Irish not caught looking ahead
ATLANTA — Notre Dame spent the past couple of weeks prepping for the biggest game of the year.
Nowit’s here.
Bring on Clemson! Kyren Williams ran for two touchdowns, Ian Book passed for another and No. 4 Notre Dame turned in a dominant defensive performance, stifling Georgia Tech 31-13 on Saturday.
Next up for the Fighting Irish: a showdown against top-ranked Clemson in South Bend, Ind.
“This is an awesome opportunity,” defensive end Daelin Hayes said. “We don’t have to beat around the bush anymore. It’s Clemsonweek, baby.!”
Notre Dame (6-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast) won’t have to face Trevor Lawrence, the star quarterback whowill have to sit out the game after testing positive for COVID-19.
“I feel for him,” Book said. “I knowthis is probably killing him inside. But he doesn’t play defense. We’ve got to do what we do.”
Book completed 18 of 26 passes for 199 yards in another efficient performance. Williams shook off a fumble that Georgia Tech returned for a long touchdown, scoring on runs of 2 and 4 yards. He finished with 76 yards on 15 carries.
Notre Dame had nine tackles behind the line, five sacks and two forced fumbles.
Hayes was the standout, forcing both fumbles and coming up with his first two sacks of the season. Safety Kyle Hamilton contributed five tackles, two for a loss, and broke up a pass.
“If Daelin continues to play at that level with a Kyle Hamilton and the other pieces to this defense, then we’re gonna get to where we want to be,” coach Brian Kelly said. “That’s when this defense really starts to become special.”
There’s nothing special about Georgia Tech (2-5, 2-4), which has lost three in a row by a combined score of 152-47.
“Yeah, their defense is pretty good,” freshman quarterback Jeff Sims said. “But I feel like if we had executed the offense a little better, it would’ve been a different outcome.”
Leading the ACC in time of possession and ranked in the top 10 nationally, Notre Dame lived up to its ball-hogging reputation on the first possession. Book guided a 15-play, 81-yard drive that included four straight thirddown conversions before an 8-yardTDpass to JoeWilkins.
Georgia Tech’s bright spot was provided by the defense. With Notre Dame seemingly driving for a two-touchdown lead to start the second quarter, Williams had the ball stripped away by Juanyeh Thomas just before the runner’s knee hit the ground.
Zamari Walton scooped it up and scooted 93 yards down the sideline for the longest fumble return in school history.
But that was merely a brief stumble for the Irish, who responded with a 75-yard drive capped by Williams’ 2-yard score, led 17-7 at halftime and finished off thehometeamwhen C’Bo Flemister scored on a 3-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter.