What can we take from Notre Dame vs Florida State
After a overtime classic in Tallahassee what exactly is in the cards for the Irish and the Seminoles down the road
Well that was fun
On a beautiful Sunday night in Tallahassee a sold out crowd and national TV primetime audience feasted their eyes upon an incredibly entertaining football game. But the game itself is a subject of a future endeavor so instead of rehashing play by play what we all, presumably, just watched unfold on the gridiron I am going to touch on the performance of the Irish and Seminole offenses and defenses and using tonight’s game look to the future for both teams as they attempt to navigate their seasons.
Talkin’ bout the 'Noles
After the first full offseason of the Mike Norvell era there were hints of excitement amongst the FSU faithful heading into this season and tonight did nothing to disprove those believers. The Seminoles’ biggest issue last season was their rather porous defense which ranked in the 90s or 100s in most team stats and their rebuild looked well ahead of schedule tonight which can partially be attributed to good usage of the transfer portal by the FSU coaching staff particularly in the case of Georgia transfer Jermaine Johnson II who was a destructive force totaling seven tackles, one and a half sacks, and applying plenty of pressure to the Irish pocket during passing plays. Florida State was not going to allow Kyren Williams and the Notre Dame running game beat them like it did so violently in South Bend a year ago as they held the Irish to just 71 yards on the ground with 1.9 yards per carry. Going all in to stop the lauded tandem of Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree did leave the Seminole secondary vulnerable to the aerial attack of the new Irish QB Jack Coan. But with Notre Dame breaking in a new signal caller after three seasons of Ian Book, losing several of their top passing catching threats from last season, and having to reload at OL you cannot blame FSU for their defensive game plan. On the other side of the ball Florida State had a similarly up and down night. Jordan Travis at the helm meant a lot of RPOs, roll outs, designed QB runs you name it which allowed the FSU RBs to get free as ND’s defense scrambled to key in on who was getting the ball each play. But despite the obvious success on the ground (269 yards 5.6 YPC) the Noles lacked a true spark in the passing game. Enter McKenzie Milton the UCF transfer. Florida State looked completely different after Milton entered the game (Jordan Travis was forced to leave the game due to losing his helmet) and he caught ND completely by surprise and really stood out in his first action after his horrific injury in his final game for UCF. Florida State has a relatively favorable four game stretch coming up (Jacksonville State, @Wake Forest, Louisville, and Syracuse) before heading to Chapel Hill for a monumental showdown with Sam Howell and the Tarheels. If Milton can keep playing at the level he showcased tonight and the FSU defense continues to improve year two under Mike Norvell could be a huge step forward for the Seminole football program in their quest to return to College Football’s elite.
The Golden Domers
The very long awaited and hyped up debut of the Marcus Freeman era of defense at Notre Dame has ended and it was…something. There are a lot of things that will need to be fixed if the Fighting Irish want to make their third appearance in the College Football Playoff in four years and even more-so if they do not want to leave with another double digit loss at the hand of CFB’s juggernauts. There were times where the hyper aggressive Freeman defense worked to perfection and stopped FSU in their tracks for several drives and others where it gave many a Irish fan war flashbacks of he who shall not be named. The tackling was something of particular frustration as what would typically have been a stop for a minimal gain turned into solid plays for FSU due to the poor tackling performance of many key Irish defenders. One man who did not disappoint was the heralded Kyle Hamilton. His six tackle and two interception performance was quite simply astounding. The rest of his teammates in the secondary did not have similarly great nights but mostly managed to keep it together all around despite a few blown coverages. Perhaps the most puzzling part of the defensive performance for Notre Dame was that of the front seven. The constant switching of formations and personnel did not seem to be very conducive to wire to wire success as the ability of the Irish to shut down the opposing run game, a trademark of the ND defense since even Bob Diaco, was very inconsistent. But while the rushing defense was an issue the pass rush was outstanding. Five total sacks and many more hurries and QB hits really put the hurt on whoever dropped back, or more accurately ran for their lives, behind the FSU OL. On the other side of the ball for ND the narrative going into the game mostly was “well the run game will be so good it won’t matter if Coan has a rough first start” and what took place was almost the complete opposite. The highly touted ND run game struggled mightily as neither Kyren Williams or Chris Tyree could get loose for a huge play all night which was a hallmark of the duo last season. The offensive line struggled at times to create the massive running lanes that Irish tailbacks have been so accustomed to over the years. Blake Fisher’s injury could be attributed to some of this as it meant that ND was rolling with a backup at left tackle for a good amount of game time which no doubt affected the chemistry up front. So with the lack of support from the run game the former Wisconsin Badger Jack Coan, in his first start in a ND uniform, would have to try and carry the load for the Irish offense. If you had told any ND fan before this game that it would come down to Coan airing it out I am not sure many, including myself, would have been too entirely confident in the results turning out well for the boys in gold. Coan made the naysayers eat crow with a masterclass of a performance. He set the record for passing yards in a season opener for ND with 366 yards adding 4 TDs with only 9 incompletions (of which at least 3 can be attributed to very untimely drops by the otherwise stud Michael Mayer) and made some nifty plays with his feet for an all around great performance. The play-calling left a lot to be desired at times with some very interesting calls, namely the QB power on third and five and the flea flicker, leaving many quite befuddled. It was a performance that all together was enough to grab the win in perhaps the toughest environment Notre Dame will have to play in all season long. For the future the Irish will have two games in the friendly confines of Notre Dame Stadium against Toledo and Purdue to attempt to iron out the issues before a showdown in Chicago against Wisconsin which just got a whole lot more interesting. The obvious story line will be Jack Coan vs his former team as many have been questioning the Badgers’ decision to roll with Mertz over Jack in light of how the two played in week one. But with the Irish performance vs the Seminoles and the Badger performance vs Penn State there will be two huge factors for people to look for as these teams get rearing to go at Soldier Field. The Wisconsin secondary struggled mightily against Penn State’s speed at WR which is something that ND certainly does not lack with Braden Lenzy and Kevin Austin out wide. And how will the Notre Dame run defense improve in anticipation of a matchup with the notoriously fierce ground and pound rushing attack of Wisconsin.
What will the future hold?
As both Notre Dame and Florida State look to the road ahead of them I think both teams displayed a lot tonight here against each other to build on for more success down the road. But College Football is a very fickle thing which is part of why we love it so much isn’t it? Anything can happen each week and the only way to know for sure what happens is to strap in and enjoy the ride.
Mickey Mouse lame dame doesn’t deserve tbh