Kirby Smart Explains Late-Half Aggression, Kick Coverage & More
Notre Dame didn’t need to win the Middle Eight - the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half - against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Wednesday night.
But the Irish did win the Middle 80, as in the final 40 seconds of the first half and first 40 seconds of the second half.
The Irish made a field goal, turned Georgia over and scored two touchdowns, including a kickoff return for a score, in barely a minute of gametime to bust open a low-scoring tie game and eventually go on to beat the Bulldogs 23-10.
That period along with a forced fumble by the Irish deep in their own territory in the first quarter proved pivotal to Georgia head coach Kirby Smart.
“They got two turnovers, and we didn't,” Smart said afterward. “They returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
“So, we basically spotted them probably 14 points off of that, and cost ourselves a possession in the red area when we fumbled down there.”
Irish kicker Mitch Jeter broke a tie game with a 48-yard field goal 39 seconds before the half. Georgia got aggressive on the ensuing possession despite being deep in their own territory. A strip-sack by RJ Oben was recovered by Notre Dame linebacker Junior Tuihalamaka.
The decision to try to move the ball from their own 25-yard-line with 39 seconds remaining in the half and a backup quarterback in was curious in real-time, not hindsight.
“Typically when you're down, you need every possession you can have,” Smart explained afterward. “We made a decision that we were going to be aggressive and we were going to try to go two-minute. And that's what everything says you should do. You can't give up possessions when you're trailing.
“So we're down 6-3. We felt like we had a little quick-game pass. Certainly not counting on getting beat that quick at left tackle. And got a sack fumble, which gave them some momentum. But at the end of the day, we got a great red-area defense. We should stop them.”
They didn’t.
On the very next play, Riley Leonard hit Beaux Collins for a touchdown to push the Irish advantage 13-3 going into the half.
Smart wasn’t second-guessing himself afterward.
“We got an opportunity -- we got timeouts,” he explained further. “We got an opportunity to go score. We work two-minute every week, and we stay aggressive with it. We've got a really good pass pro team, and we didn't pick him up on that play.
“He made a great rush, and he got a sack and fumble. I don't question that call because I really agree with the decision to be aggressive and try to go score.”
When Jayden Harrison returned the opening kickoff of the second half 98 yards for another touchdown, the Irish found themselves up by 17 points just 15 seconds into the second half.
“An unblocked player that missed a tackle,” Smart said of what led to the Irish lightning strike out of the half. “Usually when that happens, you give the other team credit, but it's not a mistake. We just missed the tackle, right? And when you don't play for a while, sometimes you miss tackles.
“We had leverage on the ball, and we had somebody that couldn't get him on the ground. And that's what football is. It's fundamentals and tackling. We tackle him there, then we got a chance to stop them. But obviously, it played a huge momentum swing for them.”
Despite alluding to the layoff that accompanied the first-round bye the Bulldogs earned, Smart downplayed any suggestion that the bye worked against them, even though all four teams who had first-round byes were eliminated in the CFP Quarterfinals.
“I look at what Vegas says and it went kind of what Vegas said,” Smart said, alluding to the oddsmakers, who had all four teams who had byes as underdogs, including Georgia at the very end.
“I'm not here to complain about anything...Notre Dame lost probably their best defensive player (Rylie Mills). So I don't know how that's an advantage.”
Smart wouldn’t say that the 17 points in barely a minute was decisive.
“I don't think it affected us because we bounced right back,” he said. “It made it a harder comeback.”
He’s right the Irish didn’t win just the Middle Eighty Seconds…they won the entire 60 Minutes.
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Under Armour #1 Navy Notre Dame Fighting Irish Finished Replica Jersey
