OUTBEND, Ind. — Jeremiah Love tied a Notre Dame record with a 98-yard touchdown run, Riley Leonard added two more scores and the Fighting Irish shut out the highest-scoring team in the College Football Playoff. , defeated Indiana 27-17. Friday night.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (12-1) won their 11th straight game and earned their first playoff victory.
They will play second-seeded Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on January 1st. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman picked up the biggest win of his three-year career, extending the Irish's record to 12 wins against ranked teams in three seasons.
No. 10 seed Indiana (11-2) capped off a magical season by finishing with its second-fewest points of the season on a cold, crisp night in the first CFP game played on campus.
Both of the Hoosiers' losses came against top-5 ranked opponents.
Indiana University set a single-season school wins record, but Notre Dame has yet to win since 1898.
Notre Dame took control in the third, when Love got around the right side of Indiana's defense, evaded one tackle, and sprinted down the sideline to make it 7-0.
He tied Josh Adams' longest streak in school history, set in 2015 against Wake Forest.
This was also the longest period in CFP history.
Love finished with 108 yards on eight carries despite appearing to re-injure his left knee late in the first half.
After Notre Dame went up 14-0 early in the second quarter, Indiana never recovered.
Leonard had a 1-yard TD run late in the fourth, giving him 15 points this season and breaking the single-season record for a Notre Dame quarterback.
Indiana scored both touchdowns in the final 1:27.
Notre Dame made it 14-0 early in the second quarter with Leonard's 5-yard TD pass to Jayden Thomas.
The Irish made three more field goals and the defense took care of the rest, allowing only one field goal.
Leonard completed 23 of 32 for 201 yards. And one interception.
Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison caught seven passes for 89 yards.
Indiana quarterback Curtis Rourke had another poor game against a top defense, finishing 20 of 33 for 215 yards, two TDs and one interception, while the Hoosiers rushed for just 63 yards.
