SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The strongest analysis may be the simplest.

In the first College Football Playoff matchup of 2024, the question was fundamental. Could Indiana’s offense — a productive unit that struggled against its best competition — handle an elite Notre Dame defense?

Given the struggles IU faced in a narrow win over Michigan and a lopsided loss to Ohio State, that seemed unlikely. Notre Dame had given up more than 16 points only twice all season. Exceptional performances can happen, but on paper things didn’t look good for Indiana.

On a cool Friday evening, things didn’t look particularly good on the field either.

ND’s stifling defense backed up its expectations, controlling the rare in-state showdown with a 27-17 triumph over Indiana.

Early in the first quarter, the Irish forced an immediate three-pointer. After a deflected pass resulted in excellent field position for IU, ball-carrying Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts made a charge and intercepted near the goal line to thwart a prime scoring opportunity.

On the first snap of the next drive, Jeremiyah Love raced 98 yards down the left sideline to take a lead that ND would never relinquish.

From then on, we see in retrospect, it was over.

Indiana’s next two possessions ended with a punt and a promising drive before the break stalled in the red zone. The first half ended with the Hoosiers trailing 17-3 after 138 yards.

Notre Dame continued its dominance in the second half, sacking Kurtis Rourke on IU’s first offensive snap. Indiana punted on three straight drives – gaining a total of five yards – and the Irish extended their lead to an unassailable 24 points in the process.

Two laborious touchdown drives later, the box score doesn’t look the same anymore terrible for Rourke and the Hoosiers. But he didn’t manage 100 yards passing until deep in the fourth quarter. Indiana had very little success throwing the ball outside of some slants, and the running game was completely irrelevant, allowing 70 yards on 22 attempts without a sack.

In short, the defense simply overwhelmed a talented IU team.

If the Irish can hold The level, they will be incredibly difficult to beat in the College Football Playoff. They advanced to the quarterfinals against second-seeded Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.

Don’t confuse this with an instant prediction. Notre Dame’s offense moved the ball fairly decently on a resilient IU team, but remains a concern.

Riley Leonard is still more of a QB the Irish will win withnot because of. He completed 23 of 32 passes for 201 yards, a modest 6.3 yards, even below his 80th-ranked regular-season average of 7.1 yards. That simply won’t be enough against top teams.

While Love’s 98-yard dash was outstanding, ND trudged to 3.3 yards on its remaining runs. These things can positively coexist – it only takes one pass! – and a real issue to monitor.

But this defense is also a championship-caliber unit. Notre Dame could also play into the next duel.

Georgia is exceptionally talented overall, but starting quarterback Carson Beck is not expected to play in the CFP since he was sidelined by an elbow injury in the SEC Championship Game.

Gunner Stockton, a 4-star 2022 prospect, is a dual threat with tremendous potential. However, he only attempted 51 passes and was never a starter at Georgia. It’s only reasonable to say that there’s cause for concern about using him against such intelligent, physical defenses.

As with Indiana’s outlook Friday in South Bend, there may be outliers. After all, the unexpected is a staple of college football.

But Notre Dame will certainly not lack self-confidence.

The front seven is robust, as evidenced by ten stops in the backfield on Friday. The secondary – led by Watts, who paced IU with 10 tackles and an interception – is a strong unit and rarely gives up explosive plays, even without star cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

History is littered with examples of the value of an elite unit, and there is truly no weakness in ND’s defense. This achievement was a clear warning to the rest of the CFP’s programmes.

The level of competition only increases from here, but the Irish have a rock-solid foundation to rely on.