Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 | 10:42 p.m.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — 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 the program's 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 two 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 salute thousands of their fans who made the pilgrimage. The Bulldogs had not ventured this far north for a game since 1965 against Michigan.
"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 walk-on who received a scholarship earlier this week, kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:39 remaining to give the Bulldogs (2-0) a one-point lead.
Carter and company did the rest. Georgia forced Brandon Wimbush and the Fighting Irish (1-1) into a three-and-out, and then, on Notre Dame's final drive, Bellamy blind-sided the quarterback and Carter recovered the fumble with 1:27 left.
"I saw Davin coming around the edge I was trying to get around the edge as well," Carter said. "And once I saw him coming free I saw he had a chance to knock that ball off of him. And once he did I was like get on this ball and end the game."
Carter had a strip sack in the second-half, too.
Wimbush, starting his second game, scored Notre Dame's only touchdown in the first half on a 1-yard run. He finished 20 for 40 for 210 yards.
"All 11 positions, all the guys were really physical and had speed," Wimbush said of the Georgia D.
