Notre Dame shakes off another slow start, pounds Georgia Tech in Atlanta

ATLANTA — If you were a Notre Dame fan at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, of which there were plenty to rival or even exceed the turnout of the Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech faithful, and you were at all miffed or maddened by the Fighting Irish’s slow start against the Yellow Jackets, well, you shouldn’t have been.

Apparently you missed the memo. Slow starts is what this team does.

This team also does resounding responses, and that’s the script the Irish followed yet again in a 31-13 victory. Georgia Tech opened the scoring with a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter, marking the fourth straight game the Irish’s foe struck first, then Notre Dame (6-1) answered with 31 consecutive points to put an insurmountable Irish imprint on the afternoon.

“This group just continues to believe,” head coach Marcus Freeman said.

Subdued silence from the north side of the stadium was eventually replaced by chants of “Let’s Go Irish!” Like their Jackets on the field in front of them, home fans who hollered “O-ver-ra-ted!” at the Irish before the game even kicked off ultimately had no answer for ’em. Notre Dame was simply too much on the turf and in the red and black seats at the home of the Atlanta Falcons.

As has generally been the case in Notre Dame’s better games this season, senior quarterback Riley Leonard was at the forefront of that. He finished 20 of 29 for 203 passing yards while running 10 times for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns, his ninth and 10th scores of the season to become the third quarterback in Irish history to hit double digits in a single season. He’s been a catalyst for the Irish ever since the team’s Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois.

“We’re expected to go win every single ballgame,” Leonard said. “And this team, as the year goes on, knows how to win and has a lot of confidence that we can win.”

Leonard overcame an interception in the end zone on Notre Dame’s second offensive possession to turn in one of his most productive performances of the year. Tailbacks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price aided in his efforts, as they do, with 14 carries for 36 yards and 3 catches for 57 more yards for Love and 8 carries for 69 yards for Price. Love scored the one-yard touchdown that put the Irish up 21-7 early in the third quarter, a commanding lead knowing how well the Notre Dame defense was playing.

Really well.

After a 13-play, 71-yard touchdown drive, the Georgia Tech offense was held to three punts, two unsuccessful field goal attempts, a turnover on downs and an interception on its ensuing seven possessions. That’s been a theme for defensive coordinator Al Golden‘s unit this season, too; his side of the ball has made it too easy for opponents at times in the first halves of games, but it tends to tighten up and make churning outs yards increasingly difficult as games go along.

“It’s definitely crazy to see how we make adjustments,” said freshman corner Leonard Moore, who made his second career start.

Twice Notre Dame got stingy in or near the red zone to force short Georgia Tech (5-3) field goal tries. Twice, the Irish gave up zero points in those situations. The Yellow Jackets mishandled the snap and hold on the first one, and freshman phenom Bryce Young blocked the second.

After a clinical opening possession of the second half for the Notre Dame offense, meanwhile, it took a sophisticated fake punt for the Irish to put any more points on the board thereafter. If not for the successful fake, which was orchestrated via touches by tight end Davis Sherwood, wide receiver Jayden Harrison and Love, the last of whom crossed the line to gain after some swift moves, Notre Dame would have gone punt, turnover on downs, three-and-out after the initial second-half score.

The moving of the chains and a subsequent 42-yard field goal from Zac Yoakam stretched the Irish’s lead to three scores with 10:01, though, and that was more than enough for the visitors to comfortably get home from there.

Sophomore safety Adon Shuler capped off the blowout with a pick six late in the fourth quarter. Georgia Tech scored a garbage-time touchdown 23 seconds left to make the score a little more respectable.

“This team just knows how to do it,” Leonard said. “We’re a whole team, and we keep learning from our mistakes. We know how to pull through and extend leads at this point.”