(photo courtesy Notre Dame Athletics)

(New Orleans) — “Choose Hard”. “Complementary Football”. “Helmets on Helmets”

All the Marcus Freeman coaching axioms rang true today for Notre Dame.

The 7th-seeded Irish rode a 17-point burst in less than a minute of game time overlapping the first and second half to knock off #2 Georgia, 23-10 at the Caesars Superdome Thursday.  The win vaults the Irish into the College Football Playoff semifinals in the Orange Bowl against Penn State January 9th.

“What a great moment for this program,” said Freeman afterwards. “They’re a great group. They choose hard everyday. You can call aggressive play calls, but if they don’t choose to play aggressive, those calls aren’t going to work. You’ve got a group of guys — some are six-year guys, some are freshmen, some transferred in — but they all love Notre Dame.”

The game — played just one day after an act of terrorism killed 15 people in the Crescent City — was tied at 3 when an Irish drive stalled out at the Georgia 31, and Mitch Jeter kicked one of his three field goals, giving Notre Dame a 6-3 lead with :38 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs wanted to answer aggressively, but R.J. Oben made his first quarterback sack of the season, stripping the ball from ‘Dawgs QB Gunnar Stratton. Junior Tuihalamaka recovered the ball at the Georgia 13. On the very next play, Leonard hit Beaux Collins on a slant over the middle for the score and the Irish took a 13-3 lead at the half.

Notre Dame then received the second-half kickoff, and Jayden Harrison returned it 98 yards through the Georgia defense to make to 20-3 Irish.

From there, the Irish defense never relented, allowing just one scoring drive when Stockton hit Cash Jones on  a 32-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.  Notre Dame held Georgia to just 62 rushing yards, despite playing without senior defensive tackle Rylie Mills.

Riley Leonard, who was named the offensive MVP, ran for 80 yards and threw for 90 to lead an offense that was kept in check. “How could I not put my body on the line for these guys right here? They mean the world to me and they kind of rebounded my career,” said Leonard afterwards.

Two-time All-America safety Xavier Watts had seven tackles and was named as the defensive MVP. He talked about coming back for this year. “It means so much. We’ve been through so much as a team with the ups and downs, the highs and lows. Winning this game is a blessing and it’s amazing.”

It’s Notre Dame’s first win in a New Year’s Six Bowl game since beating Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day in 1994. It’s also the first time Notre Dame has beaten Georgia in four tries.

The Orange Bowl game with Penn State is set for January 9th in Miami. The game will be played at 7:30 p.m. and televised by ESPN.