Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm placed the fade in the perfect spot to Lawrence Cager, who reeled it in for a 15-yard touchdown with 13:19 left in the fourth quarter.
That touchdown connection set Fromm into a high-stepping sprint and gave the Bulldogs a 10-point cushion in their top-10 showdown that will be felt in the College Football Playoff committee room come December. Give Fromm his due. He led No. 3 Georgia to a season-shaping 23-17 victory against No. 7 Notre Dame. This is the victory that propelled the Bulldogs to their first Playoff appearance two years ago. And Fromm led the way again with a lights-out second half.
MORE: Takeaways from Georgia's close win over the Irish
Fromm finished 20 of 26 passing for 187 yards and a touchdown, but it was an even-keeled second-half performance juxtaposed against Notre Dame's Ian Book that kept the lights on in Georgia.
Fromm finished 9 of 14 for 128 yards in the second half; Book was 13 of 23 for 129 yards and two interceptions. Most of that came in the last two drives, when the Bulldogs had built a 23-10 lead after a first half controlled by Book, who finished 29 of 47 for 275 yards and two scores on the day.
In the end, Fromm was the better of the two quarterbacks, even if it didn't look that way early.
Georgia was ordinary on offense in the first half aside from a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:12 off the clock and tied the score at 7-all right before halftime. Fromm (11 of 12, 59 yards) didn't take many deep shots, and the rushing attack had just 12 rushing attempts for 55 yards in the first half. Yet the combination of Fromm and Georgia's defense — which forced three three-and-outs in the third quarter, helped the Bulldogs take over after they trailed 10-7 at halftime.
Fromm helped flip the game early in the third quarter by hitting 6 of 9 passes, which in turn triggered a rushing attack that wasn't as overwhelming as expected in part because of injuries to tackle Isaiah Wilson (ankle), who was inactive, and guard Tyson Campbell (foot), who left in the first half.
Fromm didn't put up the big stats, but a third-and-10 scramble where he took shots from Notre Dame's Shaun Crawford and Alohi Gilman with 7:16 remaining personified this outing from the junior quarterback: He made the plays necessary to win the game. Georgia didn't run over Notre Dame. The Bulldogs finished with 33 carries for 152 yards, and it was Fromm who made the clutch plays that kept the Bulldogs in business in the second half.
MORE: Defense leads way in UGA win over Notre Dame
Book's interceptions were costly, too. The Bulldogs converted those into six points, which proved to be the final margin in their win. The Irish quarterback led a desperation drive, but his fourth-and-9 desperation pass fell incomplete.
Fromm, meanwhile, improved to 27-5 as a starter. He's not going to win the Heisman Trophy. That leaderboard consists of Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, LSU's Joe Burrow, Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts and, of course, Ohio State's Justin Fields, who transferred from Georgia in the offseason. Then again, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence isn't among the leaders right now, and that won't matter one bit in December. That is the class of quarterbacks capable of leading a national championship run, and Fromm is every bit as capable as the other five.
For anybody who had a case of Fromm fatigue in the offseason, they'll bring up the fact he couldn't close the door on the Irish on Georgia's final drive. He'll have to do that when the stages get bigger this season. That, of course, means the SEC championship game and College Football Playoff.
Fromm put Georgia on the doorstep of a national championship as a freshman and matched Tagovailoa and Hurts through most of last year's SEC championship. He led Georgia to the biggest nonconference win of September, and the Bulldogs have a relatively easy path back to Atlanta in the SEC East, apart from a top-10 showdown against Florida.
Fromm has done all that with a rebuilt receiving corps that will get better as the season progresses. There's more where that came from, too.
Chances are Fromm — just like with that game-changing pass to Cager — will put the Bulldogs in a position to win on the big stage.
