Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 PRESEASON 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED championship in the 2013 season. That torch has since been fumbled or punted away entirely. Can Norvell find it and light it once more? Perhaps. He's got to get the car started first. And before either of those two things happen, he must figure out who is going to start for him at quar- terback. The battle is between former UCF gunslinger McKenzie Milton, who hasn't played since suffering a gruesome leg injury in 2019, and redshirt sophomore Jordan Travis, who threw for 204 yards and one touchdown and ran for 96 and an- other score in the loss to Notre Dame last season. The Irish could see either — or both — of them in week one. "I think each guy is continuing to grow," Norvell said. The two fielded questions together in a joint interview after a fall camp practice on Aug. 12. It's rare for any two players to take questions at the same time but even more of an odd- ity for the two quarterbacks compet- ing for the No. 1 job to do so. They took it in stride nonetheless. "I'm pretty confident, and the boys around me are pushing me ev- ery day," Travis said. "McKenzie is pushing me hard every single day. Day in and day out, I'm just trying to give it 100 percent and be the best GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE 2021 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 5 at Florida State (ABC) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 Toledo (Peacock) 2:30 p.m. Sept. 18 Purdue (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Sept. 25 vs. Wisconsin* (FOX) 12 p.m. Oct. 2 Cincinnati (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech TBA Oct. 23 USC (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 North Carolina (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 Navy (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Virginia TBA Nov. 20 Georgia Tech (NBC) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at Stanford TBA * at Soldier Field in Chicago 2021 FLORIDA STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 5 Notre Dame (ABC) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 Jacksonville State (ACCN) 8 p.m. Sept. 18 at Wake Forest 3:30 p.m. Sept. 25 Louisville TBA Oct. 2 Syracuse TBA Oct. 9 at North Carolina TBA Oct. 23 Massachusetts TBA Oct. 30 at Clemson TBA Nov. 6 North Carolina State TBA Nov. 13 Miami (Fla.) TBA Nov. 20 at Boston College TBA Nov. 27 at Florida TBA Graduate transfer McKenzie Milton was 27-6 at UCF and posted top-eight finishes in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 2018 (sixth) and 2017 (eighth). However, he hasn't played since suffering a gruesome leg injury in 2019. PHOTO COURTESY FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS