Notre Dame stood its ground in the first half, was staggered by Georgia counter punches in the third period, but rallied behind quarterback Ian Book to put a scare into the Bulldogs before losing by 23-17 at Sanford Stadium.

The Irish outplayed the hosts in the first 30 minutes, taking a 10-7 lead into the locker room by recovering a fumbled punt deep in Georgia territory and turning it into a short touchdown pass from Book to Cole Kmet.

The Dawgs asserted themselves with a dominant third quarter. Jake Fromm and D’Andre Swift guided the Georgia offense to a touchdown and three Rodrigo Blankenship field goals after intermission, and the Bulldog defense held Notre Dame to 19 third quarter yards.

Blankenship’s final three pointer gave his team a 23-10 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the game, but Book and the Irish would not quit. Book scrambled for clutch yards, hit Kmet for 31 yards, and then found Chase Claypool in the end zone to cut the margin to 23-17 with 3:12 left.

Notre Dame’s defense appeared to be running on fumes in the late going, but they rose up to stop Georgia and get the ball back in good field position with exactly two minutes on the clock. The Dawgs did not fold, however, and a fourth down pass by Book under heavy pressure fell incomplete to end it.

The Irish had difficulty all night in coping with the hostile crowd. They were flagged five times for false starts and once for a defensive offside. Book also had to burn two second half timeouts that would have come in handy on the final drive.

A weak running game also proved to be decisive. Notre Dame gained only 46 yards rushing and the Dawgs forced Book to attempt 47 passes. Two second half interceptions by Georgia came at inopportune moments and set up two field goals that equated to the winning margin.

Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions:

Will the Irish break their habit of slow, shaky starts in big contests? Yes and no. The Irish overcame many of their maddening mental errors to build an early lead and kept Georgia off the field for most of the first half.

Can Book’s receivers get open against the Dawg’s depleted secondary? Kmet returned to the lineup and it was obvious that Georgia was not ready for him. Claypool competed hard and acquitted himself well, while Chris Finke struggled mightily to make a play.

Will Notre Dame’s defensive line hold up against the physicality of Georgia’s massive front? The Irish looked good in the first half when they were fresh, but missed tackles later in game were the result of Georgia’s relentless pounding.

Can the Irish generate a semblance of a running game beyond scrambles by Book? In a word, no. Tony Jones played hard but lacked the speed and wiggle to break free.

Will the Notre Dame linebackers be able to keep Swift from running downhill? There were moments when they seemed to wilt, but this group fought gamely until the final whistle and earned a measure of respect.

Will Book have more time to throw than he did against Clemson? A bit more, yes. The Dawgs rushed him into desperation passes in the last drive, though.

Can the much-hyped Irish pass rushers finally assert themselves? Not really. Fromm kept his jersey clean, and the Irish could not quite get to him even when they blitzed.

Which coaching staff will make the most effective in-game adjustments? Brian Kelly’s plan worked at the outset, but Georgia’s Kirby Smart shut down Notre Dame in the second half while the Dawgs pulled away.

The loss will hurt for a while, especially in light of the many unforced errors by the offensive line. Kelly’s teams simply do not appear to be poised in such frantic environments, but this group still found a way to compete. The silver lining is that most pundits and pollsters must now admit that Notre Dame belonged on this stage with one of the nation’s elite teams.

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