Notre Dame's win over Georgia proves they're finally true title contenders

It's taken decades of near misses and maybes, but the narrative on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is finally changing.

For the last 30 years of football, the book on the Irish has been the same: Notre Dame is good, sure, but they're not that good. Even in the years when Notre Dame gets on track, they don't have the talent to hang with the true cream of the college football crop. It was true under Bob Davie, it was true under Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis. It was even true under Brian Kelly, who maybe got the Irish closer to the mountaintop than any of his predecessors.

But now? After beating Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl and advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinals, one thing is clear: Notre Dame can hang with anyone.

Think about the best Irish teams of the last 10 years; they might stomp their way through the regular season, they might even make the playoff. But once they got there? Disaster, every single time.

Take 2020 for example; the Irish went 10-0 in the regular season, before getting stomped in the ACC Championship Game and again in the Rose Bowl playoff against Alabama by a combined score of 65-24.

Or 2018; the Irish went undefeated again, before getting absolutely eviscerated in a 30-3 loss to Clemson in the Playoff.

Or 2012, when another undefeated Irish team got obliterated by Alabama 42-14 in the BCS Championship Game.

See the pattern? Notre Dame thrived, right up until the moment when they had to face a leigitmate title contender, at which point their house of cards immediately crumbled.

This year's narrative very easily could have shaped up the exact same way. Yes, this Georgia team was the worst one in the last four years, but they still had the physical talent to match up with anyone. In years past, even this weakened Georgia team would have dispatched the Irish with ease.

Instead, Notre Dame used their own physical superiority to dominate the Bulldogs at the point of attack, outflanking Georgia's vaunted defense to run for 154 yards. But even more impressive, Notre Dame's defense looked capable of hanging with Georgia's athletes, shutting down the run game and making them look worse than they have in any game this season.

It's a testament to the work head coach Marcus Freeman has done building a tough, physical team with the athletes necessary to actually compete with the best teams in college football. The Irish want to run the ball down your throat, and they have the guys to do it against even the best teams in the sport.

Calling the Irish title favorites might be generous this season; Ohio State look like an unstoppable juggernaut right now, and if they keep playing like this, not even Freeman's vaunted defense has the chops to slow them down.

But for fans who have been desperate for a return to true national prominence, this season has shown one thing for sure: Notre Dame have arrived, and they're going to be around for a while.

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Notre Dame's win over Georgia proves they've finally reached true title contender status

By Sam Westmoreland | Jan 3, 2025