Notre Dame’s new starting quarterback, DeShone Kizer, completed a 46-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller to give the Irish a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, and C.J. Prosise ran one in to the end zone from 17 yards to give the Irish a 13-7 lead on Georgia Tech at the half in South Bend.
Georgia Tech’s option offense has taken some time to get going. Notre Dame has held Georgia Tech without a third down conversion in the first half, although the Yellow Jackets do have a fourth down conversion. Notre Dame has fared better on third downs, moving the chains on three out of the seven opportunities that have popped up so far. All of Georgia Tech’s halftime yardage has come on the ground. Patrick Skov had a five-yard touchdown in the second quarter to cap a quick four-play, 80-yard drive highlighted by a Broderick Snoddy 48-yard run topped by a Notre Dame personal foul. That tied the game at 7-7, but Notre Dame strung together quite the answer to regain the lead.
Notre Dame closed out a well-executed 10-play drive over 80 yards to take a 14-7 lead with about 90 seconds to go until halftime. Kizer, replacing the injured Malik Zaire at quarterback, has completed 11 of 17 pass attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown. He has been picked off once.