Fighting Irish turn back Georgia Tech, 30-22

Published 2:22 am Tuesday, September 22, 2015

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — C.J. Prosise’s 91-yard touchdown run did more than set a Notre Dame Stadium record, it ended up as the winning score for the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish.

The longest run in stadium history put the Irish up by 23 points in the fourth quarter, but No. 14 Georgia Tech rallied in the final minute before Notre Dame held on for a 30-22 win.

Prosise finished with 198 yards and three touchdowns and Will Fuller caught a 46-yard pass from DeShone Kizer for a TD.

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The Yellow Jackets made it close when they scored on Patrick Skov’s 24-yard run and then a 15-yard catch within 26 seconds before Notre Dame’s Torii Hunter Jr. recovered a second onside kick with 21 seconds left.

Georgia Tech entered the game averaging 67 points and 457 yards, but struggled to get much going until time was running out. The Fighting Irish held the Yellow Jackets to 216 yards rushing.

The game-breaking TD run by Prosise with 6:58 left was the second longest by a Notre Dame player and longest TD run at Notre Dame Stadium. Bob Livingstone had the school record with a 92-yarder at USC in 1947.

Fuller, who has five touchdown catches through three games, became the first Irish player to have three straight 100-yard receiving games to open a season since Tom Gatewood in 1970.

Kizer was 21 of 30 for 242 yards in his first start, and also had a pass intercepted in the end zone by Georgia Tech cornerback D.J. White.

Notre Dame is 3-0 for the third time in the past four seasons. Georgia Tech (2-1) fell to 0-11-1 against Notre Dame teams ranked in the top 10.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had predicted the Irish would need to be efficient offensively because he didn’t believe the Irish defense would shut Georgia Tech down, but he was wrong.

The Yellow Jackets were held to 337 yards total offense and one touchdown until the final minute.

Kizer looked indecisive at times and threw an interception into the end zone, but played well enough to get the victory, coming up with several big plays.

With the score tied at 7, Kizer threw a 10-yard pass to Brown on third down and a 36-yard pass to Fuller on third-and-7, leading to a 17-yard touchdown run by Prosise.

Thomas threw a pair of touchdowns and was 8 of 24 for 121 yards.