 11 times in the Sugar Bowl, connect better on the deeper shots, and he must open things up because …

Dec 20, 2024; Notre Dame, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard (13), Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Donovan Hinish (41) and teammates go to the locker room for halftime against the Indiana Hoosiers at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

3. Notre Dame won’t power away on the Georgia lines.

By the time the Sugar Bowl starts, Georgia will have had almost a month to rest up. Gunnar Stockton will have had plenty of reps with Carson Beck likely out, and both lines should be fresh.

Notre Dame’s defensive line dominated the Indiana running game - it allowed two decent runs, but that was about it. It bothered QB Kurtis Rourke throughout, fired up three sacks and ten tackles for loss, and it was simply better than the front five on the other side.

Here’s the concern - 98 of Notre Dame’s 193 yards came on that one fabulous Jeremiyah Love run. Take that out, and the Irish averaged just 2.8 yards per carry.

The Irish were able to out-talent and bully the Hoosiers. That won’t be the case in a few weeks, but …

2. Notre Dame has to avoid the love and affection about to come its way.

I never liked the Nick Saban “rat poison” term he gave to the media and adoring fans who always pumped up his Alabama teams. Let's put it this way. Notre Dame needs to be ready for all the warm hugs about to come its way.

Remember, not everyone watched Notre Dame play this year, and too many remember the Northern Illinois game. So when some see a performance like that against a Big Ten team that went 11-1 this year, look out.

As is, the early Notre Dame vs Georgia Sugar Bowl line is Irish -1.5.

Now it’s real. Now the hype will be at a level that hasn’t been there as much as Notre Dame fans and people who’ve seen how this team has grown might realize. And with all that said …

1. Notre Dame can absolutely win the College Football Playoff.

At the very least, Notre Dame can beat Georgia. If it does that, it can absolutely beat - Penn State - whatever is coming out of the Fiesta Bowl into the Orange Bowl for a chance to play for the national championship.

Will Gunnar Stockton struggle in the big moment - that you probably had to Google who that is speaks to Georgia’s problem.

The Irish lines can at least hold serve, the running backs are better than Georgia’s, the secondary is stronger, and yeah, this is still the team that needed a bajillion overtimes to get by a Georgia Tech team the Irish throttled - well, sort of; the Yellow Jackets didn’t have Haynes King - and this hasn’t been close to the Bulldog teams of past seasons in terms of consistency.

Indiana really was a good team. It might have been overseeded a little bit, and the schedule might have been underwhelming, but that was a real-deal dominant performance over a real team.

Yes, Notre Dame can beat Georgia. Yes, Notre Dame can beat Penn State, Boise State, or SMU. And yes, the Notre Dame team that showed up against Indiana can absolutely play for the national title.

Fiu Bluesky