Forget Southern hospitality on Saturday.

This was about something Nordic, yo.

Notre Dame simply continued to lean on the opposition in this case. I leaned on that on offense. I leaned on that in defense. Leaned on special teams until Georgia Tech finally pulled out a 31-13 Irish win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

How many times has it been mentioned on ESPN that Notre Dame had a… check stat… 63 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff with a win on Saturday? Five? Ten? How about too many? Shut up already. We’re not ready for the playoff recaps yet.

We get it, but we’re too far gone for it to matter. Too much can happen. Too much has happened. This also happened on Saturday – another Irish victory.

Like the previous Saturday in Indiana against Stanford, Notre Dame was down 7-0. On the day, the Irish scored 49 unanswered points. On Saturday, Notre Dame scored for the first and only time this season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, scoring 31 straight from a 7-0 deficit.

There could have been 34. Perhaps, should have done it been.

The second half was just there. Notre Dame was content to bleed the clock, pound Georgia Tech with its defense and dominate. We even saw them muff a fake punt that resulted in a first down.

Notre Dame (6-1), now a five-time winner, left home for the first time in over a month, got on a plane for the first time in 46 days, wore a new jersey combination (Hard Pass) and then seemingly forgot about it They had to show up and show up.

At least in the first quarter.

Typically, the Irish offense and defense each need a series to settle in, settle down and get going. On Saturday it took the entire first quarter. It was the other team that looked like a team with College Football Playoff plans. Georgia Tech took a 7-0 lead with a Jamal Haynes touchdown, ending a first quarter that was somewhat forgettable for the guys in the blue jerseys – they looked darker than usual on TV – and…white pants. Why?

That first 15 had seemingly reached its nadir when quarterback Riley Leonard airmailed a seam route to Beaux Collins in double coverage, a pass that was picked off fairly easily. Just when it seemed like things couldn’t get any worse for Notre Dame, something happened, something tipped. The Irish woke up and got going.

Specifically, it was Leonard, a different guy since the bye week, when he was able to return home to Fairhope, Alabama, to get his body and mind in order. He returned with a clearer idea of ​​what it means to be Notre Dame’s quarterback.

This is how everything should look. This is what it should look like. Leonard looked as relaxed Saturday as he has all season this season.

In the second quarter we saw the newer and improved Leonard make it happen and pounce on two goals. Coordinator Mike Denbrock’s call sheet got to the point where it was a matter of just giving Leonard the ball and letting him run the show. Have him find eight different receivers. After that pick, have him go 10-for-10 for 119 yards.

Let him get Mitchell Evans involved in two receptions. Let him fully trust freshman running back Aneyas Williams to blitz with a screen pass and keep the scoring going.

Let him cook.

Irish head coach Marcus Freeman stressed at half-time last week that he was tired of his team being a good team. He wanted to be great. Four wins in a row – three of them at home – seemingly put the Irish in a great position.

The weather in downtown Atlanta was great on Saturday. The venue – the Mercedez Benz Stadium opened its roof – was great. Notre Dame wasn’t exactly great, but it’s all good.

The win allows Notre Dame to still make a good run next week. In the grand scheme of things, with November approaching and the early College Football Playoff rankings in sight, that’s all that matters.

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI

This article originally appeared on the South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football extends winning streak to 5 in a row in Georgia Tech win