Two of the most memorable wins in Kirby Smart’s nine seasons as Georgia football coach came against the team with the iconic gold helmets.
The Bulldogs won tight games against Notre Dame in ranked matchups in South Bend in 2017 and in Athens in 2019.
They meet again — this time in a win or go home setting in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals — in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 in New Orleans.
“I don’t remember them as a team; the games, obviously stand out,” Smart said. “Both one score, fourth quarter, really physical games. You know, (the) physicality, I see when I watch Notre Dame play is pretty incredible. On both lines of scrimmage. The way they play, the style of play they have.”
Georgia won 20-19 in its first-ever trip to Notre Dame on Sept. 9, 2017 with Jake Fromm making his first start at quarterback, just like Gunner Stockton will when he faces the Irish. Bulldogs fans who invaded South Bend saw Rodrigo Blankenship make a 30-yard field goal for the deciding points during the same week the walk-on was rewarded with a scholarship.
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Smart has coached a lot of Georgia games since the last game against the Irish, a 23-17 win in Athens before a record Sanford Stadium crowd of 93,246 on Sept. 21, 2019 when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 and Notre Dame No. 7.
He’s been to five SEC championships since then, winning two of them, and won national championships in 2021 and 2022. Those were the school’s first since the 1981 Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame in the first-ever matchup between the programs.
Brian Kelly coached the Irish the first two times against Smart.
Now, it’s Marcus Freeman in his third season.
“Comparing those teams is hard for me because there’s so many years in between, but this is a really good, solid, fundamentally‑sound, don’t beat themselves, play good defense, great defense, and really physical on the lines of scrimmage, and they got a really athletic quarterback,” Smart said of Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard. “There’s a reason why they’re at the point in the season that they’re at.”
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Notre Dame (12-1) will be the second highest-ranked rushing offense Georgia has faced this season after Tennessee. The Bulldogs (11-2) held the Volunteers to 152 rushing yards and 3.9 yards per carry in 31-17 Georgia win on Nov. 16
Notre Dame averages 222.4 yards per game, 11th in the nation.
“I believe in playing this game with a physicality that hopefully is unmatched,” Freeman said after Notre Dame’s 27-17 win over Indiana Friday night in a CFP first-round game. “That’s just what I believe in as a head coach, and we demand it. We practice that way. These guys at the end of the day, these guys are pleasers. You ask them to do something, they’re going to give you everything they’ve got to try to please you as a coach and do what you ask.”
Smart turned 49 on Monday. He will go up a coach in Freeman who turns 39 on Jan. 10.
Freeman was defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in Georgia’s 24-21 win in the Peach Bowl in the 2020 season and then left to be defensive coordinator under Kelly in 2021.
He was promoted to head coach after the 2021 regular season when Kelly took the LSU job.
“He’s an up‑and‑coming riser for a long time,” Smart said. “And to get that job, I mean, the national exposure, the national brand of Notre Dame is really incredible. And for him to take that over at that age, manage that, and have success and really go through some tough times. I mean, doesn’t come without criticism to be a head coach, but to do it at that age at Notre Dame is pretty special. And he’s obviously done a great job. He’s got great presence and command about him.”
Notre Dame’s defense took a big blow with the loss of defensive tackle Rylie Mills to a knee injury sustained in the Indiana win.
The senior leads the Irish with 7 ½ sacks and 8 ½ tackles for loss and is tied for seventh on the team in tackles with 37.
Notre Dame’s defense actually has a player remaining who saw action in the last game between the teams in 2019. That’s linebacker Jack Kiser.
Meanwhile, Georgia offensive lineman Xavier Truss and safety Dan Jackson were on that Bulldogs team but did not play in the game.
Freeman, when asked Monday, didn’t know much about the Georgia-Notre Dame history.
“The history of the 1981 Sugar Bowl, is that Herschel Wallker beat Notre Dame?,” Freeman said. “Oh, I didn’t, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that, but I know Herschel Walker was a great player, I’ll tell you that. That’s what I’ll tell you about that. Is that the only time we played Georgia, is that right? No, no, yeah, okay, yeah, I know we played, what, ‘17, and yeah, yeah, but no, I didn’t. I’m sorry about that.”
