It would take a special effort for a game to live up to the hype surrounding Saturday’s Georgia vs. Notre Dame contest.

But it ended up doing just that.

In the Bulldogs’ first visit to Notre Dame Stadium, they were able to eke out a 20-19 victory over the Fighting Irish. It marked a winning debut for Jake Fromm, who made his first career start at quarterback for Georgia.

Now, on to a few takeaways from the game:

The defense played exemplary

Georgia’s defense has been expected to carry the team this season. And it certainly did its part Saturday.

The Fighting Irish managed just 266 yards of total offense. And it only converted 3 of 17 third-down opportunities.

Most important, Georgia forced a pair of turnovers, both lost fumbles. The more memorable of those two came on Notre Dame’s final drive.

Facing first-and-10 at its 26, Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush dropped back to pass. He was met by Georgia’s Davin Bellamy, who knocked the ball out. Teammate Lorenzo Carter was in the right place at the right time, jumping on the ball for the Bulldogs to preserve the 20-19 road triumph.

Some good, some bad from Jake Fromm

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Jake Fromm is a freshman, and no matter how advanced and talented he may be for his age, he’s going to make mistakes. That’s just a fact of life for any first-year player in the SEC.

Saturday, then, looked quite similar to last week, when he came on in relief of an injured Jacob Eason and connected on 66.7 percent (10-for-15) of his passes for 143 yards and a touchdown. Against the Fighting Irish, the percentage (55.2) and yardage (141) were a little worse. And he threw an interception.

But he was able to find Terry Godwin on a 5-yard touchdown pass, with major props to Godwin for a highlight-reel grab.

And he was also on his game when it mattered most.

With Georgia trailing 19-17 with 6:39 left in the final period and taking over at its 25-yard line, Fromm promptly completed 3 of 4 passes for 45 yards. That put the Bulldogs in position to kick the eventual game-winning field goal. (More on that below.)

Rodrigo Blankenship comes through again

At one point during preseason camp, it appeared Rodrigo Blankenship would lose the starting kicker job he earned midway though the 2016 campaign. David Marvin, a graduate transfer from Wofford, was kicking better than the bespectacled Blankenship. But Blankenship turned things around, ending up reestablishing himself as the starter before last week’s opener against Appalachian State.

He wasn’t perfect Saturday — he missed a 44-yard field goal on the opening possession of the second half.

But Blankenship has shown a knack for coming through in the clutch — most notably in last season’s victory at Kentucky, when he nailed all four of his field goal attempts, which included the game-winning kick at the buzzer.

He added another game-winner Saturday, as he connected on the go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 3:34 remaining to give the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish.