Georgia fans cry foul as Notre Dame’s confusion causing play against Bulldogs goes viral

On Thursday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish secured a 23–10 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Sugar Bowl. Their defense and the special teams' dominance throughout the game were not as glorified as the one play halfway through the fourth quarter.

With the Fighting Irish back at their 18-yard line on 4th and 1, coach Marcus Freeman sent out the punting team. However, he later substituted his offense in with the play clock rolling and eventually got an offside call on the defense to extend the drive and milk more than five more minutes off the clock.

People discussed the play on social media and how Notre Dame could "pull one over" on Georgia.

"Georgia should've slow walked onto the field and run the play clock out..." one tweeted.

"Gerorgia was never as good as billed. Neither was the SEC," another tweeted.

Others called out the referees for missing a potential false start by the wide receiver during the play.

"Confused? No not really. I see a team substituting and another team allowed to substiture. The ref holding up play until all substitutes are on the field. I see an offensive WR jump before the sanp and it not called. Not a Georgia fan here. Just seeing it for what it really is," one tweeted.

"Love how you comviniently ignore your false start. So much for religious school," one tweeted.

The Fighting Irish will next face the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday.

Will the Semifinals flip dates due to the rest disadvantage for Notre Dame?

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey requested that the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl flip dates due to the postponement of the Sugar Bowl, but his request was denied. The Fighting Irish have a short turnaround while Penn State has not played since New Year's Eve.

College Football Playoff Executive Director Rich Clark explained why they denied Sankey's request on Friday:

"We're not going to flip the games. The concession we made with the athletic directors was to start the Sugar Bowl earlier - an 18-hour or so delay. We slipped the game 18 hours to ensure we could provide safety and security for teams, coaches, staffs, fans and others involved. NOLA and Sugar Bowl officials were amazing." h/t ESPN

It will be interesting to see if the rest difference causes the Fighting Irish to become more lethargic than the Nittany Lions.