Notre Dame holds off Indiana, faces Georgia in CFP quarterfinal

Riley Leonard passed for 201 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another score, and No. 7 seed Notre Dame held on for a 27-17 win against No. 10 seed Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff tournament on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.

Jeremiyah Love rushed for a 98-yard touchdown and tallied 126 total yards for Notre Dame (12-1). The Fighting Irish advanced to the CFP quarterfinals, where they will face No. 2 seed Georgia on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Kurtis Rourke completed 20 of 33 passes for 215 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Indiana (11-2). Myles Price and Omar Cooper Jr. each caught a touchdown pass.

Notre Dame outgained Indiana 394-278, including a 193-63 advantage on the ground.

Notre Dame opened the scoring with 10:57 to go in the first quarter.

The Fighting Irish got the ball on their own 2-yard line after All-American safety Xavier Watts picked off an errant pass from Rourke. Moments later, Love took a handoff, bounced off a defender and outraced the Indiana secondary for a 98-yard touchdown.

The play marked the longest rushing play in a CFP game, surpassing Ezekiel Elliott's 85-yard touchdown run for Ohio State in 2015.

Notre Dame increased its lead to 14-0 with 12:52 left in the second quarter. Leonard hit Jayden Thomas on a play-action pass for a 5-yard touchdown.

Indiana pulled within 14-3 on Nicolas Radicic's 34-yard field goal with 3:26 to go in the first half.

The Fighting Irish regained a 14-point lead with seven seconds left in the half on Mitch Jeter's 49-year field goal.

Jeter connected again, this time from 33 yards, to put Notre Dame on top 20-3 with 4:21 remaining in the third.

Leonard, who was 20-of-32 passing and rushed for 30 yards, set the record for most rushing touchdowns by a Fighting Irish quarterback in a season with 15. He scored from the 1-yard line with 4:50 left in regulation, breaking a tie with Brandon Wimbush, who ran for 14 TDs in 2017.

Indiana notched its first touchdown with 1:27 remaining. Rourke connected with Price for a 7-yard score. Rourke converted a two-point conversion moments later with a pass to Elijah Sarratt to pull within 27-11.

Cooper Jr. caught a 23-yard TD pass from Rourke with 25 seconds to go. The Hoosiers failed to convert a two-point conversion, and Notre Dame recovered an onside kick to seal the victory.

--Field Level Media