By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS — If Georgia playing Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl has a classic ring to it, it should.
Fighting Irish linebacker Jack Kiser and Bulldogs tight end Oscar Delp know all about the first time their storied programs met in the Superdome at the end of the 1980 season – some two decades before they were born.
A national championship hung in the balance, and a freshman running back named Herschel Walker (150 yards, two touchdowns rushing) helped the Bulldogs capture it, 17-10.
The stakes won’t be quite as high on Wednesday night when No. 2 seed Georgia (11-2) and seventh-seeded Notre Dame (11-1) meet in the same storied bowl, but it’s still pretty big.
The Sugar Bowl was designated a College Football Playoff quarterfinal in this first year of the CFP’s expansion to 12 teams. The winner moves on to a semifinal game at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“When you get two big brands together in a stage like the Sugar Bowl, and to know it’s happened before, with some big names that played in the game, and to understand it has so much on the line this time, too, it’s exciting,” said Kiser, a 24-year-old defensive captain who has spent six years – or as he likes to say, “a quarter of my life,” at Notre Dame.
“As a player who gets to live it, and as a guy who’s obsessed with the history of the game and the tradition of the game, it’s certainly just amazing to be a part of,” he said.
Delp said Georgia players have spent part of the past week watching old video of the 1980 Bulldogs’ title clincher in the Superdome on Jan. 1, 1981.
“To have a guy like (Walker) who got to play in this game and now we’re getting to do it, and to get to play in a stadium that all the greats have played in, it’s super special,” Delp said. “It’s stuff you dream about.”
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said he was “thankful that we don’t have to play Herschel Walker.”
“But we’ve got some other challenging running backs that we’ve got to try to defend,” he added, referring to Nate Frasier and Louisiana native Trevor Etienne.
QB Dichotomy
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard is from Fair Hope, Alabama, an upscale coastal community across the Mobile Bay from Mobile. He spent three years playing for Duke before transferring to Notre Dame, where he has started every game this season, passing for 2,293 yards and 17 TDs to go with 751 yards rushing and 15 TDs.
Gunner Stockton is from rural Georgia, grew up tending to farm animals – he especially loves his black angus cows – and drives a 1984 Ford pickup truck that belonged to his grandfather.
Stockton also is a career backup who was thrust into Georgia’s SEC title game triumph against Texas – memorably holding on to the ball when his helmet was knocked off by a heavy hit. Now comes his first start for the Bulldogs in place of the injured Carson Beck, a prolific passer whose Italian sports car made him an NIL poster child.
“We got one quarterback that’s got a Lamborghini and one quarterback that drives a two-door, F-150,” Delp said. “It’s crazy times.”
To Etienne, Stockton’s lifestyle choices are emblematic of his approach to playing quarterback.
“He’s not really the one that’s into the flashy stuff,” Etienne said. “He’s willing to put the work in – the dirty, hard work. He’s not scared.”
Stockton didn’t sound unnerved by the high stakes attached to his maiden start.
Unlike the SEC title game, when he came in cold and helped steer Georgia to a comeback win, he’s had three weeks to prepare as QB1.
“It’s a big burden, but I enjoy it,” Stockton said. “And that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Pressure tested
Outside expectations plummeted for Notre Dame after a stunning loss to Northern Illinois in September.
Inside the locker room, resolve stiffened, Leonard said.
“Once you lose a game like that, you can’t say any worse things and people can’t think many worse things about you, so you’ve got nothing to do but respond,” Leonard said. “We’ve had our back against the wall. … Every game has been like a playoff game for us ever since that NIU loss.”
They’ve won 11 straight since, the latest victory coming against Indiana in the CFP’s opening round.
Leonard said the key has been not caring what anyone else thinks and “having fun with this thing.”
“I’ve only got one chance at it,” he continued. “I would hate to look back and live with any regret.”
No. 2 seed GEORGIA (11-2) vs. No. 7 seed NOTRE DAME (12-1)
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What: Sugar Bowl, CFP quarterfinal
When: Wednesday, 5:45 p.m. PT
Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans
TV/radio: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, 830 AM
Line: Georgia is favored by 1½ points.
Series record: Georgia leads 3-0.
Notable: Notre Dame’s running game against Georgia’s defensive front. The Irish averaged 224.8 yards per game rushing this season, 10th best nationally. Georgia’s defense ranked 36th nationally in yards rushing allowed at 127.8. … Notre Dame QB Leonard is one of 10 players at the FBS level to have passed for at least 1,900 yards and rushed for at least 700 yards this season. … Georgia running back Etienne says he feels as healthy as he’s been “in a long time.” He missed three late-season games with a rib injury before returning for the SEC championship game against Texas on Dec. 7. He ran for 94 yards on 16 carries with two TDs against the Longhorns, including the game-winner in overtime. … Notre Dame has played in four previous Sugar Bowls, going 2-2, with their most notable victory a 24-23 triumph over Alabama in a game between two unbeaten teams that decided the national championship in 1973. … Notre Dame’s defense ranks first nationally in turnovers gained (29) and defensive touchdowns (six), third in scoring defense (13.8), fourth in yards passing allowed (162.3), fourth in interceptions (18), eighth in total defense (295.3 yards allowed per game) and ninth in fumbles recovered (11). … Georgia’s previous two meetings with Notre Dame have come within the past 10 years and each game was decided by single digits, with the Bulldogs winning, 20-19, at Notre Dame, in 2017 and 23-17 in Athens, Georgia, in 2019. … Georgia is 5-6 at the Sugar Bowl, beating Baylor 26-14 in its most recent appearance to close out its 2019 season. … Kirby Smart is 105-18 as Georgia’s head coach, with three appearances in national championship games and two national titles in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Smart is one of just two active coaches, along with Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, to own two national titles.