It was a slow start for both teams in the Sugar Bowl, until the second quarter when Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton connected with wide receiver Arian Smith for 66 yards, bringing the Dawgs all the way down to Notre Dame’s 11-yard line.
However, what happened in between the throw had set the Dawgs way back.
Georgia redshirt sophomore cornerback Parker Jones was cheering on his team when he accidentally ran into the sidelined judge, which drew a 15-yard penalty for sideline interference, and sent Georgia back to the 26-yard line.
Rather than get a chance at scoring a touchdown on the next play, Georgia was ultimately forced to settle for a 41-yard field goal three plays later.
After the game, head coach Kirby Smart admitted that at first, he didn’t know exactly who drew the penalty, but called it “unfortunate” and “undisciplined.”
“Yeah. Very unfortunate. We had — they said a coach. I think it was a player, from what I’ve been told, in the white, and the white is reserved for the officials,” Smart said. “That’s a safety concern. Most of the time, they’ll grant you a warning on that, but it was not a — it was a situation where it cost us 15 yards. We still had first and 10 and didn’t take advantage of it.
“But, again, I call those things undisciplined, self-imposed wounds that you lose momentum on. So, it’s just something you can’t have happen.”
Rather than get a chance at scoring a touchdown
The mishap by Jones was just one of many mistakes the Bulldogs made that led to a 23-10 loss to the Fighting Irish in the Sugar Bowl as dropped balls, missed tackles, two turnovers, and other penalties played a part in the upset.
But in the end, it simply came down to Notre Dame playing better football.
Georgia will now head back to Athens and start preparing for 2025.
And while it wasn’t the outcome that they had hoped for, Smart remains proud of his team that went 11-3 while up against the toughest schedule in the country, and won an SEC Championship.
“That takes nothing away from these men on the stage and the seniors that are a part of this class,” Smart said. “I mean, absolutely incredible. I just told them, what they went through this year and what they played and how they played, the resiliency, and the injuries that we’ve had, and to win an SEC championship, which I have so much respect for our conference, and to win some of the comeback games they won, and never quit, even in this game, never quit. That’s the attitude you’ve got to have to get better as a football program.
“So, we’ve got a lot of guys moving on. A lot of guys are hurt in that locker room, because we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted, but that’s part of life. I give Notre Dame credit for how they played and give our seniors and our leaders credit for what they’ve done for this program.”
