Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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18 NOV. 16, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE J on Bon Jovi was in the House That Rockne Built, but Notre Dame was not living on a prayer. Furthest thing from it. The Fighting Irish sandwiched half- time, a break in the action featuring the famed Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and noted Notre Dame fan directing the marching band through renditions of his own songs, with touchdowns on their last possession of the first half and their first of the second half. By then, Notre Dame had effectively finished off Florida State. In a game head coach Marcus Freeman's team was supposed to win by a wide margin, it did just that. Irish 52, Seminoles 3. "It could have been easy to overlook those guys in terms of preparation be- cause of the record, but we've got a ma- ture group," Freeman said. "We've got a bunch of seniors that are continuing to lead this group in the right way." All told, the Notre Dame offense wasn't at its very best. It just didn't need to be. Not when the opponent is a Florida State squad that has one of the worst offenses in all of college football. FSU finished with 208 total yards compared to Notre Dame's 453. Flip- flopping between a redshirt freshman and a true freshman at quarterback, the Noles only connected on 10 of 26 passes for 88 yards through the air. The Irish sacked those two a total of 8 times, partly due to relentless pass rush and partly due to impeccable coverage downfield. A perfect storm for the home side. "Our guys are playing with clarity," Freeman said. "They are playing with clarity, which equals velocity. That's what we talk about all the time — clar- ity equals velocity." Senior quarterback Riley Leonard, meanwhile, completed 14 of 27 throws for 215 yards with 1 touchdown. He missed some throws, and Irish pass catchers, or so they should have been, dropped multiple well-placed passes. Still, Leonard moved the chains with his arm nine times and lobbed a beauty of a slot fade to tight end Mitchell Evans for the senior's first touchdown reception of the season. Leonard scored his 12th and 13th rushing touchdowns of the season and turned in 70 yards on 11 carries, just over his season-long averages of 10.6 and 67.4 going into the game. It was workmanlike to the point of allowing time for backup Steve Angeli to come in and get a touchdown pass of his own in garbage time, as has become rather cus- tomary, no matter the ups and downs with his arm and the guys he was trying to get the ball to. His legs always remain a major threat to the opponent. "I just kind of run until they tackle me," Leonard half-quipped. Notre Dame's talented tailback duo of sophomore Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price weren't called on often. They only combined for 16 rushing attempts. One of Price's, though, was a 65-yard touch- down that put the Irish ahead 14-3 early in the second quarter. It was the score Notre Dame — and its fans — needed for breathing room purposes. Florida State was hanging around until Price's house call. From there, it was curtains. This shoddy version of the Seminoles was always going to need the Irish to turn the ball over and get in their own way to pull a massive upset in the only primetime regular season game of the year in South Bend. In- stead, after some shaky offensive pos- sessions following an opening-drive touchdown, Notre Dame found another gear and glided to its seventh consecu- tive victory. Next up is the final regular season home game against Virginia (5-4). "We know we've got one more guar- anteed opportunity in this stadium," Freeman said. "So, we'll celebrate to- night and get back tomorrow and start preparing for Virginia." FIRST QUARTER NOTRE DAME 7, FLORIDA STATE 3 Top moment: Senior quarterback Riley Leonard took the ball up the mid- dle, juked a Florida State defender out of his shoes and found open space down the left sideline. He evaded one more would-be tackler and leaped over the pylon for a 34-yard touchdown. Feature performer: Aside from Leonard's first-drive heroics, not much happened in the first quarter. The Duke transfer also found freshman running back Aneyas Williams for a 28-yard re- ception on third down and senior tight end Mitchell Evans for a 9-yard gain before he scored. Notable Stats: Florida State won time of possession 10:15 to 4:45. The Seminoles went 0 of 5 on third down. Items: Love dropped a pass and graduate student wide receiver Beaux Collins let another go through his hands … Freshman defensive end Bryce Young and sophomore linebacker Jaiden Aus- berry split a sack … FSU redshirt senior kicker Ryan Fitzgerald drilled a 23-yard field goal. SECOND QUARTER NOTRE DAME 21, FLORIDA STATE 3 Top moment: With Notre Dame's offense sputtering, Price said, "Fine. I'll do it myself." Price found a seam up the left side and sprinted 65 yards to the house, finishing the drive with 3 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown. Feature performer: After graduate student defensive tackle Howard Cross III went down with an ankle injury, graduate student defensive tackle Rylie Mills wrecked Florida State's offense to bits. He sacked FSU freshman quar- terback Luke Kromenhoek on back-to- back plays, stalling a Seminoles drive. Notable Stats: Notre Dame picked up 9 first downs to FSU's 2. The Irish out-gained the Seminoles 180-24. Items: Graduate student kicker Mitch Jeter, in his first game back from LEAVING NO DOUBT Notre Dame picked up its seventh straight win with a 52-3 drilling of Florida State