Notre Dame’s defense punishes IU

Notre Dame quickly grounded Indiana after the high-flying Hoosiers came into the College Football Playoffs with the top scoring offense. Notre Dame slugged Indiana with an aggressive tone early, keeping the Hoosiers out of the end zone until the final 1:27 in a 27-17 victory Friday night. The Fighting Irish (12-1) advanced to face Georgia in the quarterfinals in the Sugar Bowl. Indiana (11-2) entered the game averaging 43.3 points — second in the nation in scoring offense. The Hoosiers gained 278 yards of total offense, but 126 of those yards came on the final two drives after Notre Dame built a 27-3 lead. Indiana entered the game averaging 438.8 yards, but gained 63 yards rushing — far below its average of 173.6. “We knew going into the game we were going to have to control the perimeter,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman, pictured, said. “They were a perimeter running team with so much stretch plays, some screens, and our mindset controlling the perimeter was attacking and having all three levels defeat blocks in the perimeter, and then we wanted to be aggressive. We have an aggressive mindset.”

Vonn gets 14th in World Cup return

Lindsey Vonn was not about to put everything on the line in her first World Cup race back after more than five years of retirement. Not with her history of crashes and injuries. Not with her new titanium knee. Not at age 40. Vonn took a low-risk approach and finished 14th in a super-G on Saturday, crossing 1.18 seconds behind Austrian winner Cornelia Huetter. “This was the perfect start,” Vonn said. “Today is just the first step and I’m not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that’s exactly what I did.” “There’s definitely a lot that I have left to give,” Vonn added. “Today was not the day to try to do anything special.” Still, when Vonn came down, the crowd of Swiss-flag-waving fans turned silent in anticipation and all of the other top skiers watched her run on a perfectly clear day in the Alps. “To have her back on the world stage is just fantastic,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “Just the attention she’s bringing to the sport and the role model she is — it’s a big day.”

Man City crisis deepens after loss

Manchester City’s stunning slump deepened after losing to Aston Villa 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday. Goals from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers, pictured, at Villa Park consigned the four-time defending champion to a ninth defeat in 12 games in a season that is unravelling. Pep Guardiola’s team has won just once during that run. “We have to stay positive, even though it’s difficult, and we have to keep working hard,” City striker Erling Haaland said. Phil Foden pulled a goal back for City in stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough to spark a late comeback. City dropped to sixth in the standings, nine points below leader Liverpool, having played two games more. Villa climbed to fifth. Nottingham is up to third after ending Brentford’s unbeaten home record with a 2-0 win, and Newcastle routed Ipswich 4-0. West Ham drew with Brighton 1-1. City’s remarkable fall shows little sign of stopping, with Guardiola admitting last week that he had not been good enough to turn his team’s form around. —Associated Press