Indiana was no match for Notre Dame.

The No. 7 Fighting Irish earned a 27-17 victory over the No. 10 Hoosiers on Friday night in the opening game of the 12-team College Football Playoff. The game was effectively over when Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love tied a school record and set a College Football Playoff record when he ran 98 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.

Of course, at that point, no one watching knew that Love had finished the game. But as time went on, it became increasingly clear that Love’s run was the great example of how the night would go for Indiana.

Love’s TD gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead and the Fighting Irish led 17-3 at halftime. Indiana’s three points came when the Hoosiers decided to kick a field goal with less than five minutes left in the second quarter after calling a timeout to make the decision. One could understand why Indiana would have chosen this; The difference between 11 and 14 points is still a two-possession game. Had Indiana somehow cut the lead to seven, there might have been a plausible path to a win.

Instead, Indiana kicked the field goal. Notre Dame responded with a field goal of its own before halftime.

Any chance of an upset for Indiana disappeared in the third quarter. Notre Dame got the ball first and returned the kick past midfield. The Hoosiers were able to quickly force a punt, but when they got the ball back it went for a three-pointer.

Indiana appeared to have stopped Notre Dame on the Irish’s next drive, but James Carpenter was cited for hitting Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard as Leonard went out of bounds. The third-down penalty gave Notre Dame a free first down and the Irish extended their lead to 17 points and three possessions.

From then on it was definitely over. And if that wasn’t enough of an indication, Indiana’s decision to punt the ball while trailing by 17 with under 11 minutes left would have given many neutral observers enough incentive to change the channel before Indiana scored two late touchdowns the end result had to be respectable.

Notre Dame gets Georgia

The win gives the Fighting Irish a Jan. 1 matchup against No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. It is the fifth Sugar Bowl appearance for Notre Dame and the school’s first since 2007, when Notre Dame lost 41-14 to an LSU team led by JaMarcus Russell. In 1981, Georgia defeated Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl to (unofficially) win a national title.

This Notre Dame team is capable of beating Georgia on the first day of 2025, especially with the questions surrounding the Bulldogs at quarterback. Gunner Stockton is expected to start for the Bulldogs in the SEC title game after Carson Beck’s elbow injury. Beck could miss the entire College Football Playoff.

However, Notre Dame needs to be better on offense than it was Saturday night. Riley Leonard threw an interception on the Irish’s first drive and the running game didn’t do much besides Love’s 98-yard run. Notre Dame was clearly the better team on Friday night, but without Love’s big effort it would have been a much closer game.

The Irish could also have injury concerns on defense. Rylie Moss limped off the field after being sacked by Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke when his right leg hit a teammate in the second half.

Don’t call Indiana a scam

Outbreaks occur. Especially in the College Football Playoff. Indiana is far from the first team to fail in the postseason. And all previous losses came in a four-team playoff.

But it’s fair to look at Indiana’s season and consider it fortunate. In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable and fairly accurate.

After years of playing in the same Big Ten division as Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the Hoosiers did not have the Nittany Lions on their schedule in 2024. In return, they got Washington, the team that lost to Michigan in the national title game almost a year ago.

Yes, both Michigan and Washington were far worse than they were in 2023 due to player departures and coaching changes. But that’s not Indiana’s fault. The Hoosiers beat both and everyone else outside of Ohio State on their regular-season schedule. The game didn’t go well. The Buckeyes won 38-15.

Ohio State overwhelmed Indiana’s offensive line in that game and the imbalance was again evident Friday as Notre Dame was by far the better team against Indiana’s offensive line. The Hoosiers were one of the highest-scoring teams in the country, but their games against Ohio State and Notre Dame made it clear that they ranked above most teams but among the best in college football.

That’s okay. Not every team that makes the 12-team playoffs is going to be great, and throughout the history of college football there have been countless teams that have posted double-digit season wins thanks to fortunate schedules. And at 11-1 in the Big Ten, Indiana more than deserved a chance to play for the national title. Unlike a certain team in the SEC, it did not suffer two losses to .500 teams in the regular season.