Marcus Freeman Reflects on Notre Dame's 'Historic' Win vs. Indiana in CFP Bracket

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman is a big fan of the new College Football Playoff after his team's 27-17 win over Indiana in the first-ever game with a 12-team format.

Freeman called the win a "historic" moment while speaking to reporters after the game.

"I've never been part of an environment like that," Freeman said. "Not many times in life you're the first to do something, and as I told the [team] in there, we were the first to win and play a playoff game in Notre Dame Stadium. That's historic. Something we'll cherish for the rest of our lives."

The Fighting Irish, who earned the No. 7 seed in the bracket, hosted their in-state rivals at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday night.

After a sloppy start that saw a punt and interceptions by both teams on the first three drives of the game, Notre Dame struck first on Jeremiyah Love's 98-yard touchdown run on the first play after the defense got a turnover.

The Irish eventually went up 27-3 before Indiana got two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the score look more competitive than it was.

Notre Dame has won 11 straight games since a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. It's the program's longest in-season winning streak since starting 12-0 in 2018 before losing to Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

Next up for Freeman and the Fighting Irish is a showdown with No. 2 Georgia at Sanford Stadium in the Playoff quarterfinal on Jan. 1. Notre Dame has never defeated Georgia in three all-time meetings, most recently losing 23-17 in 2019.