Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1050818
28 NOV. 19, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED hear something like that when you're 3-0, but it obviously proved to bene- fit the team. We started rolling a little bit more on the offensive side of the ball. It's a testament to Ian and all the guys that put in the work." DEFENSE IS OPPORTUNISTIC IN WIN Like in any game ever played, Notre Dame's defense had its blem- ishes against Florida State, but it also was highly opportunistic. Senior nickel Nick Coleman in- tercepted a pass on the second play of the game and returned it to the Florida State 3-yard line. Notre Dame scored two plays later to go up 7-0. Two drives later junior defensive end Ade Ogundeji forced Florida State running back Cam Akers to fumble at the FSU 14. The Notre Dame offense capitalized with a Jus- tin Yoon field goal to take a 17-0 lead with just less than six minutes left in the opening quarter. The Irish defense came through midway in the third quarter with the Seminoles driving and aiming to make it a two possession contest. A seven-yard carry by running back Jacques Patrick set up the Seminoles at the Irish 1-yard line with a second- and-goal situation. The Notre Dame defense stuffed Patrick on second and third down for a combined loss of two yards to make it fourth-and-goal. Junior defensive end Julian Okwara came through with one of his four quarter- back hurries on the evening, forcing FSU quarterback Deondre Francois to throw an incomplete toss and giv- ing the ball back to Notre Dame. The Irish scored 12 plays later — all runs — to end any chance of a Florida State comeback. Notre Dame allowed the Seminoles to compile 20 first downs, but gave up just 322 total yards. Most notably, the Irish held FSU to 106 yards on the ground and just 3.5 yards per carry. "We've been like that all year," head coach Brian Kelly said. "We give up some yardage and bend a little bit. … That's who we are a little bit. Our DNA has been like that this year. "We've given up some soft yards here and there." ✦ NOTRE DAME VS. FLORIDA STATE QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:23 6:33 8:27 10:37 12:56 19:04 32:00 Third-Down Conversions 3-4 3-4 1-4 2-4 6-8 3-8 9-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Average Field Position FSU-33 ND-21 ND-24 ND-19 ND-44 ND-23 ND-33 Florida State 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:37 8:27 6:33 4:23 17:04 10:56 28:00 Third-Down Conversions 3-4 1-6 2-4 0-3 4-10 2-7 6-17 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 2-3 0-1 1-2 2-3 1-3 3-6 Average Field Position FSU-24 FSU-25 ND-48 FSU-23 FSU-24 FSU-40 FSU-31 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ND42 Williams 58-yard run for a touchdown • 1-10 FSU46 Williams 26-yard run to FSU20 • 3-2 FSU32 Williams 32-yard run for a touchdown Florida State • 1-10 FSU19 Deondre Francois pass complete to Nyqwan Murray for 40 yards to the ND41 Florida State had a golden opportunity to make it a two-score game in the third quarter, but the Fighting Irish defense came up with a big goal- line stand to help put the game away. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND FSU Nega ve 0 4 0-5 45 48 6-9 13 12 10-19 12 13 20-29 3 0 30-39 1 0 40-49 0 1 50 or more 1 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 5 3 2 0 Florida State 4 2 0 2