The Indiana and Notre Dame football programs will meet tonight for the first time in over 30 years.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 7 in the College Football Playoff while IU sits at No. 10. Which team will advance to play No. 2 Georgia?
Follow along for live updates.
4:21 left 3Q: Notre Dame went 28 yards in 11 plays. It set up a 33-yard field goal for Mitch Jeter, who made the kick.
Notre Dame 20, Indiana 3
Halftime: Mitch Jeter drilled a 49-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half.
IU had 132 total offensive yards in the first half. Notre had 242.
Notre Dame 17, Indiana 3
3:26 left 2Q: Indiana’s Nicolas Radicic nailed a 34-yard field goal. The Hoosiers 48 yards in nine plays.
Notre Dame 14, Indiana 3
12:52 left 2Q: Riley Leonard threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Thomas.
Notre Dame 14, Indiana 0
End of 1Q: Notre Dame’s offense generated 171 yards while Indiana’s got just 69. The Fighting Irish are in the midst of a 12-play, 69-yard drive. They will begin the second quarter at IU’s 16-yard line.
Notre Dame 7, Indiana 0
10:57 left 1Q: On the first play, Jeremiyah Love broke free on the left side and ran all the way down the field for a 98-yard score.
Notre Dame 7, Indiana 0
11:30 left 1Q: On 3rd and 14 from the Notre Dame 17, Xavier Watts picked off Kurtis Rourke at the 2-yard line. The Fighting Irish will take over. It marked Rourke’s first interception in the red zone this season.
13:23 left 1Q: D’Angelo Ponds intercepted Riley Leonard. IU will take over at the Notre Dame 41.
14:06 left 1Q: Indiana didn’t do much on its first drive. Justice Ellison ran for a loss of three yards. Kurtis Rourke threw two straight incompletions.
Curt Cignetti and a microphone… just sit back and enjoy.
The Hoosiers coach joined the ESPN College GameDay set two hours ahead of kickoff for Friday’s College Football Playoff opener between IU and Notre Dame.
Former Colts punter Pat McAfee asked Cignetti what the first game between the in-state programs since 1991 means… and then the national coach of the year dropped the mic.
“What will a win do for us? Well, you know every win puts you into the next game… Look there’s a lot of skeptics, a lot of doubters, I get it, right? Hadn’t beaten a top-25 team. Nebraska was 25th in the coaches poll and we beat their asses 56-7, you know, and I’ve never beaten a top-25 team, well Coastal Carolina, back when we were little James Madison moving up to the Sun Belt… beat them 47-7, so we don’t just beat top-25 teams, we beat the shit out of them.”
Read the full story from Matt Glenesk.
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart made one of the biggest faux pas you can make when it comes to the Hoosier State.
While talking with the ESPN College GameDay crew on Friday before Notre Dame hosted Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff, Smart mixed up IU with Purdue.
“We took Notre Dame and Purdue,” Smart said. “I’m sorry, Notre Dame and Indiana and we worked on both those teams. … I’m looking forward to this matchup. Both teams are very different.”
Read more here.
Oops:Georgia coach Kirby Smart mistakes IU football with Purdue on ESPN’s College GameDay
Lake effect snow flurries will linger at Notre Dame Stadium at kickoff, but no blizzard is expected for the first round of the College Football Playoff between Notre Dame and IU.
Earlier in the day, however, snow covered the football stadium. Crews seem to have cleared most of it away as the day passed.
Notre Dame vs IU will broadcast nationally on ABC/ESPN in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy will call the game from the booth at Notre Dame Stadium, with Molly McGrath reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO and Sling TV.
Indiana 34, Notre Dame 24: Will Indiana struggle against Notre Dame’s ground game? How will they handle a true dual-threat quarterback?
Those are fair questions, but the key matchup might be whether or not the Irish’s passing defense can hold up against Kurtis Rourke and company. Notre Dame struggled against the top 30 passing offenses it faced (Louisville and USC) this season, and those were two of the more competitive games it played outside of a loss to Northern Illinois.
Notre Dame has the No. 3 passing defense in the country, but those numbers are a bit skewed having played Navy and Army, two of three teams in the FBS that attempted less than 200 passing attempts.
If Indiana avoids the kind of pass protection breakdowns it had against Michigan (mostly in the second half) and Ohio State, it will have a real shot of pulling off the upset. The Hoosiers might even be able to win comfortably if they don’t turn it over. The lessons they learned in those games should help them pull of a historic upset in South Bend. – IU reporter Michael Niziolek
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Friday:
The current forecast from WNDU-TV in South Bend calls for a 20% chance of scattered snow showers around the time the game starts. Read more on the weather forecast.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.
