Notre Dame has big lead at the half
Half: (7) Notre Dame 17, (10) Indiana 3
(7) Notre Dame enters halftime of its College Football Playoff debut with a comfortable 17-3 lead against (10) Indiana. The Fighting Irish are scoring the ball in different ways.
They opened the deluge with a 98-yard touchdown run from Jeremiyah Love, which is the longest scoring run in College Football Playoff history. Notre Dame then scored its second touchdown to cap a 16-play, 83-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock between the first and second quarters.
Outside of Love’s 98-yard touchdown run, the Irish are giving Indiana a death by 1,000 cuts. Subtracting Love’s long run, Notre Dame is averaging 3.6 yards per carry — just enough to stay in front of the chains. Quarterback Riley Leonard is averaging 5.1 yards per attempt.
As a result, Indiana’s confidence seems shaken. The Hoosiers have had four drives end in Notre Dame territory, including two trips to the red zone, with just three points to show for it. They had an egregiously bad sequence near the end of the second quarter. On third-and-5 from Notre Dame’s 17-yard line, with less than four minutes on the clock, Indiana ran the ball on a direct snap to running back Justice Ellison. It seemed like a play that would set up a fourth-down conversion attempt and Indiana initially lined up to go for it.
But coach Curt Cignetti took a timeout and elected for a field goal instead. It seemed like a call with the intent of settling Indiana down, since it already had one red-zone possession end in an interception.
The Hoosiers do have halftime to settle themselves down and figure out a new game plan. They haven’t run the ball well, and the deep shots aren’t there, but quarterback Kurtis Rourke has worked the middle of the field well.
Notre Dame gets the ball to start the third quarter, though, with an opportunity to dig Indiana’s hole even deeper.
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