Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman previews Sugar Bowl matchup
NEW ORLEANS, La. (WISH) — The University of Notre Dame football team is in New Orleans as it gets ready for its second-round College Football Playoff (CFP) matchup against the University of Georgia.
The two teams face off in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Wednesday at 8:45 p.m. EDT inside the Caesars Superdome.
The Fighting Irish (12-1) are the No. 7 seed in the CFP bracket, while the Bulldogs (11-2) are the No. 2 seed.
The Bulldogs though will have a new starting quarterback in Wednesday’s game. Redshirt sophomore Gunner Stockton will start in place of Carson Beck, who underwent surgery on his right elbow and will miss the entire CFP.
“I don’t think they’re going to change their offense completely because of who’s at quarterback,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “He does a lot of things well that Carson Beck did well.”
Freeman, along with Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, answered questions on Monday as part of Sugar Bowl Media Day. Freeman said there are some parallels between the Bulldogs and Fighting Irish.
“I do believe they’re an offense that believes in running the football, and that’s what we believe in and our offensive philosophy,” Freeman said. “We have to be able to run the football. That creates a lot of openings in the pass game. And although we might throw for more yards than we do run sometimes, it doesn’t matter. It’s a philosophy of being able to run the football. And I think Georgia has a similar mindset. They’ve got big old linemen that are tough, that can drive you off the ball.”
Like the Bulldogs, the Fighting Irish will be missing a key player. Last week, Freeman announced that senior defensive lineman Rylie Mills would miss the rest of the CFP due to a knee injury he suffered in Notre Dame’s 27-17 win over No. 10-seeded Indiana in the first round of the playoff.
“Number one, he’s a captain,” Freeman said. “He’s a captain. He’s a leader. That’s the one thing that hurts you. You can’t replace a captain. You can’t replace his leadership. You have to try to replace the production with multiple different people, ways, schemes, schematic things. It’s not just going to be one person that’s going in there to replace Rylie Mills. You feel terribly for him as an individual.”
Mills leads Notre Dame in sacks (7.5) this season. He also has 37 tackles.
Georgia is 3-0 all-time against Notre Dame, including a victory in the 1981 Sugar Bowl.