Notre Dame looked outstanding in the first half of the Sugar Bowl, taking a 13-3 lead Georgia into the break. Before heading back to the locker room, Notre Dame’s head coach speaks Marcus Freeman spoke about his team’s performance in the first half and revealed how they can maintain their lead.

“A great way to end the half,” Freeman said. “We need to win the turnover and capitalize on it offensively. But the game will last more than 60 minutes, and if you watch the Georgian team all year long, you know they won’t give up.

“So we have to be in attack mode and not feel comfortable with a 10-point lead. As soon as we come out of the locker room we have to be in attack mode.”

The Fighting Irish were clearly in attack mode in the first half. Notre Dame’s defense was particularly spectacular, recording three sacks and forcing Georgia into two fumbles, both of which resulted in turnovers.

One of those fumbles occurred as a UGA quarterback with 33 seconds left in the first half Shooter Stockton was taken out RJ Above And Junior Tuihalamaka got the ball back.

On the next play, Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard threw a 13 yard dart Beau Collins to increase the Fighting Irish’s lead to double digits. Leonard completed 10 of his 15 pass attempts for 60 yards and a score in the first half. He also managed 50 rushing yards on just six carries.

At halftime, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart discussed his decision to look for a deep ball late in the half, which ultimately resulted in the fumble.

“Well, I’d say we tried to be aggressive in two minutes and we’ll probably regret it, right? Going into halftime up 6-3,” Smart told ESPN sideline reporter Laura Rutledge. “But we wanted to show confidence in our quarterback and let him play. We didn’t get the block we needed and they made a good play.”

Notre Dame appeared to take Marcus Freeman’s halftime message to heart. After halftime, Notre Dame’s Peyton Woodring returned Georgia’s kickoff for a touchdown, giving Notre Dame a 20-3 lead. Now the Fighting Irish will look to build on their momentum as the second half progresses.