NEW ORLEANS – “Challenge everything” isn’t just a catchy phrase that looks good on a Notre Dame football T-shirt.

It’s an instruction drilled into the head coach from the top down Marcus Freeman‘s program. It doesn’t mean anything if Freeman doesn’t fully embrace it himself, and it never felt more decisive than midway through the fourth quarter of a 23-10 victory over Georgia in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal hosted by the Sugar Bowl.

With Notre Dame’s offense struggling on fourth-and-1 from its own 18-yard line, Freeman sent his punt team onto the field with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Irish maintained a 13-point lead, but their offense was forced into what appeared to be a three-point play.

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But Freeman had no intention of Notre Dame punting at all. Snapper soon Joseph Vinci After leaning down to touch the ball, all eleven members of Notre Dame’s punt team left their spots on the field and ran toward the sideline as Notre Dame’s offense replaced them on the field. By rule, Georgia then had time to switch and run its defense on the field, which was a little less organized than Notre Dame, but still worked.

Then Georgia fell in love with Notre Dame’s scheme at linebacker Jalon Walker jumped the line of scrimmage, prompting center Pat Coogan to kick the ball to quarterback Riley Leonard to ensure a penalty was called. Leonard continued the play by throwing a deep pass to wide receiver Beaux Collins, which he didn’t catch, but it didn’t matter. The Irish won the chess match at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Notre Dame extended its drive for more than five minutes with the help of a few third-down conversions on Leonard runs before finally punting the ball. That left Georgia with 1:49 left and no more timeouts. Notre Dame’s defense took care of the rest and sealed the win.

“We practiced that situation in the fourth quarter,” Freeman said of the substitution trick. “And I think the performance reflected that. We had great confidence in our ability to do this and we had a plan. And that’s the aggressiveness in terms of our preparation that I want for our program, getting back out there when it matters most.

“And that has to be one of our advantages, that we will be an aggressive group and not afraid to make mistakes.”

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart ended up being the owner of more errors. He said he didn’t take a timeout in that situation because that’s exactly what Notre Dame wanted him to do. Smart’s team executed the substitution correctly, but was still able to prevail due to Leonard’s hard count. On the other hand, Smart believed that Notre Dame’s substitution was not legal. Regardless, it worked. And Leonard wanted to make sure Freeman got the credit for it.

“Really quickly,” Leonard said. “He is humble. That was entirely his game and we wanted to do it differently two days ago. And then he turned it around and we did it that way and it worked.”

The aggressiveness with which Freeman wants his team to play was evident early and often, especially on defense. Three of Georgia’s first five offensive plays went backwards, with linebacker Jaylen Sneed and safety Xavier Watts recording tackles for losses and linebacker Jack Kiser sacking the quarterback Shooter Stockton.

Then a successful second drive by the Georgia offense ended with a big hit from safety Adon Shuler on a third-and-1 carry by the running back Trevor Etiennewhich forced a fumble that linebacker Jaiden Ausberry recovered.

“It kind of set the tone for the game and it helped the offense get going,” said Shuler, who had a team-high eight tackles. “It was a huge blessing to be able to create a play that could help my team in the best way possible.”

Georgia scored first with a 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter, set up by a 67-yard completion from Stockton to wide receiver Arian Smith. The Bulldogs only had one other offensive play of more than 30 yards the rest of the game: a 32-yard touchdown reception by a running back Cash Jones to broken reporting in the third quarter.

Notre Dame responded with its first score, made possible by a 32-yard run by Leonard, who became both teams’ leading rusher with 14 carries for 90 yards. Beleaguered kicker Mitch Jeter, who showed signs of being back on track in a 2-for-3 win against Indiana, made the first of his three field goals to tie the game.

Jeter’s second field goal, a 48-yarder, came with just 39 seconds left in the first half, giving Notre Dame its first lead of the game. Smart tried to put Jeter on ice with a timeout, but it didn’t work. Jeter didn’t even attempt a free kick after the timeout.

“I never go out there to kick a ball twice,” Jeter said. “I know I have a chance to go out there and do my job. So that’s my take on it.”

Jeter’s field goal was the start of a wild sequence for Notre Dame before and after halftime. The Irish scored the next 14 points of the game in the next 54 seconds of play.

Notre Dame defensive back RJ Oben made a big mistake for Georgia when he stripped Stockton of the ball while throwing him out on Georgia’s first play of the game. Vyper Defensive End Junior Tuihalamaka recovered the football and set up the Irish offense at the 13-yard line. Leonard converted the opportunity on the next play with a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Beaux Collins.

Smart’s aggressiveness backfired.

“When you’re down, you usually need every possession you can have,” he said. “And we made the decision to be aggressive and try to last two minutes. And that’s all you should do. You cannot give up your possessions if you are behind.

“So we’re down 6-3. We felt like we had a little quick pass. Certainly don’t expect him to get beat so quickly at left tackle. And got a sack fumble that gave them some momentum.”

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Georgia allowed Notre Dame to be aggressive on special teams, with a kickoff early in the second half that only went as far as the two-yard line. There, Jayden Harrison caught the ball and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown. The Marshall graduate recorded his first kickoff return touchdown in a Notre Dame jersey after returning a pair for touchdowns at Marshall last season.

“I think if I get a chance to give it back,” Harrison said, “there’s a chance I’ll go to the house just because my guys are blocking so well.”

Harrison made Freeman’s halftime message seem poignant.

“I didn’t want to survive,” Freeman said. “I think that’s the natural tendency in a big game. You’re up 10 against a really good team and you say, “Let’s survive.” No, let’s be aggressive.

“I didn’t know we were going to come out of the locker room and score a kickoff return touchdown, but that helped.”

Georgia pulled within 10 with the aforementioned touchdown play against Jones, but the Bulldogs couldn’t get their offense going consistently. Georgia’s next drive ended with a fourth-and-two incompletion, with linebackers Drayk Bowen and Watts pressuring Stockton, a blitz initiated by the defensive coordinator AlGolden.

Georgia’s last two possessions also ended in turnovers and losses. Golden continued to apply pressure. Notre Dame squeezed six defenders on a botched fourth-and-5 pass to tight end Lawson Luckie. The Irish only needed a four-point punt to end Georgia’s final possession when defensive tackle Donovan Hinish spun around the perimeter and sacked Stockton with 53 seconds left in the game.

A defensive line playing without defensive tackle Rylie Mills (knee) for the first time this season managed to help the Irish defense limit Georgia to 62 rushing yards on 29 carries and sack Stockton four times.

“You see Junior stepping up,” Kiser said. “You see Gabe (Rubio) stepping up. RJ improved tremendously tonight. It’s so exciting to see these guys, see them do their work and then come out here and make plays. They deserve every opportunity.”

With the help of an aggressive Freeman who challenges everything, more opportunities arise for this Irish team. Seventh-seeded Notre Dame (13-1) will face sixth-seeded Penn State (13-2) in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday (7:30 p.m. EST on ESPN) in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami will be held in Gardens, Florida.

Certainly the Irish could face another decisive decision in the fourth round against the Nittany Lions. Whatever Freeman decides, he will have the faith of his players.

“It starts with Coach Freeman’s leadership of the team and his mentality,” Kiser said. “We will challenge everything.

“We will be an attacking team with an attacking mindset. No matter the circumstances or the mission, we will do our best and pursue you.

“You see that on fourth downs. You see that on special teams. You can see this on the offensive by going all out in critical situations.

“This is the heartbeat of the team. That’s the culture of the team. We wouldn’t change that for the world.”