Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman couldn’t help but grin on Thursday night.

The Irish’s 38-year-old head coach had watched for most of 60 minutes as the Irish beat Georgia and beat the Bulldogs at their own game.

Notre Dame defeated Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome, with Freeman employing the same aggressive playmaking and elite special teams skills that Kirby Smart-coached teams typically display in their victories.

Georgia came from behind to win six games when trailing at half-time, but there would be no late-game heroics against an Irish side determined to stay on the attack.

“That has to be one of our advantages, that we’re going to be an aggressive group and not afraid to make mistakes,” said Freeman, whose Notre Dame team is coming off a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois in Game 2 won consecutive weeks of the season.

Georgia outgained Notre Dame 296 yards to 244 yards and had its least penalized total with five penalties for 41 yards, while the Irish were turned away 10 times for 78 yards.

And yet it was Notre Dame that showed more discipline in the crucial moments, forcing turnovers and making timely plays.

Freeman’s squad management was also on display, his Irish team relying heavily on transfers to boost their performances.

Duke quarterback transfer Riley Leonard was the game’s MVP, while Duke end RJ Oben had a blindside fumble hit on Gunner Stockton that set up Leonard’s touchdown pass to Clemson receiver transfer Beaux Collins just before halftime.

Miami transfer Jaden Harris opened the second half with a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown that made it 20-3, a lead that rested in part on the foot of South Carolina kicker transfer Mitch Jeter, who He shot a perfect 3-of-3 and made field goals from 44, 48 and 47 yards.

Meanwhile, Georgia was able to keep its main transfer largely under control. Florida transfer tailback Trevor Etienne was held to 11 carries for 38 yards behind a mixed offensive line that neither provided a boost nor adequately protected first-time starting quarterback Gunner Stockton.

The Irish sacked Stockton four times and UGA ball carriers were targeted behind the line of scrimmage for loss (TFL) nine times.

It turned out that Stockton was one of Georgia’s least concerns, completing a solid 20 of 32 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown.

Stockton’s numbers could have been even better had there not been more dropped passes from a Bulldogs receiving corps that led the nation with 38 drops.

Dillon Bell led UGA with six catches for 33 yards in a game plan that saw him make 12 jaw-dropping scores — including a deep pass that would have gone at least 48 yards and perhaps a touchdown against Notre Dame had the game been wide open for Bell didn’t drop it.

Etienne (4 catches, 26 yards) and second-year Missouri transfer receiver Dominic Lovett (3 catches, 36 yards) were each targeted four times, while walk-on tailback Cash Jones, tight end Oscar Delp and freshman tailback Nate Frazier had two goals.

Receiver Arian Smith, who caught a 67-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, only saw one pass coming his way.

Freeman showed how confident he was that Georgia didn’t have the aerial firepower to defeat his football team.

“We had three keys to victory on defense and the first was stopping the run and we didn’t think we could lose this game by passing yards, but we could lose if we didn’t stop the run.” said Freeman said.

“And the defense did a great job stopping the run. And that put them in some tough third-down situations.”

Georgia was 2 of 12 on third down conversions, including 0 of 5 in the second half, in addition to 0 of 3 on fourth down conversion attempts.

“Another key to victory was insight,” Freeman said. “And the defense had two takeaways, a couple turnovers on downs that were huge. They were relentless.”

Notre Dame’s offensive line, meanwhile, paved the way for the Irish to outrebound UGA 154-62 by allowing just one sack and one tackle for loss.

Leonard did the most damage with 80 yards rushing on 14 carries, while he only managed 90 yards on 15 completions on his 24 attempts.

“Our biggest key to the win was the offensive line on both sides of the ball, and that’s exactly what we did,” Leonard said. “We knew that if we could establish ourselves up front we would have a chance at this thing.”

Leonard explained how the Irish employ a “superpower” mentality that gives them an advantage over their opponents.

“As a Notre Dame player, you recruit the right people for a reason, and I think adding another day only helps our superpower,” Leonard said, explaining how the Irish used the one-day postponement of the game to their advantage used.

“We constantly say our superpowers: our preparation and the character in our locker room. These are two intangible things that we have and that we use… This is our superpower, our preparation; and I think it definitely paid off today.”

Notre Dame will face Penn State in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinals on Jan. 9, while Texas and Ohio State will meet in the Cotton Bowl CFP semifinals on Jan. 10.

Georgia, the No. 2 seed in the CFP, finishes its season at 11-3 and sends its senior class the winningest class in program history (53-6) and SEC champions after a 22-19 overtime win over the Longhorns.