No. 15-ranked Georgia takes down No. 24 Notre Dame in South Bend

Georgia got to Dawg Walk out of Notre Dame Stadium with a victory, dozens of its fans forming a line from the locker room to the buses to congratulate the Bulldogs after their first trip to this part of the country in more than 50 years.

Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy led a swarming Georgia defense and the No. 15 Bulldogs got enough plays from an offense starting a freshman quarterback to beat No. 24 Notre Dame 20-19 on Saturday night.

The first regular-season meeting between the storied programs was a hard-hitting, penalty filled tug-o-war, and when it was done the Bulldogs gathered in the corner of the stadium to celebrate with and salute thousands of their fans who made the pilgrimage.

“It definitely means a little more,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “Coming up to South Bend, an awesome environment. Then having all these Dawgs fans coming out, showing their support. Showing how much they believe in us. It’s just an awesome feeling to be able to give those fans a W.”

Rodrigo Blankenship, a third-year sophomore walk-on who received a scholarship just this week, kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:39 remaining to give the Bulldogs (2-0) a one-point lead, and that was enough for Carter and company.

Georgia stopped Brandon Wimbush and the Fighting Irish (1-1) on downs once. Then, on Notre Dame’s final drive, Bellamy blind-sided the quarterback and Carter recovered the fumble with 1:27 left to seal it.

Carter had a strip sack in the second-half, too.

Wimbush, starting his second game for the Irish, scored Notre Dame’s only touchdown in the first half on a 1-yard run and completed 20 of 40 passes for 210 yards with two lost fumbles.

“We’re learning,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. “Our QB is learning the tools of trade. He’s getting different looks and reads. I thought he learned a lot tonight. “