ATHENS – Georgia took a 1 1/2-point lead as an underdog against Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinals of the Sugar Bowl, according to oddsmaker FanDuel.

The No. 7 seed Irish (12-1) defeated No. 10 seed Indiana (11-2) 27-17 on Friday night in South Bend, Indiana, extending their season.

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Notre Dame had a commanding 27-3 lead when quarterback Riley Leonard scored on a 1-yard run with 4 minutes, 50 seconds left before the Hoosiers scored two touchdowns with 1:27 left in the final to make the score more respectable.

Notre Dame outgained Indiana by 394 yards to 278 and rushed for 193 yards against a Hoosiers unit that previously led the nation in rush defense (76.2 yards per game entering the CFP).

It was the 11th straight win for the Irish, who suffered an impressive 16-14 home loss to Mid-American Conference team Northern Illinois in the second week of the season.

That momentum — coupled with an elbow injury that sidelined Carson Beck — has oddsmakers giving Notre Dame an early lead.

Georgia leads Notre Dame 3-0 in the series, with Kirby Smart’s 2017 UGA team winning 20-19 in South Bend before the 2019 Bulldogs won a home game 23-17.

The SEC champion Bulldogs (11-2), seeded No. 2, have won four straight since their loss, a 28-10 setback at then-No. 16 Ole Miss.

Georgia’s last two wins came in overtime; a 44-42 8-OT home win over Georgia Tech and a 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the SEC Championship Game

“Georgia keeps winning, but it feels uncomfortable watching them,” said ESPN commentator Sean McDonough.

“They keep finding a way to win, but it always feels like they’re on a tightrope,” the veteran play-by-play man said. “We saw a Georgia Tech team that was good, not as good as Notre Dame, which Georgia really should have beaten at the end of the year.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Notre Dame beat them.”

Greg McElroy, analyzing the Irish’s win over the Hoosiers, put UGA’s current status in perspective.

“I think this Georgia team has some resilience that we haven’t necessarily seen in Georgia before because they’ve been so dominant,” McElroy said. “I think they are cold and ready to play their best football.

“But I also think that the identity of a team without Carson Beck will look different in the future.”

In fact, backup quarterback Gunner Stockton isn’t the thrower that Beck is, but he brings enough mobility to be a threat.

According to Smart, the Bulldogs have been practicing hard and “working on themselves” and can now turn their attention to this version of Notre Dame.

Georgia’s recent wins against the Irish were celebrated by current LSU coach Brian Kelly on the Notre Dame sideline, but Smart has faced current Irish head coach Marcus Freeman before.

Freeman was the defensive coordinator of a previously undefeated Cincinnati team that defeated Georgia 24-21 in the 2021 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

The Bulldogs trailed the Bearcats 21-10 early in the fourth quarter before JT Daniels led Georgia to victory, capping the Covid-shortened 2020 season with a top-10 win.

Kicker Jack Podlesny hit a 53-yard field goal with three seconds left to give UGA a 22-21 lead before Azeez Ojulari sacked Desmond Ridder for a safety on the final play.

A lot has changed in college football since then, as the winner of the Sugar Bowl will advance to the 12-team playoffs on Jan. 1 (8:45 p.m., ABC) to the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m to play in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The other Orange Bowl team will come from a bracket that includes the Fiesta Bowl winner between No. 4 seed Boise State and the winner of the first-round game with SMU at Penn State (Saturday at noon, TNT).