The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 30-22 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicates. Notre Dame was up 30-7 with a minute to play before Georgia Tech put together a few big plays. Here are five things we learned from Notre Dame's win.
Georgia Tech Isn't Ready For A CFB Berth
This isn't to say Georgia Tech can't make an ACC run by the end of the season. But right now, Georgia Tech isn't ready to compete with the best of the best. The Yellow Jackets struggled for much of the game on offense. Although they managed to make it a game late, Georgia Tech isn't ready a deep run quite yet.
DeShone Kizer Can Play
Kizer was 21 for 30 with 242 yards and one score. He really only made one mistake, throwning an interception. Kizer is still growing and this was his first career start at Notre Dame. He'll continue to grow and will benefit from a strong ground game and defense.
Injuries Still An Issues For Notre Dame
Notre Dame was already down five starters, and lost another key contributor in safety Drue Tranquill, who appeared to severely injury his knee while celebrating. The Fighting Irish dealt with injuries last season and that appears to be the case again this year.
Notre Dame's Defense Is Legit
On the surface, allowing 22 points and 337 yards seems like a solid, but unspectacular performance. However, 122 of those yards and all but seven of those points came of Georgia Tech's last two drives. The game was all but over at that point and Notre Dame's defense was incredible before that. Defense wins championships and Notre Dame has a great defense.
Notre Dame Can't Be Counted Out
When Malik Zaire went down for the season against Virginia and Notre Dame barely snuck by for a win, the Irish were discounted by many. There too many injuries and the team wasn't good enough to truly compete for a College Football Playoff Berth, according to the naysayers. Those predications of Notre Dame's demise appear to have been premature. Notre Dame has the talent to make a playoff run and we saw that against Georgia Tech.
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