Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech: Second-Quarter Analysis
We’re only at halftime, and we’re already running out of ways to describe Notre Dame’s dominance over Georgia Tech. That we have 30 more minutes of this contest to go won’t convince college football fans who don’t root for the Irish to keep it on. As much as NBC would love to have a high viewership throughout its final Irish broadcast of the season, that appears unlikely now. Still, it’s nice to see the Irish have a 45-0 lead at the midway point of the game.
The Yellow Jackets punted very early in the second quarter, and it only continued to get bad for them from there. The Irish breezed down the field on their first possession of the frame and ultimately got a 5-yard touchdown run from Logan Diggs. After another Yellow Jackets punt, Diggs scored again. This one came on a 20-yard pass from Jack Coan on the fourth play of the drive. He was set up nicely thanks to a 26-yard run by Kyren Williams.
The Yellow Jackets then put together something resembling a respectable offensive drive, picking up two first downs and getting into Irish territory. All this resulted in was another punt. Yes, it was that kind of first half for the visitors.
The Irish started their next drive on the 11-yard line, but Coan solved that quickly with a 51-yard pass to Kevin Austin. He soon followed those with an 18-yard completion to Michael Mayer and a 19-yard completion to George Takacs to get to the 1-yard line. While it took three plays to reach the end zone from there, Williams did it. That put a stamp on the frame and gave the Irish their most first-half points since their game against Miami (Ohio) in 2017.
The Yellow Jackets moved quickly in their final drive of the half. They even got into field-goal range this time. With this stroke of good fortune, Jude Kelley came on for a 47-yard attempt in the final seconds. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa preserved the first-half shutout by getting a hand on the kick and causing Kelley to miss. Some things just will stay the same for now.
